Stories or Codes: What Really Drives Startup Success?
I might sound a bit biased here, given my background in communications, but let’s set aside any preconceived notions about what you’re about to read. The big question often asked is: “What’s the most important skill for a startup?” A lot of tech enthusiasts and entrepreneurs strongly believe that technical skills are the ultimate game-changer. Think software development, DevOps engineering, cybersecurity expertise, and all those technical skills that are needed to make websites/apps run smoothly. And honestly, that’s not off the mark. Without these tech experts, there wouldn’t even be a product to begin with. So, hats off to the tech bros and sis out there!
But guess what? There’s this one skill that we pushed to the side, and in my book, it’s the ultimate champ of all skills. How did it get sidelined? The reason behind this marginalization is the belief that since it’s not about writing complex code, why make a fuss?
But here’s where it gets interesting: Once your tech bro builds an exceptional product, you need real people who will use the product. Hence the saying ‘’Customers are the lifeblood of every business’’, and this rings true because, without them, companies cannot exist. Thanks to your tech bro and sis, but here is where the real challenge is.
Attracting customers who are already satisfied with a competitor’s solution is a challenge for businesses. These potential customers may not even be aware of the existence of your company due to the overwhelming amount of information they are exposed to daily. So how do you onboard users and ignite their enthusiasm for your product? By telling stories. Yeah, that’s right!
Corporate storytelling is arguably the most important skill needed in a company aiming to leave a lasting impact and firmly establish its presence. Why is that? In an organizational setting, storytelling is an integral part of everything we do. There is a concept that programming languages are stories. Programming is both science and art and writing code is a form of telling a story through writing. So, every organization needs to have the skill of telling stories that matter to make a lasting impact and establish a strong market position.
Is storytelling hard? NO
Telling GOOD stories WELL — that’s seriously challenging. And in a world where so many stories already exist, coming up with ORIGINAL GOOD stories is hard. Using it to influence and persuade people to use your product is even HARDER!
WHY?
As humans, we come across a million pieces of information every single day. And because there’s so much stuff competing for our attention, we end up paying attention to things that matter. Imagine human attention like gold, and only a real pro can mine it. To get us interested, you’ve got to tell us stories that hit home.
Apart from relying solely on a good product to speak for itself, having a skilled storyteller in your company who can emotionally connect people with the narrative your product presents becomes crucial. How can you craft a compelling narrative that captures people’s interest? The key lies in understanding the essence of storytelling itself.
Stories are a simulated expression of how we view ourselves and reality. Even without an entertainment industry, we’d still be telling stories and experiencing stories because that’s how we experience the chaos that is all around us. We can’t help but feel like the main character and walk around with a sense of purpose and meaning or a “central message” as we writers would call it. We can’t help but find a lesson when there aren’t any lessons at all.
Everything is a story to us when there isn’t a story at all because we’re practically hardwired to project simulated stories onto objective reality. So to me, storytelling is everything because, without it, we cannot orient ourselves or make sense of anything. That’s why, if everything failed and we fall back to the stone age, we’d still be sitting around the campfire telling stories. It’s just our way of living. In a nutshell, we all possess the art of storytelling within us. It is undeniably one of the most significant skill in the world, as it allows us to effectively communicate and connect with others on a basic and deeper level.
So how do you tell stories in a corporate setting? How do you utilize one of the greatest skills in the world to your advantage as a CEO, Communications Manager or a member of a startup? The solution lies in mastering the art of storytelling: What makes a good corporate storyteller?
The first thing you need to know is that there’s a lot of noise online, and it’s challenging to put your business across online and offline platforms. A study in 2015 estimates that an average person sees 4,000–10,000 ads a day. The number has definitely increased three-fold since then, especially with Influencer Marketing becoming a widespread thing. Of course, as a defence mechanism, our brains have erected a wall that filters most of these ads. Only those that stand out from the rest make it through. In other words, only a good storyteller who has truly mastered the art of corporate storytelling can break between the wall.
Another important point to consider is that people make buying decisions based on emotion. Customers are increasingly purchasing products based on emotion. As marketing and communications professionals, we see this happen all the time. We argue that emotion drives most buying decisions these days. You might have noticed a trend in companies appealing to your emotions. Buyers, especially millennials, are increasingly factoring in their emotions into the buying process. Why? Customers’ expectations are higher than ever before — like I already mentioned in my previous post here, they are used to getting the best product, fastest delivery, and most accommodating service. This has translated to customers being influenced by a company’s brand and actions outside its core business.
In the words of Jonathan Gottschall, the great Literary Scholar
“Humans simply aren’t moved to action by ‘data dumps,’ dense PowerPoint slides, or spreadsheets packed with figures. People are moved by emotion. The best way to emotionally connect other people to our agenda begins with ‘Once upon a time…’
Of course, once upon a time can be conveyed through a variety of mediums, such as videos, pictures, copywriting, and others. In this example, we will compare two different approaches to using copywriting to connect with your audience through storytelling;
Imagine you’re trying to sell your services to a client. What sounds better out of the following?
A:
“We helped our client sell 150 more Pampers per month”
Or B:
“Before working with us, Chuks Baby world was having trouble converting leads to paying customers. They were frustrated because of A, B, and especially C. But after a month of working with our customer management software, they were able to resolve A and mitigate the effects of B. Six months later, they’re selling 150 more pampers per month.”
So, which one grabs your attention? I bet it’s B 😉!
As a storyteller, that’s how we make stories fun and exciting — by letting you feel the journey and the awesome changes. We make things interesting and make you go, “Wow, tell me more!’’
It is simple. When buying things, people want to feel a good emotion, like happiness or excitement, about what they’re getting. People aren’t just buying your product, they’re buying into your story. And stories that are emotional wins. Gone are the days when having a better product gives companies a competitive advantage. Customers already expect an extremely high level of service, and that is why you need to differentiate by tapping into emotions.
You can have the most innovative product in the world, but if you can’t get people excited about it, it doesn’t matter.
To bring it all together, using corporate storytelling can make a big difference in achieving success as a startup. A strong brand story creates an emotional connection with your customers, and it can help you create a narrative that resonates with your target audience on a personal level. By investing in corporate storytelling, you can create a brand that stands out from the competition and continues to evolve and grow. It’s an opportunity to communicate your authentic story and bring it to life in a way that engages and inspires your customers, building loyalty and trust along the way. Using corporate storytelling the right way can turn your brand, or website, into a person with a viewpoint. It is a fundamentally human way of communicating and it makes brands that tell stories more approachable.
