Human beings love stories.
We’re naturally drawn to things that we can build an emotional connection with. Storytelling is compelling because it addresses specific problems in a customer’s life and shows a deep understanding of a specific audience.
According to Neil Patel, people remember stories up to 22 times better than figures and facts on their own. Additionally, storytelling can improve conversion rates by up to 30%.
For SaaS companies, storytelling doesn’t just help with generating initial sales. You can also use emotional marketing campaigns to improve your chances of long-term loyalty and brand advocacy.
So, how do you bring storytelling into SaaS content marketing?
Share Customer Success Stories
There are plenty of competing companies like yours, searching for access to the same customers online.
The only way to ensure that you capture your client’s attention first is by offering content that pushes them to take notice.
A customer success story is an excellent way to cultivate the benefits of both emotional storytelling and social proof for your business.
All you need to do is ask a customer to share their experience in working with your software or service.
Real insights from customers just like your target audience will immediately improve the credibility of your brand.
There are various ways that you can tell customer stories, from asking them to write reviews that you can share on social media, to having brief video interviews with each client.
You could even think about publishing use cases on your website.
Show What’s Going on Behind the Scenes
Today’s customers want to work with businesses they can trust. The social proof generated by your success stories will help to generate that trust.
However, it also pays to demonstrate transparency in everything you do.
Giving your customers a peek behind the curtain makes you seem more authentic and worthy of consumer loyalty.
Behind-the-scenes content could include anything from brief Instagram Stories where you walk people through a day in the life of an employee to full-length videos.
For instance, Warby Parker has a video that shows customers exactly how Warby Parker glasses are designed and made.
The example from Warby Parker is great because it provides viewers with useful information, but it also strengthens the emotional connection with a brand, by showing you how your money is making a difference.
Create a Video Series
Videos are so much more immersive than written content for some customers.
That’s because it’s much easier to see the human elements of a brand when information is conveyed through video.
You can create a series where you answer common customer questions, using stories from your clients to illustrate your point and provide valuable information.
Another option might be to start an interview series, where you speak to clients about their experiences with your software or talk to relevant members of staff.
Interviews with your own employees are a fantastic opportunity to show customers that there are real people behind your brand logo and website.
Once you’ve created your videos, use snippets of them on social media to attract people back to your website.
Video content is great for sharing, and you can even pull pictures out of the video for more sharing opportunities too.
Get Creative With Blog Posts
Blogging is still one of the most valuable ways to earn attention online.
Through careful use of valuable content and strategically chosen keywords, you can improve the chances of your customers finding you on search engines.
However, for blog content to have the best impact on your audience, it needs to be personal and meaningful.
Don’t just copy/paste the content that your competitors are already publishing. Make your campaigns unique by going in-depth on specific problems.
For instance, if your sales and marketing team reveals that a lot of customers struggle with setting your software up for the first time, create a blog post showing them how to access your valuable features.
You can use insights, reviews, testimonials, and information from other customers who have had similar problems in the past to make your content more relatable.
Connect Your Brand to Customer Values
Finally, storytelling is a wonderful way to link your brand to the things that your customers consider to be important.
For instance, if you know you’re appealing to a digital-first audience hoping to reduce their carbon emissions, why not publish studies and articles on how your company is doing its part for these causes?
You can create a campaign about how you’re helping more employees work from home with your collaboration software and reducing the number of regular commutes to work.
Studies into the amount of carbon emissions your users are reducing thanks to your product are helpful here.
You can even improve the quality of your value-focused content by including interviews with professionals and thought leaders in the space.
For instance, record a video of yourself talking to an environmental company about your impact on greenhouse gasses.
Tell Your Story
Storytelling is one of the most valuable tools a business has when it comes to creating stronger emotional connections with customers.
The important thing is to make sure that you’re speaking your customer’s language with your narratives.
Using the examples above, create your own storytelling strategy, and pay attention to the way your customers respond to each of your campaigns for future reference.
Ashley Wilson is a content creator, writing about business and tech. She is known to reference movies in casual conversation and enjoys baking homemade treats for her husband and their two felines, Lady and Gaga. You can get in touch with Ashley via Twitter.
