This post originally appeared on the author’s Sustainable Marketing Blog. Abridged and reprinted with permission.
Roger Burks, writer for the development organization Mercy Corps gives a “Better Online Storytelling” presentation whose conclusions apply to nonprofits and businesses alike. His thesis: If the main purpose of your marketing is to compel people to take action, stories are the way to do it.
What makes a good, action-inspiring story? According to Roger:
- Your commitment to telling the story. Get personal, insert yourself in the story, make it human.
- Character and emotional pull.
- Narrative arc – introduction, struggle, solution/resolution – demonstrating a person’s transformation as a result of your organization’s action.
- Consistency with other stories and alignment with reader’s expectations.
- Relevance over time, timelessness.
- Compelling title, intriguing lead/hook, story-specific photos, character-driven details, and clear call to specific action.
Almost every slide in his presentation features a photograph of an actual beneficiary of Mercy Corps services around the world, and Roger relates the story of every one of them.
A few additional points to keep in mind:
- “People relate to other people, not programs.”
- On the need to make your stories timeless: Your website should look more like a magazine than a newspaper.
- “Avoid the culture of press releases.”
- Your content demonstrates your capacity to solve the problem you’re addressing, establishes your organization’s identity, and sets the stage for future communication campaigns. If you tell your customers’ stories, you show you understand them and their needs.
- Stories lead to higher conversion rates, higher sales or donations, more site traffic, lower bounce rates, and a better informed and engaged constituency.
Roger implies that storytelling will also transform your business:
- You’ll better communicate how your company changes your customers’ lives
- Your marketing will be more authentic.
So here’s my call to action: Take all your marketing copy and turn it into stories. I know I will.
Peter Korchnak is the principal of Semiosis Communications, a sustainable marketing consultancy based in Portland, Oregon.
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