Marketing automation serves to nurture unready buyers. The strategy for nurturing effectively is the art within marketing automation that is both difficult and critical. When we implement a marketing automation campaign for our clients, we have to be able to tell their story and connect the dots with the customer’s pain.
Story is what creates the emotional connection that your buyer is seeking to differentiate you from the noise they see in the marketplace both online and in color. It is the art of the tell that gives reason to picking your brand.
The Problem With Corporate Speak
In a different era, it was about making an impression and appearing large, successful and better than everyone. Marketing was business and impersonal. Press releases, corporate brochures and websites all carried the formal tone to give buyers an assurance of stability, professionalism and superiority.
The copy is somewhat comical now. Communications has become more democratized. We can see through the nonsense and we don’t want to read a sentence three times trying to figure out what it means.
We all know companies and brands have their flaws. We are suspicious of anyone that claims otherwise.
We Dig Scars. Get Real.
What makes us human is our stories. We have drama, pain, and challenges we face every day. How we overcome our adversity is what makes us valuable, heroic and attractive. Think about why we watch movies or finish a great novel. The story draws us in. When we are with friends, we tune in to the person sharing great story. We are wired to hear story and we respond with emotion.
Your story is what makes you unique. Marketing automation allows you the opportunity to deliver this to a stranger. The goal is to help them become familiar and acquainted with you. It builds trust. Stories such as:
- How you got started
- How you make your product
- What customers are doing with your service
- What cause you are fighting for
- What you did to fix the last customer service mistake
- Who your team members are
- What you have tried that failed
- How you failed in order to succeed
- Where you are going
Telling your stories in a personal tone that is conversational helps your audience to know you are real and that there is someone behind the product or service that cares. It gives your customer a reason to tell others by telling them your story.
If there is no story, then you have a commodity. Throw your lot in with the rest of the stodgy competitors in your space who look the same.
It may mean that your content marketing has to take on an overhaul. It’s well worth it. It is the difference between connecting and remaining irrelevant. The marketplace is too congested. We live in a world where people crave what is real, authentic and has a story. Your audience is waiting.
What is your story?
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