Everyone loves the experience created by a great story. Stories are clearly present in books, plays and movies, but stories can also be your friend’s description of her day. They’re the things used in marketing to get our attention, draw us in and provide unique emotional experiences that ultimately sell us on a product. People remember stories, and stories make people take action.

At Imagebox, we utilize a technique we like to call “strategic storytelling” for our clients. Simply, we can define it as creating your business’s unique story and using technology to get the information out to your audience.

Why Stories are Important

Small businesses have many competitors, sometimes an overwhelming amount in a small town or in Google search results for a specific term (we hear the search result problem a lot with our clients). The fact is, it’s not always your great location on the corner of the busiest street in town or your number one ranking in Google that gets you customers – it’s the story you create that sets you apart from your competitors (and contributes to your search ranking).

One common phrase that helps make my point is, “Facts tell. Stories sell.” Everyone makes claims as to how many satisfied customers they have, or that they’re the best in town. But telling a great story shows people you really are the best. It makes them feel it. A business’s ability to consistently develop their story, even writing sales copy in a way that makes it linger in people’s minds after viewing it, is invaluable.

Why Technology is Important

Technology allows potential customers to effectively use and interact with the stories businesses create. Content, distributed through the right media at the right time, can lead to sales made and businesses goals achieved. And technology lets us measure the effect of every story, test customer preferences and observe their behavior.

The internet is why content can reach so many people and make such a big impact. Whether it’s posted on social media, a blog, PRWeb or your website, the internet never forgets your story – it’s out there forever, and you can either keep telling it or become stagnant.

Where Storytelling and Technology Intersect

At Imagebox, we have a Strategic Storyteller and an Interactive Marketer – the perfect combination for an effective marketing strategy. They both create strategy, one content-based and one technology-based, but they have opposite and complementary functions.

Content strategy requires our Strategic Storyteller to have:

• Superb writing skills

• Knowledge about a client’s product or service

• An understanding of business goals & needs

• An understanding of users (client/customer personas)

• Knowledge of the channels through which this content will be published

Technology strategy requires our Interactive Marketer to have:

• The ability to analyze and align content and business goals

• Knowledge about a client’s product or service

• The ability to effectively target audiences of a specific demographic

• An understanding of publishing tools and marketing techniques

• The ability to analyze numbers and results

When the two strategy types come together, there are certain skills that each of our marketers contribute at certain steps. For example, our Strategic Storyteller can determine the tool to use that will best tell a client’s story, and the Interactive Marketer then learns the ins and outs of that specific tool. When developing content, the Interactive Marketer focuses on the facts and objectivity and the Strategic Storyteller turns that into a great story.

The benefit of using Imagebox to tell your story is getting the best of both the content and technical worlds. While one of us can look at the big picture and develop content that clearly communicates your brand across every channel, the other uses technology to reach and measure your business goals.

Give us a call at 412-441-0930 and start telling your story!