In Internet marketing, storytelling is a potent method of converting sales prospects to customers. With an authentic and interesting story, you build your customers’ trust in your business, motivate them to buy your products or services, and differentiate yourself from your competitors in the marketplace.
But for many companies, effective communication through stories poses a formidable challenge. In a January 2014 Bulldog Reporter Daily ‘Do article from California public relations company Infocom Group, over 47% of respondents in a survey conducted by presentation training firm BoldPoint Now noted that they needed help with storytelling and engaging audiences.
Fortunately, Internet marketing provides easy, global storytelling so that companies can connect with their intended audience and convince customers of their expertise through the content they provide. Visual forms of this storytelling work particularly well for attracting customers’ attention and raising their awareness of your company’s existence. For instance, articles containing relevant images have 94% more total views on average than articles without images, according to Florida ad agency MDG Advertising and Australian social media expert Jeff Bullas.
Whether you choose to tell the story of your company or show how your products or services worked for your clients, there are multiple methods of effective digital storytelling, such as:
1) Video. With video editing software, it is relatively simple to create a short, professional and interesting video to explain topics such as solutions to business problems or to show a company’s human side to your clients.
2) Photos. Memorable photos of company-sponsored events may be easily uploaded to social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
3) Case studies. Adding case studies of your clients to your blog or website provides proof of your company’s ability to solve business problems and invites the interest of other similar customers.
4) White papers. Design your white papers as PDF (portable document format) files that can be placed on your website, then downloaded by individual readers. In exchange for the free white paper, you can request that these potential customers leave contact information such as their names and e-mail addresses.
5) Infographics. Infographics created with design software or online tools are a fun and succinct method of electronic storytelling. Also, they can be easily spread from one website to another, raising customer awareness and boosting the potential sales prospects for your company.
6) Presentations. Create business presentations with PowerPoint or other software and upload the presentation to your own website or to LinkedIn’s slide hosting service SlideShare. With an average of 60 million unique visitors per month (according to its 2013 4th quarter data), SlideShare is a particularly effective method of promoting your company worldwide.
7) Webinars. By hosting a webinar, you’ll attract customers eager to hear and see business insights provided by knowledgeable experts.
