The art of storytelling in marketing is lost upon many business owners. Business professionals, in general, are typically straight-to-the-point individuals, and with that comes a lack of storytelling. It would be best if you never underestimated a good story. Since our childhood, we have been fascinated by a good story. One that can capture our attention and show us things we would never have experienced otherwise. Adding marketing into the mix makes things that much more interesting. Using your marketing techniques to tell a story about your business allows you to connect with your customers on a deeper level.
This article will look at a few different ways to use storytelling to take your marketing to a new level. Engage your audience, take them on a journey, and eventually lead them into checking out your campground. Be excited and tap into your creative center as you begin to formulate a story that will help you promote your campground and build trust between you and your audience. People are emotional so drive them to you using emotions. Appeal to their core beliefs and focus on telling a story that will resonate with your target audience. And most importantly, be authentic and true to yourself and your business.
A big concern our campground owners have is how long storytelling marketing takes to give results. The answer is it takes a longer amount of time to generate results than paid advertising or simpler forms of marketing. But the data is clear in the long run, and storytelling offers a much greater return on investment (ROI). Customers exposed to storytelling marketing have been found to spend significantly more (257% more) and are 90% more likely to recommend the campground to a friend. By not telling a story, you miss out on revenue and a chance to connect with your customers.
Key Elements of Storytelling
Before we look at some of the tips you can use while creating your story, let’s first define what makes a story. In our case, when we are looking to create a story, it’s simple. First, we identify our target audience. Typically this is campground owners who are facing some difficult problem. Next, we look at how we can solve this problem, and finally, how we solved this problem.
We do this by using the main characters, the antagonist (typically what is causing the problem), and how rvResortScout has helped solve the problem (protagonist). Now boil this down and outline the situation for your business. This will better organize your thoughts and get you thinking about how you effectively solved your main character’s problem. Once you’re ready, bring your story to life. Now let’s get into just how to do that.
Be Relatable/Where Do I Use Storytelling Marketing
When telling your story, your audience needs to feel like they relate to the story’s character. For example, if you are talking about how your campground has an amazing playground, but you never mention the spa, hot tub, and restaurants, you would be leaving out a large part of your audience. Of course, never lie but do your best to appeal to your target audience.
The biggest question we get is where we try to tell stories and be relatable, and the answer is that it depends on you. Of course, your website shouldn’t be just one big storybook with story after story on what it has to offer. There should also be your traditional content marketing strategies and perhaps even paid marketing strategies to get you the best results. The best place to tell a story is to include it in your About Us Page, some of your articles, and your advertising. The best brands have been shown to build amazing connections with their audience through stories, and you can too with some careful calculation and a willingness to express the stories you have to share.
Identify the Problem
Make the problem relatable to the customer. Identify the problem occurring in your story and be sure that it relates to your target audience. For example, in this article here (although not necessarily the best form of storytelling marketing as we are focusing on being informative), we are crafting our message to appeal to the campground owner looking to expand their marketing efforts through storytelling marketing. Each sentence we write has a goal. And that goal is to express what it takes to be a successful storytelling marketer. Simultaneously we want our target audience to relate to our story/examples and start to create these stories on their own.
Find a major problem your customers are having and tell a story identifying just how you can solve that problem. Perhaps it’s that they need rest, or a spa day, or the ability to go on a walk and getaway. Whatever a common problem your customers have, write about it and use storytelling marketing to show how you fixed their problem.
Using Storytelling in Marketing to Solve the Problem?
How did you or your team solve the problem at hand? How did they get to that resolution, and how were you responsible for making your customer happy? People love knowing that you can help them; people do things that make their life easier. And showing you can solve a problem is a perfect chance to make someone’s life easier.
Within your story, be concise and show exactly how you solved your customer’s problem and all the steps you took towards the resolution. Allow your target audience to slip into the shoes of your main character easily. Any good story places you at the epicenter of the action. Why do we relate to action movies? Because we see ourselves in the main character’s shoes. Use your stories to allow your clients to become the character that needed help. Allow them to see how your campground provides all the solutions to their problems. In essence, you are the superhero in your own story. Now demonstrate how you can make life easier for your customers. Most importantly, make these stories clear and easy to read.
Action Steps
The next steps you take can determine the future of your campground for many years to come. First, if you are still interested in learning about the power of storytelling marketing, I suggest you check out Storytelling in Marketing: Why It’s Important & What Is The ROI? written by Bart De Pelsmaeker, who dives even further into this topic. And then “Use Your Branding to Tell A Story” written by us. Next, jot down some of the amazing stories your business has. From how you opened, to the challenges you overcame, and just how you have helped solve your customer’s biggest problems.
Finally, decide how you will bring to life these stories. Be creative and offer different ways to express your campground’s story. Videos, blog articles, and pictures all tell stories in different interesting formats. Find the media that works best for you and create these amazing stories you are capable of. The ROI will be amazing, and your customers will feel that much more connected with you along the way.
