Top Drawer - Storytelling and crafting compelling content
If you follow us on Instagram, you’ll already know that our founder Rosie was part of a panel discussion at this year’s Top Drawer over the weekend. She was joined by Fiona Grayson, founder of She Can, She Did and Molly Parks the Head of Home and Gifts Design at Oliver Bonas to discuss how to master your marketing through the art of storytelling and compelling content.
You may have seen some sneak peeks on our story but for those of you who didn’t, we thought we would summarise some of the key points that were covered so you can still make the most of all the marketing wisdom!
(L-R) Rosie Davies-Smith, Fiona Grayson and Molly Parks.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY STORYTELLING?
Storytelling is basically your way of communicating your brand’s vision, purpose and what you stand for with your target audience first and then showing (and hopefully selling) them your product second. As Fiona said, it is about communicating your ‘why’ before your ‘what’; Why you do what you do and then what you have to offer them.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF STORYTELLING?
For a small business it is an essential. When you’re growing your business, strong storytelling is the best way for customers to be able to build a full image of your brand and what you stand for. If you’re doing it well, by showing the good, the bad and the ugly, you allow your target market to commiserate with you or pick you up during the lows and celebrate the highs with you as they appreciate what you have been through to get there. If they’re emotionally investing in you and your story, they are going to be more likely to invest financially in you too.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOULLESS CONTENT AND STORIES THAT ACTUALLY ENGAGE PEOPLE?
Simply put, producing soulless content is easy but making content that actually has people interested and interacting takes a little more. Knowing your customer is a key to producing a strong story; understanding what they come to you for and what truly interests them means you know exactly what you have to deliver. Authenticity is also a big pull that encourages people to engage with you. We all hate when we hear a robotic voice at the end of the telephone and we feel the same way about generic content too; delivering tailored content that is what your customer wants through the lens of your values and perspective is how you connect.
WHO TELLS THEIR STORY WELL AND WHY?
Strong storytelling is a skill and it requires creativity, vision and practice to get it right. The brands that do are always the ones who understand their target customers inside and out and give them what they want. For us, Matthew Calvin does a great job of delivering their story, showing the ethos of the brand in a way that resonates with their target audience. The Completist is another great brand who really understands their audience and produces amazing visuals. They also have such a great tone of voice when talking to their audience and always create really strong captions, whether posing questions or showing support for other like minded brands, that make it impossible to not want to be involved in their journey.
KEY STEPS TO GETTING YOUR CONTENT SHARED?
The first step is to have strong visuals and eye-catching imagery to lure people in before they have even had a chance to read through any information. Knowing your customer means you can tailor your content so that it talks directly to them and the more connected someone feels, the more likely they are to share it and expose other people in their circle and beyond to your brand too.
HOW TO STAY ONE STEP AHEAD OF WHAT YOUR COMMUNITY NEEDS?
Just as your brand story is constantly changing and developing so is your target audience so the best way to find out what they want now and what they’re interested in is to ask them. Using the engagement you have built with your community, you can ask them what it is they are looking for or what they want to see more/less of from you.
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