If you’ve ever told a story, you know it’s harder than it looks.
But the thing is:
Telling the right story can make or break your business.
So to help you apply what you’ve learned in this guide, I put together this resource with business storytelling examples. They show exactly how other businesses are successfully using story in their copy.
Ready to dive right in? Let’s go.
Web copy
Who’s Evernote’s protagonist? You are. What’s your challenge? You’re life’s disorganized. And that’s what Evernote helps you with. Could it be any clearer? Hardly – “a second brain” explains it all.
“Rob doubled conversion” – that’s a mini story of a protagonist Upwork’s customers can relate to. With Rob relaxing in his chair, you get the result you want if you’re looking for marketing freelancers.
Amy Porterfield shares what she was going through when she was just starting out as an online entrepreneur… and those struggles are shared by many in her audience.
“Look, feel, and shave like a million bucks.” with Dollar Shave Club’s popular YouTube video right next to it. That’s a story for Dollar Shave Club’s customer and it’s beautifully executed.
Blog posts
With their stick figures, Wait But Why creates a narrative in all their blog posts. Readers can relate to what the stick figure is going through and it keeps them engaged. Check out their posts for some of the best business storytelling examples.
James Clear uses mini stories in his blog posts. And it’s a great way to get the audience’s attention.
First of all, Groove positions all their blog posts as part of a narrative – their Startup Journey Blog (which follows the company’s growth) is just that. Second, every blog post starts with a story (usually it’s a personal story that’s tied to the topic).
Henneke Duistermaat (Enchanting Marketing) knows how to grab people’s interest. See how this intro positions the reader as the hero and describes a challenge?
Emails
In his emails, Ramit Sethi shares a lot of stories his audience can relate to. In this example, you see anecdotes that might be familiar. How can you use this in your emails?
Brian Dean is another of my favorite email writers. Here is a personal story that resonates with his audience of business owners and marketers.
Groove’s blog posts involve a lot of stories… and their emails don’t disappoint.
Here’s Amy Porterfield leading her reader from a challenge (fear/overwhelm/inaction) to victory (getting things done). By the way, notice the cliffhanger?
Customer stories
To celebrate its milestone of 100 million users, DropBox users share what they store with the tool. And you have all kinds of emotional content, like pics of grandma, kids, and animals. This campaign gives customers the tools to show they’re the heroes of DropBox’s story.
On GrowthLab, you get a lot of customer success stories. And those are all stories you as the customer can relate to.
Marie Forleo has A LOT of awesome testimonials. You might not get people like Oprah to endorse you (yet), but that doesn’t mean you can’t use this in your copy. Endorsements and testimonials tell an effective story about your business.
Social media
H&M is an example we discussed back in Chapter 1.
Innocent is another brand telling good (funny!) stories on social media with a focus on their customers.
Have you seen Google’s 2010 Super Bowl ad “Parisian Love”? If not, do it now. Or:
“Dear Sophie”? PERFECT business storytelling examples.
The ALS ice bucket challenge is hands down one of the best business storytelling examples. The campaign generated millions and resulted in a scientific breakthrough. It has a protagonist (everyone participating in the campaign), a goal (fundraising for ALS research) and a challenge (find a cure for ALS). Every video is a mini story (accepting the challenge, the ice bucket, and growing a bit as a person). Genius!
Marie Forleo answers her audience’s questions during these Q&A videos. First, Marie uses the classic story arch. She’s the guide who helps you overcome a challenge. Second, she keeps people watching with cliffhangers and clips of anecdotes and funny sketches.
That’s it.
Those are some of the best business storytelling examples…
And now you know all there is to know about storytelling in business and copywriting.
Just one more thing left to do:
Implement what you’ve learned. So, over to you:
How will you use these powerful storytelling principles and examples to grow your business?