Most marketing - especially B2B marketing - sounds like this:
“We provide enterprise solutions that optimise operational efficiency.”
They’re “gamechangers” that “unlock potential”, or some other vague business-y benefit.
And don’t get me wrong, I’ve fallen into that trap myself many a time. It sounds glitzy, all that business jargon that I didn’t actually understand myself. I thought that meant I just wasn’t the target audience - not that my writing just wasn’t great.
Spoiler: it was bad writing.
That kind of writing is objective - a description (and not a great one at that). And objectivity rarely sticks in someone’s mind; stories do. Bear in mind, this is applicable to both companies and personal branding alike.
Why Storytelling Matters#
Without this turning into a rant about art being fundamentally necessary and there being a need to keep it alive more than ever - storytelling is inherent to human existence. It has existed as long as we have, and not always in the way you might expect. In a marketing context, stories help people relate to you, trust you, and make it way more likely that they’ll convert.
A story conveys context, emotion, and meaning - all things a list of features or stats cannot do. It’s that old saying of ‘sell the benefits, not the features’, but even that only matters if those benefits are contextualised.
When done well, storytelling:
- Makes your brand relatable
- Helps people remember you
- Turns abstract benefits into tangible experiences
Step 1: Find Your Story#
Your story doesn’t need to be ‘how your brand came to be’ - you don’t need to take it so literally. Focus on the smaller stuff, the things you (or your team) are doing day-to-day. That lived experience is the story. This could look like:
- Success stories
- Decisions you’ve made (good or bad)
- Challenges you’ve solved
- Patterns you’ve noticed in your industry
Pick the one that aligns with the message you want to communicate.
Step 2: Structure It Like a Mini-Narrative#
This doesn’t just apply to long-form content - even short-form (yes, including tiktok) works better with a story arc. This doesn’t need to be complicated, in fact, simple is often more effective.
- Problem: What challenge does your audience face?
- Journey: What approach, decision, or solution did you try?
- Result: What happened? What changed?
For example:
Problem: Clients were drowning in spreadsheets, working late and burning out.
Journey: We replaced manual reporting with an automated dashboard.
Result: Leadership could make decisions easier and quicker - and could get home in time for their kid’s bedtime.
Notice how it’s not about features - it’s about the human impact.
Step 3: Add Personality#
That example is still pretty generic and boring. Yes, the narrative arc is there, and the benefit is contextualised, but it’s lacking any kind of personality. Now take that story and add your (fun, human (please)) brand voice, and any other branding that works with the message.
This is the important bit. It’s what will help you stand out in a sea of competitors, make you more relatable, and help people remember you.
You can do this by:
- Including small failures or learning moments
- Showing your perspective or opinion - even if it’s controversial
- Using humour or curiosity to make it engaging
In the previous example, I added personality by expanding someone’s problem to the impact it had on their personal life - the stuff that probably really matters to them. This makes the situation way more relatable, and pivots the impact to be personal, rather than business-related.
If I kept that example in the boardroom, it would have been more boring and likely more similar to a competitors. If your brand doesn’t have personality, it’s invisible.
Step 4: Make It Repeatable#
This is there it goes from a one-off cool thing to an actual system. Once you have your storytelling approach, apply it across channels:
- Case studies
- Blog posts
- Social media
- Emails
When you’ve done this a few times, with a few different messages, it’ll start to feel natural. I bang on about it all the time, but this consistency across channels is so important. It builds recognition and trust, and people start seeing your brand as the one that tells stories that make sense.
The Bottom Line:#
It’s so easy to fall into the jargon-filled-description-trap, but one of the best things you can do for your marketing is getting out of that cycle. Objectivity doesn’t stick, and doesn’t mean anything without a lot of context - it makes your brand invisible, when marketing should be doing the opposite. Storytelling is engrained in our humanity, so using that to communicate your message will amplify it massively.
Find your stories, structure them, and show your personality a bit more - and suddenly, your brand stops being boring.
