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Constantin BudaMay 31, 2022 8:45:00 AM3 min read

Why stories sell and features don't

This might not come as a shock to you, but stories sell, because they help your client understand the benefits of the product they are buying.

Features do not sell. Unless you’re a dedicated car hobbyist, you buy the car that gets you safely from point A to point B with the best fuel economy for the best value. Not the tricked-out sports car.

But including storytelling as a core pillar of our marketing strategies shouldn’t feel like such a Herculean effort. It’s not that daunting a task, but it’s one that’s easy to overthink. Especially since story selling is what’s going to supercharge your revenue growth.

Sisyphus will never succeed. But with storytelling, your marketing strategy will.

It’s understandably intimidating to conceptualize, but it’s not impossible. You can get the rock over the hill, and transform your product into a growth success, a unicorn, or a Pegasus. If you want to demonstrate your authority, nurture goodwill with your target, and convert clients, you’ll need your story to resonate with your audience. You want your future customers to get to know you, like you, and trust you.

Otherwise, you risk boring everyone to tears with uninteresting details. Listing your features on your website instead of telling a story that your audience can relate to and engage with is no different than listening to a friend who’s really into heavyweight Euro board games with a strong economic machine component talk about their hobby. This is to say it’s clear they know what they’re talking about, but it’s a total bore to listen to them. Chances are, when this friend starts talking about Terra Mystica or whatever his eyes light up and you can tell HE thinks it’s a great game… but yours glaze over.

Cardboard figures of the family on opened book. The symbol of unity and happiness

Even complex concepts can be translated into simple stories

Maybe driving down the coast alone in a Maserati is more your thing, but even if you’re not into board games, it goes without saying that most of them can’t be played alone. Likewise, B2B technology buying is often a fragmented decision subject to days or weeks of budgetary discussion. It’s rare that there’s one decision-maker calling all the shots.

Your target isn’t just a bullseye pinned to the wall. They’re human beings, surrounded by other humans working together in a team. We are selling to other people… not companies. It’s a human-to-human relationship that will sell your software product.

Offering solutions, rather than a list of features

What does your product do? Who does it help? You know the answers to these questions… but does your ideal buyer just understand this as if by instinct? No. Of course not. At the end of the day, we have all run out of one thing: time. That’s a pain point every single human on the planet can relate to.
How does your product buy more time for your buyer? How does it save them money while freeing their time? They are surrounded by funnels. So set yourself apart from the crowd.

Young businessman sitting and deciding in front of a chalkboard with sketched arrows and signs in different directions

Save the day by freeing up their time

Getting to know the humans who will decide to buy your product and telling a story that empathizes with their daily pains, struggles, and frustrations will set up a relationship for your sales team. See your buyer. Tell a story about how you will solve their problems and create more time for them. They will want to know more… because they’ve seen themselves in your story copy. So you’re not just another funnel. You are a person. One who can help them.

That’s the power of the story: It makes you a hero to your buyer.

Let us help you tell your story today! Book an obligation-free marketing sparring session with one of our B2B marketing experts.

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Constantin Buda

As the Growth Strategist and CEO of Vidalico Digital he works with B2B and B2C companies, helping them translate complex, high-tech information into marketing stories that drive sales.

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