We all love to tell and hear a good story. As a skill, storytelling in business is in high demand as brands focus on improving their authenticity and relatability. AI and fake news in one corner is blurring the boundaries of reality. And in the other corner, audiences expect to be able to interact with brands and have a much closer relationship with them. It’s finding the perfect balance between explaining who you are as a brand and what your audience will appreciate.
Tactical storytelling is about getting eyeballs. We’re aiming for strategic storytelling, which is basically a series of complementary brand narratives that sit under a ‘hero’ narrative – all should reflect values, culture and ethos. They can shape audience perceptions, behaviours and hopefully outcomes.
Storytelling in the world of B2B brands is often seen as a harder game than for consumer brands where stories may be more obviously relatable. We are all consumers in one sense or another.
Our recent LinkedIn poll showed that the biggest challenges in brand storytelling are not the lack of stories or aligning the stories with the business strategy – they are in abundance. The challenge is buy-in from the C-suite and measuring the value, which of course both go hand in hand. Are we playing catch up in being able to quantify or qualify campaigns which lead on storytelling?
In Share of Voice measures for example, measuring narrative share centres around whether we’ve influenced people on how they think about issues, is our POV appearing in the right places and frequently? Are we leading the narrative in these conversations?
The best B2B brands will also be telling human-centred stories, not just relaying product info. They highlight customer success and real-world impact rather than just features. Storytelling works well through case studies, video content and thought leadership.
Some technology brands are definitely leading the way, such as Microsoft with its real-world impact stories. They are highlighting how businesses are using AI (Azure and Copilot) to solve real problems. They’re aligning their technology with relatable situations and doing it well. They’ve got 140 examples currently and counting.
Microsoft is also using storytelling for its employer brand, via its Employee Spotlight Stories, which focus on diverse employee experiences to humanise the brand and reinforces its inclusive culture.
HubSpot uses customer success stories really well, highlighting business customers as ‘heroes’ that are growing with the platform.
So, how do we get strategic storytelling right? And remember — great storytelling starts at the top: leadership buy-in is what makes or breaks whether the narrative ever lands.
Active listening
You can’t get the message right until you know what your audience needs or wants.
Speak in their language
The message won’t resonate unless you meet people where they are. Adapt your tone and delivery to suit your audience, whether a CEO or a sales executive.
Clarity of message
Muddying the waters will get you nowhere. Be clear, concise and correct.
Thinking beyond basic engagement
Are you building advocates or just awareness? Is your brand community passing on your message and telling your story too?
CEO friendly KPIs
Build in measures that can be quantified and presented. You may not be able to directly attribute sales, but you can have sophisticated measures around SOV, influence and impact.
