TKG SEO Blog

Guest Blogger: Corey Hammond

Storyteller Marketing: How the Art of Storytelling Matches Up With the Business of Marketing

Moderator:

• Rebecca Lieb, Contributing Editor, ClickZ

Speakers:

• Gary Stein, Director of Strategy, Ammo Marketing
• Sally Falkow, President, Expansion Plus Inc.
• Larry Lawfer, Founder/President, YourStorys.com

First up is Gary. He starts by telling a story about Nordstroms and customer service. People will pass on stories more than anything else and they are very powerful. Stories can influence whether or not an item is purchased. People will write reviews, their stories, and those are what influence other’s buying decisions. There are 5 types of stories that can be told he says, but he lists 6. Origin is the one he is leaving off for some reason:

1. Origin - Where did it come from
2. Purpose - Why you are doing something
3. Vision - Where are things going
4. Education - Teach people about your product, service, or industry
5. Ethics - What they stand for

Sally is up next. They had to switch some stuff with the computers. Sally has a background in PR. Companies need to find their brand story and know what is being said about you. She points out the story of the PC vs. Mac ads and how just the picture of the 2 guys in the ad speak the story. The next example she is using of Kleenex and their “Let It Out” campaign. Kleenex is putting user’s stories on the site and these stories are heart-felt and deep. After those examples she starts giving more of them like Dove and HerRoom.com. HerRoom.com turned their site into a resource that cared about women’s health. Sally the sites different ways of telling your story like through videos, blogs and articles. She just referred RSS to multi-level marketing for content.

Larry is the last up. He says Seth Godin wrote a great book called “All Marketers Are Liars” and that is why he is a story teller. Some rules of stories: Have to be real, have to be authentic, and an invitation for others to join. He is a big fan of telling stories through video. Stories should make the person want more.

I think this session took a unique view of marketing and how to leverage it online. People will pass on stories, good or bad. If businesses took the time to plan out their goals and what story they want to tell, it can be very powerful. This session seems like it would tie in well with the SEO for Video session. I’m hearing it was a good session on Twitter and hopefully I’ll read some more on it since I didn’t attend that one.