Storytelling goes beyond fantasy and fiction. Infusing your business content with storytelling and empathy is integral to growing your business.
B2B storytelling helps your business stand out in a crowd and draws your customers to you. Now, more than ever, people want to feel connected and seen as a customer who is integral to your business instead of as a transaction or a number. Beyond that, stories are more memorable than facts. Simply put…stories (and empathy) matter.
So what does that mean for you as a business owner?
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH B2B STORYTELLING
Building your business is all about building strong relationships — something humans have used stories to do for thousands of years. And in that respect, despite technology, relationships are still built on stories, it’s just that the methodology has changed. We share pieces of our stories through social media, blogging, email, and — of course — visuals.
Taking your writing to the next level is about more than story. It’s also about empathy — and there are easy ways to begin adding this into your business content even if you don’t know where to begin.
5 WAYS TO USE EMPATHY IN YOUR WRITING
1| Know your audience.
Adding storytelling and empathy effectively means knowing your audience — so let’s dig into the 5w and an h. (Thanks Mrs. H from AP J)
- Who you’re speaking to
- How they speak.
- What gets them excited.
- What they are struggling with.
- Where they hang out.
- What they are searching for.
2| Be real and authentic.
People know if you are anything but real and authentic, and you can’t share stories and be empathetic if you are trying to be something that you are not. Your audience wants to get to know the real you so show them.
Social media — and the online world in general — is full of brands trying to be perfect. If you truly want connection, growth and impact, perfection doesn’t work. Authenticity does. Show them who you truly are so that your business can create lasting relationships with your customers.
3| Use words that evoke emotion.
When you write to evoke emotion and show you empathize with your customers’ positions and emotions, you build better connections.
4| Uplift your readers.
Avoid scare tactics. Full stop. Show your prospects that you understand their struggles in a way that positions you / your services as a tangible solution..
5| Create people-focused content.
Your content isn’t for you and shouldn’t be about you. Say what?
Truly — whatever you write — be it copy for your website, marketing content, or even a personal email is all about your audience. So using empathy and storytelling should focus on what your audience needs to learn, hear, or know.
Your stories should be relevant to their struggles, offer value, and help them envision or even create solutions. Creating people-focused content engages people — and gets them talking. When you know your audience — their struggles and pain points — you can really relate to their needs and the outcome they desire.
Have more questions? For additional reading, check out From Me to You. Or, if you’d like to talk about how to infuse your copy or content with personality, empathy, and story, let’s chat about how we can work together to build your brand awareness and create momentum for your business.
