Generally speaking, when someone asks me what I do for a living, I say, “I am in marketing.” For most people, the next question is typically, “but what does that mean?” Then I spend a few minutes going through my spiel talking about that stuff you get in the mail that you probably call junk is marketing. Or maybe those annoying targeted web ads you hate so much on social media. Well, that is what I do daily and have done for 20 years now. I have been in the business of putting products and services in front of people with the hopes of convincing them to make a purchase. Recently, I have come to believe there is a better and simpler way to say all of that: I am in the storytelling business.
Are you confused yet? Let me explain. When you reduce marketing down to its simplest form, marketers use words, images, and sound to tell you about a product in a fun way that you will remember. If the marketer is right, everything piece of information you gather from an ad should serve as a building blog of details to give you a complete mental picture of what they are trying to sell you on. A well-written campaign will have a conversation with you like a story. The marketer that tells the better story will win the sale.
When content marketing (articles, blogs, podcasts, videos) is king, it is more important than ever to tell a seamless story so your content is strung together to make a resounding argument for your product or service.
So, the story happens to be about a product or service. Content has to make sense and be relevant to today’s consumers. Everyone can relate to a story, not everyone can relate to marketing, so I am attempting to make it less scary and approach. I like to identify myself as a Storytelling Ambassador because I take the thing you are selling and make it the start of a multipart marketing campaign where you should come out looking like the Hero.