With every business on earth now running its own blog, Twitter account, and Facebook page there’s no excuse for any company not to develop a real narrative, explaining why it exist, what motivates it, and why it’s unique. This media allow for a story more developed than one limited to an About Us page on a website. If you aren’t utilizing this opportunity to make an impression on potential customers, you’re missing out. But how can you determine the story of your company? Well, if you’re John Janstch, you can take a lesson from a technique used in creative writing. Here’s Jantsch:
To find and create a marketing story for your organization, one that can act as a backstory for why you do what you do, I suggest you look at your business like a writer developing a great character.
Think about the things that draw you into a story. It’s usually a character that creates a dramatic impact through actions, desires and shared experiences. Great stories and characters usually come to life through the careful telling of seemingly small details.
A seasoned writer might use the following kinds of questions to help get started unearthing the key marketing story. Play with answering some of these and you just might discover your most important marketing message to date.
- What do you know about where this business is going that no one could know?
- What is your industry’s greatest flaw?
- If your business could choose a new identity, what would it be?
- What is your favorite customer story?
- What is your secret wish for your business?
- What is the greatest challenge your business must overcome?
- What is your greatest fear for your business?
- What is your greatest achievement/disappointment?
- What about your childhood shaped you for this moment?
- What choices have you made that you regret?
Jantsch’s questions are a great way to start thinking about crafting the story of your business. Perhaps their greatest strength is that they force the writer to be specific about her company. That’s one thing I know about stories: they usually fall flat if they don’t include compelling details.
What’s the story of your company? What process did you use to determine and articulate this story?
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