4 Ways to Use Story to Connect in Your Marketing with Lindsay Rogers

Subscribe to Heather’s YouTube Channel here.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE ON APPLE PODCASTS / SPOTIFY / STITCHER

It’s said that stories are 22 times more powerful than facts. That’s why so many speakers (myself included) use them to convey their messages from stages. It’s my FAVORITE kind of on stage content which is why you’ll find many episodes dedicated the topic of storytelling like how to tell your signature story or ways to come up with story ideas and my best storytelling tips here.

But storytelling is also a powerful way to communicate beyond live presentation and video, especially when it comes to marketing your brand. That’s why I asked storytelling strategist Lindsay Yaw Rogers to come on the show to share how you can leverage stories in your marketing to connect with your audience in 4 unique ways you might not have considered.

In this episode you’ll learn…

why storytelling hits both the logic and emotional chord.
the S.T.O.R.Y. acronym that will help you remember what to include in yours.
The most impactful way to tell vulnerable and emotional stories

Episode Show Notes

4 Ways To Use Stories in Your Marketing

1. Stories In Testimonials And Social Proof:

The human experience is all about change. And change means that we’re all a work in progress—forever. What a testimonial does is it tracks a person’s course as they changed. It shares a transformation between then and now and helps you, as the reader, explore your own potential, desires, possibilities, and what the price of admission might be.

TESTIMONIAL POWER TIPS

#1| The Goal Is Emotion
#2| Highlight Their Before/After Transformation
#3| End First
#4| Simplify to Amplify

2. Use Parables To Get Buy In—Fast:

Have you ever been in a pinch when you need to share what you do, and you need it to be simple and damn effective because you’re a). trying to get a customer, b). trying to land a partnership, or c). trying to get people to understand what you do, and why it matters—but, you can’t think of a personal story that makes sense? Enter the power of the parable.

PARABLE POWER TIPS:

#1| Oversimplify: Don’t get fancy with your parable. Make it short, illustrative of what you do, and have a point at the end.
#2| Make The Connection
#3| Use Commonplace Metaphors
#4| Be Creative

3. Share the Pain Of The Past:

As Ray Dalio says: “Pain plus reflection equals progress.” That means that pain without reflection is still pain. It’s the reflection of that pain that gives our pain a reason to exist because it makes pain necessary to make progress in virtually anything. Your job as an entrepreneur, a marketer, or a leader is to not only share that pain, but share the reflection of that pain because the reflection is what will set you apart from others who have faced similar challenges. Here are 3 tips on how to do that well:

VULNERABLE STORY POWER TIPS

#1 | Bleed first
#2 | Give context
#3 | Close with a lesson

4. Close The Gap Between Brand Vision & Visual:

Facts deal with the mind, stories and narratives deal with imagination, emotion, and ultimately will. If people are not excited about your brand, you won’t be able to change their minds with facts. You have to use their imagination and will by opening up possibility and imagination with stories that create a visual. Without painting a really clear picture of how you’re going to make someone feel, your impact is speculative. So you have to show them how your brand will viscerally impact their lives.

Here are 4 steps to close the gap between your company’s vision and the visual story you give to those you’re trying to persuade.

Step #1 | Get crystal clear on your values
Step #2 | Nail down your customer’s values
Step #3 | Create and map your stories to their values

About my guest, Lindsay Yaw Rogers

Lindsay Yaw Rogers is a storyteller who helps entrepreneurs, small businesses and brands build powerful stories to fuel growth, connection, and impact. She began her career as a magazine editor, then moved onto becoming a freelance journalist where she traveled the world telling other people’s stories.

In that time, she learned what mattered to people and why. She learned how to use language to connect, and how to translate highly personal stories into universal truths. In essence, she learned how stories can transform people.

Grab Lindsay’s 4 Surprising Ways to Use Stories in Your Marketing here

Connect with Lindsay Yaw Rogers on Instagram | Linkedin | Medium