Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The benefits of combining word of mouth and digital interactions are crystal clear to marketers at Swarovski—especially when it comes to driving in-store purchases.

“Word of mouth, we're finding, is actually more and more important every time we do an event,” says Robin McCall, marketing manager for Swarovski Crystal Society, a community that customers can join to attend the company's private events, as well as receive free gifts and exclusive rewards. “But if you're not having the people who are your fans and your advocates speak for you, it's that much harder to be successful.”...

Right answers to wrong questions virtually guarantee failure. Innovators betting on "out of the box" thinking or "faster, better, cheaper" innovation paradigms for success all too frequently find themselves — and their customers — disappointed.

 

Hey folks -- this is a pivotal article about biz storytelling. Why??

 

Because it addresses the most neglected aspect of effective business storytelling -- the story about the future that you and your customers/clients are creating together.

 

What I love about this article is its twist -- the level of biz storytelling these days is mostly focused on how to authentically share stories about your products/services, people, or founding to capture the hearts and minds of propsects and build loyal customers. That is OK as far as it goes.

 

But there could be more. Way more.

 

Instead of asking, "What do our customers want [and how do I share a story about that]?" how about asking, "What do our customers want to become [and what is the story I can share about that]?" What a fundamentally different -- and better -- question!

 

Org story advice for crafting 'Future Stories' is typically "Write a newspaper article about your company 5 years from now & the awards you are receivng" or some such version of that. Not bad. But there could be more -- way more.

 

When we start asking ourselves the questions posed in this article, whole new worlds start opening up. 'Future stories' are really about the future we are creating together with our customers/clients -- it is the call to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

 

Go read this article -- quickly! You will be glad you did because it will get you to fundamentally shift how you think about and share about your business, and the stories you tell about it.

 

And if you need a really great example of a company doing this, then check out this latest Nike video. 

http://www.cbssports.com/olympics/blog/eye-on-olympics/19654085/video-nikes-new-olympics-ad-greatness-is-for-all-of-us ;

 

And if you want to review a written form of this, then check out my Manifesto on my website. The Manifesto is still a work in progress, but you will get the idea. http://www.juststoryit.com/FutureStory ;

 

Enjoy this short article -- its insights, questions, and a different kind of conversation we can have about business storytelling.

 

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;

When it comes to winning the hearts (and dollars) of potential consumers, a positive consumer review can go a long way. A new report shows that more than two-thirds of US Internet users trust businesses more because of positive consumer reviews.

The high levels of trust represent a significant shift. Five years ago, 45 percent of consumers said they didn’t pay attention to online reviews at all or didn’t let them influence them,eMarketer reports. But in 2015—in part because of increased mobile use—reviews are a big part of users’ online shopping experience. Thirty-eight percent of Internet users read reviews on mobile via a browser, and 24 percent on mobile apps....