Don’t Sell. Tell a Story.

You’ve probably heard this a lot lately.

“Tell a story with your content.”

Sure. That sounds great! We all love stories. But what exactly does this mean? And more importantly, how is it done?

Have a conversation with your audience.

I say this quite a bit. In fact, every time I say it, I think to myself, do I ever sound like a broken record… But in my defense, I don’t say it to the same people over and over again – I communicate this concept to all of my clients.

Content marketing has shifted away from staunchy, disconnected language that creates a barrier between you and your audience, and now leans more towards the use of casual, genuine words – the kinds you would use in conversation with a friend. And this makes it much easier to tell an exciting story.

Get personal.

Think about the last time you told a great story around the dinner table. One that had your friends in stitches or your family in tears. In order to evoke that kind of real, raw emotion in others through just your words, you need to get personal. Maybe you embarrassed yourself or revealed something that made you vulnerable. Maybe you shared one of your deepest secrets or told your listeners something incredible about yourself.

Whatever it was, whatever you did, it generated a reaction. And isn’t a reaction exactly what we’re trying to get out of our marketing efforts? When we get a reaction, we get some kind of action – which is exactly what leads to results. So when you hire a Toronto copywriter to write “your story”, think of something you can include that shows readers your personal side.

Don’t just state the obvious.

Yes, on your website and in your brochure, somewhere and somehow, you do need to include information about who you are and what you do. But when you’re telling a story, it’s critical that you don’t start here.

Gradually lead your readers in.

Create context.

Talk about what really matters. Something interesting. Something different. There’s a story behind everything that you do. You just need to find it. Focus on the why, not the what. People think they want to know about your company, but really they want to know about themselves in connection with your company.

You’re an expert. So make sure you sound like one.

You might own a business that’s been around for the last 30 years. Or perhaps you’re in the process of launching a brand new startup. Whatever your situation, you’re an expert. You’re trained at what you do, you’ve put in thousands of hours and you have a business that you run in the field.

And this means that you have your own thoughts and opinions about how things are supposed to be done. You have principles that guide your everyday operations, you build your products using specific procedures and materials, and you perform your services in a way that makes you different from the next guy.

So say it!

When you hire a professional copywriter in Toronto, part of that person’s job is to pull out of you all the juicy details they need to write compelling and original copy. Don’t just ask your writer to research online (although they should do this too), find out what others are saying and reword it so it isn’t copied. No, no. This is horribly wrong.

You’ve got your own ideas and expert views. So communicate them. Get them down on paper. Tell your readers why they should choose you!

These are the building blocks.

Is your content starting to sound like more of a story yet?