Stories are how humans communicate and understand each other. Typically, a product does not have its own voice. This means, as marketers, we must create our product’s story and communicate it the right way. The story should align with your overarching brand strategy and should be true to who you are as a company. It should also appeal to your buyer personas.
Note: While you need to develop a core story first, there can be several different product stories that emerged over time. For example, case studies are a great example of product stories that are meaningful.
Why Do You Need a Product Story?
Knowing your product’s story will set you apart from other tech organizations, and when done correctly will help launch you to success. Why is that? Identifying, writing, and telling your product’s story will help you sell it. This does not mean that you are somehow creating half-truths, catchy taglines, or presenting unfounded claims to obtain clicks on an advertisement.
On the contrary, your product’s story allows you transfer the emotion behind why you’re in business to the consumer. The right story will build trust and evoke the feeling of wanting to be a part of something greater than what is currently in place to the consumer. It will also help you teach and provide value to your users. If you can get anything right, it is your product’s story.
To help you get started on writing your product’s story, follow these tips:
- Tell the truth – As mentioned above, half-truths will get you nowhere. People see through this. Be honest about what your product does for people.
- Understand why you’re here – Refer back to your marketing strategy. Many people start a business through passion, not for money. As a marketer, you may be once removed from this passion. Dig deep. Understand why the company started in the first place. Use this in your story
- Grasp the struggle – With every great story comes a great villain. What held your product back? Identify the struggle that took place and get a sense of how difficult it was to overcome
- Be the hero – Your product is doing something great in the industry. It is solving problems for companies or consumers. It overcame the struggles spoken about in the previous bullet point. Highlight this. Put a cape on your product and explain how the product came out on top.
- Speak in results – You don’t need to tell the product’s story with the process in mind. No one really cares about the installation process until they have the product in hand. Speak to results in your product’s story.
Use your story in every piece of marketing that you do.
Encourage your sales team to develop their product stories that can be relayed to qualified leads. You’ll see results faster than you think!
