Brands can learn from the best teachers by using emotional storytelling to connect with their customers, says Rooster Punk’s CEO Paul Cash

Remember that great teacher you had at school? The one who influenced you and who still makes an impact on your life today?

The secret to great teaching is simple: it’s about making personal connections with students through storytelling. The most gifted teachers have an ability to weave narrative into people’s lives, to captivate classrooms by making the ordinary significant. This is something brands can learn from – telling inspiring stories reflects and reinforces your proposition and helps customers remember and understand your value.

Emotional storytelling is a progressive marketing strategy that enables brands to grow revenue and retain customers, because a story that embodies human truths and challenges presents an experience that resonates with customers. It allows brands to create a shortcut to show how they relate to who we are by telling the world the reason their business exists, why they developed their product or service, and why they do what they do for their audience.

A brand story is more than just the ‘about us’ page on your website. It’s the feeling your brand gives customers during their experience of ‘you’. When a brand connects with its customers’ emotions, the return on that connection is priceless.

We recently did some work for a condom brand that’s looking to get more women to buy condoms and take charge of their sexuality. Male investors didn’t get it, so we helped the brand turn it into a story of empowerment. The difference in how the story was received was phenomenal.

Another client, Workshare, approached us to reposition its Transact product. We were seeing junior employees spending a tremendous amount of time gathering legal documents, which was an ineffective use of their talent. So we presented a story that showed legal firms they could close cases faster with fewer errors by freeing up the most talented people in the business and embracing collaboration.

Storytelling is channel-agnostic and people-centric. Remember that, and fit everything you do into your broader narrative, and you’ll motivate change and encourage more purchases – the desired outcome of any B2B story.