Why tell stories?

People love stories. It connects with them emotionally. It can leave an impression. Lots of times we want to market our businesses based on our exceptional services and incredible value. And while these things are important to a customer, if you can tell a story, give an example of a problem you solved for someone, and that potential customer can picture themselves as the person in that story, they're much more likely to remember you when they need a service you provide.

I could for instance, tell you:

OrangeWave Creative Media cares about their clients and we go the extra mile for them. We offer exceptional service and we'll make you a great looking video at a great price.  

Or I could say...
At OrangeWave, our relationships with our clients inspire all of the decisions we make as a company. A few months ago in the middle of the COVID19 pandemic, one of OrangeWave's existing clients reached out looking to have 10-15 videos edited. We knew given the circumstances that this client's marketing budget was a lot lower than normal, but instead of focusing on the amount of money we could make from the project, we thought about the impact we could make on our relationship with a great client. We decided to take on the project, lower our hourly rates while striving to maintain our quality. Why? Our clients mean a lot more to us than money.

Now the first example is a lot shorter, it's easier to post that as a Google or Facebook ad, but you read things like that all the time, and usually forget what they were about.

The second example allows you to picture the person in the situation. Maybe you could even see yourself in that situation. It allows you to connect and more easily see how OrangeWave reached out to solve a problem for one of their clients.

Now it's easy for me to say great things about myself...for all you know I could have made up that story, but where the real power comes is when you can get customers to tell those stories for you.