Storytelling.
People who are good at telling stories can communicate their thoughts and feelings effectively to guide the listener to an understanding.
However, when it comes to a B2B environment is it a good idea to brand in the same way?
In a word, personally, I would say, YES!
The very nature of buying stems from trust. Trust that the quality of the product or service will meet expectations. Trust that buying will be safe and the product is guaranteed to function as described.
Branding builds trust. It's true, if we are familiar with something then, typically, if there is no evidence to the contrary, we trust what we know.
Simple.
This fact does not change from a business or personal point of view.
Let me put it this way, if you needed a solution and budget was not a factor, then would you choose a software solution from, let's say Oracle or from some minor unknown company?
The answers is pretty obvious.
You know the bigger company has a strong track record from its years of operation as you have heard about the successes and sometimes even their failures, you've followed them with interest over time and built a picture if that particular company in your mind.
You may not have used the company but you definitely have an opinion!
Which, in reality doesn't make any sense; after all if you have no first hand experience how can you form a true and valid opinion?
But, as with many things in life, the reality isn't always the reality!
Our opinions are formed slowly, over a course of time and based on familiarity and understanding.
Based on a story that grows in our minds, start to finish, until one can say, 'I know that company and what they do, even though it's not really relevant to me.'
Now that businesses are afforded a multitude of channels which can be used to freely market and inform about the brand in a relevant environment, (think webinars, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Hangouts etc)
B2B business have the opportunity to Brand like a B2C company thus making, if nothing else, their name well known and synonymous with quality and perhaps even something analogous to their industry.
So start telling the story of your business even if you're in B2B, and remember, story telling is an art so get creative.
It's as old as language itself and is a true art form.
Cave paintings, hieroglyphics, the Bible, Quran, Grimm's fairy tales, blockbuster movies.
These are all attempts at telling a story in some fashion, via some channel.
A channel is any format or method for the author, writer, painter or whoever to be able to bring their thoughts, feeling and opinions into reality to share and impart upon others via print, online or verbally and so on.
Some stories are powerful and inspire others, some help us in our day to day lives, some draw us into melancholy (those who have read 'Hound of the Baskerville's' and are familiar with Watson's description of the moors on his train ride to Baskerville hall will understand what I mean!).
As individuals, every communication we have in the real world, is an attempt to deliver our own thoughts attached to meaning, hopefully in some arrangement that makes sense to the listener.
The person we are communicating with should be able to understand and empathize with us - they'll be checking their brain for meaning to the words being heard and correlating them to some past experience that they've had to fully understand the meaning and relevance of the words.
This all happens in the subconscious, far beyond normal peoples awareness and is done within a nanosecond.
And therein is the story.
I tell my story, you check it against your stories and if they match up or have similarities, (similar experiences, sights, sounds, feelings) then you understand my story and it's all good!
People who are good at telling stories can communicate their thoughts and feelings effectively to guide the listener to an understanding.
Sales people are taught to use storytelling as a sales tactic - tell a story that allows people to empathize with you, the more you can get them to 'understand' you and where you're coming from, the benefits of your thought process, product or service, the more trust and rapport you build in their eyes and the easier it is to sell your various wares.
But what does this mean for companies rather than individuals?
We are all aware of major B2C brand names and their subsequent proliferation within our homes, offices, cars and well, every aspect of our existence.
But what does this mean for companies rather than individuals?
We are all aware of major B2C brand names and their subsequent proliferation within our homes, offices, cars and well, every aspect of our existence.
 |
| Do you know all of these brands? |
In a word, personally, I would say, YES!
The very nature of buying stems from trust. Trust that the quality of the product or service will meet expectations. Trust that buying will be safe and the product is guaranteed to function as described.
Branding builds trust. It's true, if we are familiar with something then, typically, if there is no evidence to the contrary, we trust what we know.
Simple.
This fact does not change from a business or personal point of view.
Let me put it this way, if you needed a solution and budget was not a factor, then would you choose a software solution from, let's say Oracle or from some minor unknown company?
The answers is pretty obvious.
You know the bigger company has a strong track record from its years of operation as you have heard about the successes and sometimes even their failures, you've followed them with interest over time and built a picture if that particular company in your mind.
You may not have used the company but you definitely have an opinion!
Which, in reality doesn't make any sense; after all if you have no first hand experience how can you form a true and valid opinion?
But, as with many things in life, the reality isn't always the reality!
Our opinions are formed slowly, over a course of time and based on familiarity and understanding.
Based on a story that grows in our minds, start to finish, until one can say, 'I know that company and what they do, even though it's not really relevant to me.'
Now that businesses are afforded a multitude of channels which can be used to freely market and inform about the brand in a relevant environment, (think webinars, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Hangouts etc)
B2B business have the opportunity to Brand like a B2C company thus making, if nothing else, their name well known and synonymous with quality and perhaps even something analogous to their industry.
So start telling the story of your business even if you're in B2B, and remember, story telling is an art so get creative.
