Stories are powerful, they allow us to learn, emotionally connect and they can carry a message. It’s the original form of entertainment and if you think about it, all good stories have a beginning, middle and end, with the emphasis being on getting your audience hooked early so they stay engaged until the end. How many of us love films, tv shows and books? All of us right? Because it’s a natural concept for us to latch on to.

People tell stories in the same way they share word of mouth. We’re so used to telling stories that we create a narrative even when we don’t need to. Stories provide a quick and easy way for people to acquire lots of knowledge in an engaging fashion that’s easy to remember.

So why use stories as part of your ABM?

Well like with anything, you make a decision based upon emotion which is reinforced by rationale. This way you are focusing on how you engage with your target audience, so that your story resonates with them, so they buy into your message.

When it comes to Account Based Marketing (ABM) you are going to focus on targeting the key stakeholders involved in the decision-making process as part of your strategy, which will mean all of your personalized content needs to be carrying the same vision/message. Focus on the creating a vision that the key personnel within the targeted accounts can resonate with, latch on to and share the vision and story across the business and departments.

How do you tell stories that your audience wants to hear?

Content is king. Yes, it’s a common saying but it’s true, especially when it comes to ABM. Remember it’s all about resonating with your targeted stakeholders so you need to make sure your content is on point. Ideally, you would focus on their pain points, the challenges they face and how you can help solve them.

Through your in-depth research of your targeted accounts, stakeholders and pain points you should be in a good to create your content. Here are few formulas you can use

Three-Act Structure

1. Setup — Set the scene and introduce the character(s)

2. Confrontation or “Rising action” — Present a problem and build up the tension

3. Resolution — Resolve the problem

The three-act structure is a popular and straightforward storytelling formulas. You should be able to recognize this structure in stories you come across.

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle

Why — Why the company exists

How — How the company fulfills its Why

What — What the company does to fulfill its Why

Simon Sinek’s is an author, motivational speaker, and marketing consultant. He is one of the most viewed TED talks ever, with more than 30 million views. He explained that great companies like Apple inspire people and succeed because they use the Golden Circle formula. If you don’t know much about him I highly recommend you view his work.

Freytag’s Pyramid: Five-Act Structure

1. Exposition — Introduce important background information

2. Rising action — Tell a series of events to build up to the climax

3. Climax — Turn the story around (usually the most exciting part of the story)

4. Falling action — Continue the action from the climax

5. Dénouement — Ending the story with a resolution

This can be seen as an advanced version of the three-act structure, with the added layers of climax and falling action. This The approach was created by Gustav Freytag when he analysed the stories by Shakespeare and ancient Greek storytellers.

Final Word

These formulas should provide you with the perfect approach to start to create content in a story telling format that is interesting, in the correct format, resonates with the audience in a personalized manner.