Highlights
- B2B buyers are nearly 50% more likely to purchase when they see personal value in a product
- 66% of sellers think their customers’ behaviour is changing and their businesses may not be able to adapt
- The secret to good storytelling is consistency, so share your story wherever and whenever possible across all available channels and formats.
“The best way to use advocates in your content is through success stories,” says Sujan Patel, co-founder of growth marketing agency, Web Profits and author of 100 Days of Growth, a growth hacking book that sold over 40 000 copies. “This is very, very different than a use-case or case study.”
But everyone’s doing it, right? Not in the way Patel suggests. Patel believes that customers are more drawn to your business when they hear stories that aren’t about what your company offers, but rather relate to experiences resulting from doing business with you
The big idea: Increase your business’s product value
“Your traditional B2B case study commonly tends to read like a thinly veiled product pitch,” says Patel. “Success stories, done right are really more about the customer and sharing their story, being agnostic of your solution.”
According to Google, B2B customers are nearly 50% more likely to purchase a product if they see personal value in it. This is why stories are so powerful, says Courtney Chuang, editor of sales and marketing at Intercom. “Studies have shown the profound impact that stories have on our brain. Stories not only engage us emotionally but also help build trust and even inspire action.”
What’s in it for you: Profitable interactions with customers
By avoiding the typical doctor-patient relationship most businesses have with their prospective clients, you’re able to hold prospects’ attention when you outline what’s at stake. This will show them that you intimately understand their situation and therefore have the answers they need to lead in their field.
“Naming stakes enables you to answer the question, ‘Why now?’,” “You create urgency by connecting stakes to the highly positive outcomes prospects will (only) achieve by using your product,” says Chuang. By naming stakes – basically answering the question ‘why now?’ – you’re tapping into your customers’ feelings and impacting the likelihood they will buy from you.
Make it happen
Throw out your old case study handbook and embrace the new rules of grabbing and keep B2B customers with valuable – and profitable – stories:
- Scrap the list of features and benefits you offer. Simply naming your features – however impressive they may be – isn’t the best way to tell prospects why yours is the product they should pick.
- Shatter the delusion. Establishing what’s at stake and not just a current pain point shows customers that you deeply understand their situation and can help them come out on top.
- Tell the same story repeatedly. For storytelling to succeed, it requires consistency. Repetition is the foundation of effective marketing principles such as Thomas Smith’sSuccessful Advertising, a pamphlet that breaks down the thought process of your prospective lead.
