How To Create A Content Strategy Based On Storytelling

Stories sell [full stop] and your content strategy must have them… Now more than ever.

Storytelling is the ultimate hack for your content marketing strategy. Own it and you won’t need to sell to anyone ever again. ~Sofia Reis

Using your journey’s story as pieces of your content strategy makes you relatable and an authority in what you offer. People buy from people. And people have stories to tell. When you tell a story you are helping others imagine their own problem and you’re allowing them to see the possibilities and the solution they seek.

Let’s go back in time to our childhood when our mum or dad read us a story about the Princess that got married to the Prince and lived happily ever after. Can you remember the feelings you had when someone told you that story? Your face would light up and you would imagine marrying that charming Prince too.

The same goes for your content strategy.

It is imperative that you speak about the emotions that you’ve felt when you were struggling with a specific event. Create a movie in someone else’s mind so that they can see themselves going through the same and allow them to see “the light at the end of the tunnel”. Just like a good story that has a beginning, middle, and end, you don’t want to leave any details out.

Building your story brand creates an emotional connection and a profound rapport with who’s listening. Storytelling that focuses on authentic and genuine experiences often triggers emotional connections that make your audience want to engage with your personal brand and your content.

Your brand is YOU.

Therefore by talking about your own authentic experiences and how you overcame them, will give others the confidence to take action and find the answer to their struggle.

How To Create A Content Strategy Based On Storytelling

Let me show you my own journey in the illustration below and how I create my content strategy based on storytelling. When I built my Personal and Business Brand back in 2018, I had to dig deep and build my own Journey’s Story based on my experiences and tribulations.

Going back to the time when I quit my 9 to 5 wasn’t easy and I had to deal with a few demons along the way. However, by revisiting these stages in your business and life journey will give you enough content to play with. The image below shows the journey from the moment I started my business up to the build-up of my Personal Brand with Eve Voyevoda – Business & Brand Creator.

However, there are more areas in your life that you must look at in order to find inspiration and substance for the creation of your content posts. So, you need to go even further into your past to discover these content nuggets. As part of a program, I’ve done an exercise which I explain in the blog post My Kensho and Satori Life Moments. This previous blog post might help you to pinpoint those high and low moments in your life and serve as empowering content messages for your audience.

Depending on your specific niche, mission, and positioning statement, there are 3 areas that you need to take into consideration when you are building your content strategy.

• Your First Attempts at whatever you want to do with your business

• Your Journey

• Your Client’s Journey

All these stages are going to give you enough material to create your own content and start making an emotional connection with your audience.

Be truly honest with yourself when you are laying out your journey and don’t be scared of showing the most vulnerable stages of your life and business. The GOLD is in these places.

For example, in my journey back in 2008 when I first attempted building a business and I failed miserably so much so that I had to return to my 9 to 5.

I often write content about this stage because my objective is to show others that just because we fail at something, it doesn’t mean that it will happen again. Being persistent with our goals and desires will pay off in time and space. We are more resilient than we think we are.

I look at failure as a stepping stone for learning and growth. Growth doesn’t mean that we have to always succeed. For me, it means that we are experimenting and learning and moving on even if it feels like we are moving slowly. Nevertheless, we are changing and transforming.  Your audience is waiting to read about your own experiences and how you overcame them.

After you’ve created your own journey, you want to dig deep into the External and Internal feelings of your clients. Ask yourself these emotive questions:

• How did they feel before working with you? This is the critical PAIN and what is keeping them stuck.
• How do they feel after working with you? This is the moment where they reached their desires and dreams. 

Ask your current clients or develop some market research. Survey forms are great to find out what your audience is struggling with.

Based on your journey and after figuring out the most inspiring stages of your STORY then it is time to create a content strategy based on Storytelling.

Here is a simple structure for your content messages to help inspire and engage your audience:

• Pain Point Or Fear: What is the struggle? How do they feel before working with you? What are their fears and insecurities?

• The Dream: What do they truly want to achieve? What is the “DREAM” that they want? Why do they want it?

• Reason To Believe: Give them a reason to believe that their dream is possible to reach. Your content can help others to stand strong for what they believe. Remember that you are the Guide who is leading them to ease and flow in their lives.

• Your Transformational Solution: No one is better than you can teach them and guide them towards the solution they are seeking. How did you overcome your own struggle? What resources did you use? What has helped you along the way?

• Call to Action: This is where you want to send them. Maybe you want them to read an article you wrote or you want to strengthen the relationship and have an informal conversation with them to access if you can help them on their own journey. Or you just want them to answer a question… complete a survey… or signup for a free resource you have. The possibilities are endless when we talk about the “Call to Action”. However, just be mindful that if you don’t own the platform where your marketing content is posted then you must first build relationships and increase your authority by replying to questions asked or giving them plenty of value before you start promoting your own content.

At the end of the day…

If your content strategy is done correctly by the time they book a call, you don’t even have to sell because they are already sold on YOU. 

Like I said before PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE. So, the more authentic and real you are, the better chances you have to attract your ideal audience.

Would love to know your thoughts about this and if you liked this article, feel free to share it with your community.