Beyond the Product: Storytelling Techniques in B2B Tech PR
PR isn’t just public relations, ensuring clients have a good image and securing great coverage. PR is all about telling a client’s story.
Storytelling has been around over 30,000 years, with french cave paintings serving as the earliest examples. We may have advanced beyond a lick of paint on stone, but the purpose remains the same. Everyone has a story to tell.
Storytelling is humanity’s way of connecting with each other, sharing experiences, thoughts and feelings and learning about each other with every tale told. The art of storytelling isn’t limited to best-selling authors – it has use in everyday life, and even business. Every organisation will have incredible stories to tell, and it is up to the PR agency to identify, extract and share these stories with the world.
So why use storytelling techniques?
First and foremost, storytelling techniques are vital when putting together any written content, but especially so when drafting thought leadership articles – a crucial aspect of any PR strategy. Any story worth its salt will have a clear beginning, middle and end, and will take the reader on a journey. This is no different when writing PR content. It is essential that it has a clear, overarching message that is woven throughout the piece, along with a good flow from beginning to end.
Storytelling techniques help create a clear brand image, with each piece of content delivering consistent messaging and standing as both an individual piece as well as part of a greater whole. Through the implementation of storytelling techniques, it is possible to create a strong and cohesive content strategy for clients and enable them to stand apart from the crowd.
Outside of the content strategy, these techniques can still be applied. Whether it be through event speaking, press interviews, award entries and even social media, a clear coherent message that builds upon the client’s image must be present. This will help to raise their overall profile and drive home the image of a strong company that is clear on what it offers.
Once upon a time…
What exactly makes an effective story? At its heart, every story has a narrative. While some stories might be long winded and leave readers scratching their heads, when it comes to PR it is a clear and easy-to-follow narrative that makes an impact. Oftentimes clients want their product front and centre of the story, and understandably so. However, the reality is that you can shout about a product until the cows come home – it won’t make people any more interested in it.
Storytelling allows you to engage your audience. To start off, set the scene. Introduce the problem that is facing the industry and talk about something readers can relate to. Rather than focusing on bigging up the product, highlight the problem that the product aims to solve. Many in the industry will be facing the same issue, and will be interested to see what the client has to say about it. Once the problem has been identified, it’s time to present the solution. Now is the time to discuss the product or service that the client can provide, and highlight how this can help combat the problem that the industry is facing.
All businesses need to sell their product but when it comes to sharing this with the media, it can lead to a narrow focus – zeroing in on hammering home how good the product is, which is more off-putting than informative. Through storytelling, readers can understand the why of the product. They can begin to appreciate the journey the company has been on, see them as an expert in the industry and understand how the service provided relates to and could benefit them.
In summary, when implementing these storytelling techniques, it is important to keep some key points in mind:
- Make sure to highlight the narrative and keep a strong theme throughout the piece for audiences to follow.
- Have a clear message. This ensures the reader will come away knowing exactly what you want them to know.
- Focus on the why over the what. Rather than forcing a product on people, highlight the problem and introduce the solution.
Through the implementation of storytelling techniques, businesses can better connect with their audience, sharing their audience’s concerns and providing the solutions that will benefit the industry as a whole.
