The Art of Storytelling

Seth Godin had a post about lessons that could be gleaned from today’s presidential election. One lesson in particular really hit me.

Seth states that its the stories that really matter to people. More than the money, the politics or even the product. It’s the story that counts.

The truth of that is so powerful that it immediately shut me up. Something that my new ninja friends will tell you is very hard to do.

We talk a lot about how important links and search engine rankings are. But all the traffic in the world doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have a powerful story. If you’re not conveying a brand message that is intriguing and interesting and commanding to the point that it makes people want to interact and be associated with you. That’s marketing. That’s marketing more than SEO and links and keywords ever will be.

It’s also something that I wish companies paid more attention to. I wish that I could shake them and show them how important it is to have a brand image that matters and inspires people. And in order to have that image, you have to actually be that.  You have to be a company worth taking note of. Someone that genuinely excites people and gives them that yummy warm and fuzzy feeling. The feeling most people get when they think about Pat Sexton.

But how do you create that?

Your brand story is created through your actions.

As a friend reminded me on Twitter last week, everything you do and say speaks to who you are.

What does that mean?

• It matters how responsive you are to that complaint phone call.
• It matters how you treat the customers who walk into your store or that visitor who made a purchase on your Web site.
• It matters how you make people feel when they land on your Web site or read your blog.
• It matters if you avoid customer contact.

It all matters.

Your customers aren’t going to remember every detail of their interaction with you. Instead, they’re going to create a single story about who you and then they’re going to share that story with the world. Whether positive or negative it doesn’t matter, once created it’s pretty much impenetrable, so you better get it right.

During one of her three presentations at ScarySEO, Rhea commented that reputation management is customer service. And while that may be simplifying it just a bit, the sentiment is very real. Your customers are going to take the way that you’ve made them feel and use it to create your story.  And so much of that is based on how you treat them and whether or not they felt that you listened and understood what they were telling you. If you want people to love your brand, you have to love them first. You have to give them a story to hold onto.

Figure out what it is you want your story to be and then live that.  If you look at the election, regardless of who you may have voted for today (and hopefully you did vote), you voted for them not because of everything they’ve said or every action they’ve ever made, but because they presented, to you, the best story. They left you with the most positive brand image. You believed the story they had crafted for you.

Stories are powerful. They have been ever since we were little and sitting on our parent’s lap. We listen to stories, we believe them, and we spread them. Make sure you’re spreading the right stuff. And if you’re not, it’s time to go see a doctor.