Selling with stories

It’s been said before (by me, among others) that storytelling is a hugely effective way to get your message across. But what does “storytelling” actually mean?

Can you really write “Once upon a time” on a corporate website? Well, you can. But there are plenty of other, more subtle ways to bring a little narrative magic into your copy.

Let’s suppose, for example, that you are writing copy for a company that makes Kevlar cycle helmets for children.

Here’s a fairly typical approach to corporate copywriting (I can only bear to write the opening paragraph so you’ll have to imagine the rest.:

KidiKev are the leading providers of children’s safety helmets and associated products utilising Kevlar, carbon fibre and other high-tech materials. Our bike safety solutions deliver optimum damage resistance within an overall comfort-orientated design framework.

Ugh!

Here’s a different way to make the point:

On a sunny Spring day in 2007, David Keys was teaching his four-year-old daughter to ride her bike. Half-way round the park, a dog ran in front of Emily, startling her, and she fell off. As she did, the strap on her helmet came loose. Emily’s unprotected head hit the ground and for a moment David feared the worst.

Luckily for Emily, all she had to worry about was a “goose egg” on her forehead. But the accident prompted David to begin researching children’s safety equipment in search of something better. Finding nothing he could trust to protect Emily, he set up his own company to make a better helmet.

Emily still rides her bike, but now she’s protected with a KidiKev helmet that’s guaranteed not to come loose, crack or buckle. Will you do the same for your child?

Here’s a different take on the same idea:

The Marsh Harrier protects its newborn chicks by placing an upturned eggshell on their heads to keep them safe from the cruel beaks of frigate birds, their number one predator. The special shape covers the thin areas of the skull that are still developing, and inspired us to create the KidiKev “Harrier” helmet. It’s designed specifically to keep your “fledglings” safe as they make their first, wobbly laps of the local park on their new bike.

In each case, there’s a hero (Emily, the Marsh Harrier) a problem (falling off her bike, attacks by frigate birds), a narrative (she survived with a bump, the Harrier protects her chicks with an eggshell) and a resolution (her dad decided to build a better helmet himself, we were inspired to create a helmet design).

There’s no boasting or empty promises. Instead we play on the reader’s emotions, the most powerful sales tool at our disposal.

And I’m telling you this because

If you want to engage your reader, tell them a story. Be creative, do your research and always remember that your goal is not entertainment but sales. So make sure your story links to your call to action, either overtly or more subtly.

Stories are more to be read than corporate speak because we like to read them. Nobody ever read their children a corporate brochure before bed. (Mind you, it would probably put them to sleep quicker than Little Red Riding Hood.)