The Power of Storytelling

We all remember the stories we’ve heard as children, right?  Hansel and Gretel or Jack and the Beanstalk perhaps.  The reason for remembering stories, so many moons after you’ve heard them, is because storytelling is powerful – stories stick with us because they make us feel something, they evoke emotion.

There are numerous TED Talks dedicated to the art and power of storytelling.  Some creative businesses these days even help corporates, organisations and individuals be more enticing to their customers and audiences by teaching them how to craft what they want to say into a story.  They actually teach ‘how to tell a story’.

Make your business unforgettable

Stories are memorable, so why not use storytelling as a tool to make your business memorable too?  Your customers and potential clients, won’t forget you if you’ve made them feel or think something.  Sales and marketing should not just be departments in your business, they are opportunities for you to craft creative stories that potential customers won’t soon forget.

Three things every good story needs:

Hook

Think of a fish being caught on a hook – the fish went in for the bait; the juicy, tantalising, exciting bait and got hooked. How are you hooking your clients and customers?  What are you saying to get them to bite the bait?

Create suspense

Think of Cinderalla losing her slipper, or Beauty leaving the Beast. There is always a worrying turn of events, or a significant obstacle to be overcome that creates suspense for the listener.  This allows the storyteller to present a solution to the listener later, but keeps them engaged for now.  How are you creating anticipation in your audience or customers?  Are you keeping them in suspense for them to, most importantly, be able to turn to you and ask how can you help me fix this?

Resolution

The end.  Whether it be good, bad, or ugly; there is always an end.  Ideally, for business, you want to try and leave your audience with as good a feeling as possible, or one that lets them know that a solution was found and that they can sleep soundly that night. How are you presenting your solutions to potential customers?

In selling or presenting, its often thought that solutions should be presented to potential customers first.  The brilliant minds at SalesGuru call it “We-ing all over the client” as in we do this, and we do that.  But have you ever thought about telling them a story first, hooking them in, and then giving them a solution?

Learn more about how to craft your story, give Beyond Copywriting a call on 081 039 4952

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How to create a website supercar for your business

Are you losing the online race to your competitors, and finding your company ranks lower than your competitors on Google? An effective SEO strategy can pimp your business’ ride.

Being relatively new to the concept of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), I decided to pick the brains of the experts at Algorithm, the SEO performance agency to help me understand how writing for SEO would help companies be seen first by prospective customers.

I am sure it’s obvious by now that every business should be visible to their customers via a website and a social media presence. However just simply having these two vehicles in place does not mean you’re going to win the race. Incorporating good SEO methods, is like pimping your ride to the max, ensuring you at least make it onto the first page and the customers consideration set.

70% of browsers on Google are more likely to trust and click on SEO/natural/organic searches than on paid adverts. That means your website should be ranking really well organically in order to be in the first few options in the search list. But what determines where and how your site ranks? Graeme Stiles of Algorithm puts it down to three simple things; visibility, relevance and importance.

Rank higher on Google in three ways

“Visibility, relevance and importance are the key ways of assessing your website to ascertain if it’s going to be ‘rank-worthy’ or not” adds Graeme.

Relevance

Relevance is content. Ask yourself is my content authoritative? Is it informative? Is it fresh? And is it written using the right pointers like heading tags?

Importance

This relates to off-site data. Do I have inbound links? What is their volume and quality like?

Visibility

Visibility pertains to onsite information. What is the site structure like? Is it mobile optimized? What is the domain quality like?

Focussing on relevant content, what do I need to do?

“There are a couple of ways in which you can really can make an impact when it comes to your content on your website, “says Stiles.

Keep the Page Title simple

The page title should clearly tell the browsers what this site is all about. It shouldn’t be longer than 50 characters and should be in the structure of Keyword 1/Keyword 2/ Brand Name. For example, Contact Beyond Copywriting/ Beyond Copywriting Contact Details/ Beyond Copywriting

How user-friendly is my URL?

Your URL should always be in lower case and separated by hyphens and not spaces. A maximum of 76 characters apply here and again keywords are important. For example, www.beyondcopywriting.co.za/services/social-media

Does my Heading look good in this?

A good heading is good thing when it comes to browsers looking for what they want. Always ensure you use Main Headings (H1), Sub-headings (H2) and section headings (H3, H4, H5) where possible in your text.

Tidy up your Shop Window

Finally, check your meta descriptions. Graeme explains that this is your shop window. “If your shop window is not enticing enough to catch my interest, why would I want to come inside?” . The meta description is your page summary when listed in the search results. It shouldn’t be longer than 130 characters and needs to explain enticingly what your website is all about.

It’s obvious that content is more than just about a few words on a page explaining what you or your company offers. Effective planning and consideration should go into it. It could mean the difference between first and fifty-first place.