“Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser.” –
Gen. George S. Patton
If you count yourself among the winners, then it’s the story of your successes, and what they do for your clients, is a story that you need tell….over and over.
“Facts and figures and all the rational things that we think are important in the business world actually don’t stick in our minds at all,” says Nick Morgan, author of Power Cues,” but stories create “sticky” memories by attaching emotions to things that happen. That means leaders who can create and share winning stories have a powerful advantage over others.”
Put away modesty
Your first thought may be “Well, telling our story is going to sound like bragging.”
Wrong.
If you don’t tell your story, nobody else is going to do it for you. In fact, others may take your story and define it in their own terms…and to their advantage.
It is solely up to you to identify your strengths and successes and then tell people about them. And that’s where public relations enters into the marketing mix of your overall communications.
Keep your customers first when you tell your story
Put your story in a context that puts your customers and employees first. Choose a framework that will resonate with your listeners and audience
For example, people don’t want to hear “We have lots of experience.” What they want to hear is “Here’s how our experience has led to successful outcomes for our clients and how our experience will lead to results.” And then back up your story by reporting some results.
According to the Harvard Business Review:
“First, companies should inventory their existing market research and customer insight data, looking for qualitative descriptions of what motivates their customers—desires for freedom, security, success, and so on.”
Second, companies should analyze their best customers to learn which of the motivators just identified are specific or more important to the high-value group.”
So, what kind of stories should I tell?
A story without a challenge simply is not very interesting. Good storytellers understand that a story needs conflict.
Define a challenge that confronted your customer. Then tell how your business solved the problem.
Here’s an example:
“After years of significant membership growth, the Society for Pet Adoption (SPA) began to experience a significant downturn in new membership. SPA needed to find a way to attract new, younger members to supplement the loss of aging and dying members.”
And then explain, in simple, basic terms how SPA reversed the trend.
“SPA augmented online communications to better reach and appeal to a younger family demographic. Their website added appealing visuals of pets in need of adoption and featured “New Surroundings,” showcasing how the adoption of a pet provided a common point of emotional connection that positively involved every member of both the immediate family and their friends. Media found the New Surroundings stories offered emotional appeal to their audiences and adopted some of the winning stories for features in their news reports.” The membership decline reversed itself within a nine-month period”
The formula 1. Problem. 2. Solution. 3 Results.
Let us help you craft and tell your winning stories
As public relations practitioners, we are professional storytellers. We are also professional marketers.
We combine marketing and storytelling to help our clients more effectively reach their customers and potential customers.
We can help you clarify your strengths and how you are helping your customers. And, just as important, we can identify and share your story with powerful media sources who are always looking out for stories they can share with their audiences.
And, once we have crafted your story, we can develop ways and means to augment what you have to say. Powerful photos. Attention-getting video. Research that underlines your results.
We help media make your story become their story. Call our Orlando PR firm to help you put your story in the hands of media best suited to reach your key target audiences.
Give us a call. Share with us what kind of winning stories you want to tell. After all, like General Patton said so eloquently, “Americans love winners.”
And rely on us to help you develop the story of your brand and generate positive results for your business or organization.
