The new quality engineer opened the email on her phone and saw a message from a company she had never heard of before.
The picture showed a solution to a problem she was working on and provided a few brief bullet points to demonstrate that the sender was empathetic toward the challenges she faced. She clicked the link and watch a short 30-second video that illustrated the solution without overburdening her with too many choices. She forwarded the email to several of her coworkers saying, do you think this might solve our problem?
Sharing stories like this made the engineer feel smart and that she had discovered something of value.
Marketing and Sharing Stories
People remember stories and content when it connects at some emotional level and demonstrates that you feel their pain. But the real marketing magic happens, when the story is shared and spread among a distinct audience who cares about your solution.
My friend and author Mark Schaefer writes about how content becomes valuable when it’s moving. It is in sharing that you generate real value. Whether it’s inbound marketing like a blog post or outbound, like an email, getting the message moving matters.
Sharing Stories – Giving Wings to Content
- Empathy Matters: You must demonstrate that you understand their pain. (I know that you have this type of problem and I’ll bet it’s a pain)
- Simple Matters: You must make it simple and easy to share and forward to others. (Just three easy steps to solve the problem)
- Emotion Matter: You must generate an emotional response that gives the recipient a reason to share the content with colleagues. (I’ll look so smart if this solution works)
Marketing that doesn’t get shared is like a car without gas. Why buy the vehicle if you aren’t going to enable it to move around.
Is your marketing getting shared or is it stuck in neutral?
Is your marketing vehicle parked on the side of the road- unable to move? I can help. Think of me like marketing fuel for your vehicle. Let’s put your business into action. Text or call me at 919 720 0995 or email me at jeffslater@themarketingsage.com
Photo by Daria Nepriakhina from Unsplash