Not Every Piece of Content Needs to Tell a Story
Stories are everywhere, and I’m sick of it. Every social media app is trying to throw them in my face, every website is trying to lure me to their clickbait story, and now every brand wants to connect with me online emotionally. Please make it stop.
Reasons Why I’m Growing Weary of Stories:
- Most people are terrible at telling stories.
- Most people aren’t seeking stories. Gasp!
I know I will upset the content professionals who love to wax poetic, build authenticity, and capture the emotions of their viewers, listeners, or readers.
There’s nothing better than a great story told by a master storyteller. But finding a great story or a great storyteller to tell it is quite rare. Great storytellers tout the benefits of great storytelling because it’s their business!
That may not be your business.
Google researched what motivated people to take action online, landing in 4 different moments where businesses and consumers took action.
- I want to know moments
- I want to go moments
- I want to do moments
- I want to buy moments
Of course, if a buyer has the time to watch, listen, or read a story, they may be engaged deeper with your brand online. But I’d argue that this is rare. And I believe industry statistics support my premise. One example is the double-digit growth and popularity of (less than 2-minute) “how-to” videos online. People aren’t searching for stories; they searched for solutions to their problems.
I’m not saying that your company should abandon storytelling altogether. When we research and develop a compelling story, the infographics and whitepapers we design for our customers perform well. However, we see many more people coming to and converting on our clients’ sites when we provide a solution to correct their problems.
While a slice of your content should be telling the compelling story of your company’s existance, of your founder, or of the customers that you’re assisting, you also need to have concise, explicit articles that speak to:
- How to fix the problem.
- How your solution helps fix the problem.
- Why your solution is different.
- Why you can be trusted.
- How your customers can justify your expense.
Example 1: High Tech, No Story
NIST is the National Institute of Standards and Technology. They frequently publish lengthy research reports recommending policies and procedures for access control, business continuity, incident response, disaster recoverability, and several more key areas. The PDFs are incredibly detailed (as any formal research document should be), but most IT and Security experts need to understand the takeaways – not study every detail.
Our data center client is internationally recognized as a leader in innovation in the data center industry and security experts. They’re a private data center that has attained the highest level of federal security requirements known – FEDRamp. One of the co-founders is literally one of the most certified experts on the planet. So, rather than regurgitating the entire document, he approves a synopsis researched and written by our team that explains the report.
The value of those articles is that they save their prospects and customers a ton of time. With the recognition Rich has built, his synopsis of the research is trusted and valued by his audience. No story… just efficiently answering the I want to know needs of his audience.
Example 2: Valuable Research, No Story
Another of our clients is a leading-edge solution for recruiting professionals to interview candidates via text. It’s such a new technology that no one is searching for this type of platform. However, the same decision-makers are seeking other information online. We helped their team research and develop a list of low-cost employee perks that boost engagement, retention, and have a great return on investment.
Again, there’s no story there – but it’s a well-researched, comprehensive, and valuable article that answers I want to do when employers are seeking to implement new perks for employees.
What is Your Prospect Looking For?
Again, I’m not disregarding the power of great storytelling; I’m just advising that it’s not the only tool in your toolbox. You need to pick the right tool for the right prospect. Figure out what your audience is seeking and provide it for them.
It’s not always a story.
