After looking at the three types of marketing stories in our last post, we asked you to run through the stories you want to use and establish what kind of stories they are. 

How did that exercise go? 

We hope it went well and that you were able to determine what you want to achieve with each story and how best to integrate it into your brand and marketing message. 

Once you have clarity on the goals that you want to achieve with your storytelling, it's time to take a closer look at how you can use triggers to take advantage of story-telling.

What are triggers and how will they help?

Triggers evoke a response from your audience. Triggers will engage with your core market and make them feel something, whether it's excitement, hope, inspiration, or simply confidence in your offering.

It's important that your marketing messages always come across as being genuine and honest.  Avoid hyperbole or leading potential customers astray with promises you can't keep.

The best way is to identify where they are in their own journey and weave a story that aligns with their level. For this, you'll need to conduct market research to ensure that you're able to understand the type of customers you're aiming for and how best to serve them.

By integrating triggers that touch down on what's most important to your audience, you'll be able to ignite a firestorm of excitement and activity surrounding your brand.

This is exactly how thought-leaders build a loyal tribe that follows them wherever they go, buys all their products, participates in beta testing, submits testimonials, and helps them supercharge their exposure. FYI, a YouTuber with 8 billion views just launched their burger brand at 300 locations!

So obviously they're very important and equally effective!

It all starts by building an emotional connection with your customers. You do this by truly understanding what they're struggling with, fearful of doubt in their own journey.

Then, you can provide comfort through your story-telling by showing them that you understand what they're going through and that you have a way to help them through it.

Here are a few things to consider:

a) Is your story believable? Will people believe in your story-telling and feel connected to it?

b) Does your story align with where your average customer is on their journey?  Does it make sense to them?

c) Will your story evoke a positive response, touch down on the greatest hopes and dreams that your audience is thinking about every single day?

Today, we’d like you to create a general outline for a story you can weave throughout your marketing campaign, or within your brand itself.  

It doesn't have to be complicated. You can also begin with a summary of your own story and then connect it with what your customers will relate with.   

You know your audience better than anyone.  Create a story that invites them to share a journey that will lead them to success and you'll build a forever-tribe of loyal customers. 

In our next post, we'll talk about how you can leverage the power of a great story to maximize sales.