[How To] Your Local Business’ Story Can Get You More Business

By | Published January 14th, 2023 | in INDUSTRIES

[How To] Your Local Business’ Story Can Get You More Business

If you have a great story, it can lead to great business.

Did you know that if you could just share your passion and vision with the right audience, in a meaningful and impactful way, they’d give you their business?

According to the Harvard Business Review, people value working with companies that share aligned values and passions.

How do you communicate your message and passion to better align with your customers?

“The best bridge between a presenter and an audience,” someone once wrote, “is a story.”  

Storytelling can relate your business to potential customers on a deeper level than just advertising.

The Science Behind The ROI Of Storytelling For Local Businesses

How storytelling leads to more local business growth and ROI:

When we hear a story unfold, our brain waves actually start to synchronize with those of the storyteller. NPR article, Uri Hasson

Psychologist Jerome Bruner found that we are 22 times more likely to remember a fact when it has been told to us within a story.

And according to Forbes, storytelling elevates the meaning of the brand and better crystalize how it fits into customers’ lives which is exactly what most companies want from their marketing efforts. 

4 Reasons to Share your Local Business’ Story 

Consider advertising campaigns urging people to shop local. There are events like “Small Business Saturday” and the “Small Business Expo” that do a great job using stories to communicate the critical role local businesses play in our communities and economies.They tell these stories for 4 main reasons:

1. Humanize The Brand 

According to PwC’s Global Consumer Insights Survey, more than one in three consumers surveyed ranked “trust in brand” among the top three factors (other than price) influencing their decision to shop at a particular retailer.

Your customers tend to trust their peers and neighbors more than they trust corporations. Sharing your business’ story can help to humanize and familiarize your brand to help win the trust of your customers. It brings a familary face into their purchase decision.  

2. Create Customer Empathy 

Your customers are looking for a brand who looks or acts like them. Whether you convey this sort of empathy through humor, compassion, or inspiration, showing your customer that you do indeed “get it—i.e. you share similar experiences—iis a super important reason to share your story. 

3. Differentiate The Brand  

There are lots of places people can shop. What sets your business apart from everyone else? Plenty of people offer similar services, but there’s only one story like yours. Your story is truly unique. Sharing it will undoubtedly help differentiate your business from your competitors

4. Cultivate Customer Trust

People tend to trust what and who they know, relate to, and feel familiar with. When people meet for the first time they gain trust by doing what? Sharing each other’s story. Likewise, Sharing your business’ story is how you’ll gain the trust of your prospective customers.

  1. 95% of people will be loyal to a company if they trust it. 
  2. 93% of people said they were more likely to recommend a company they trusted to others.  
  3. 92% said they were more likely to spend money at a company they trust.

Using your own business’ story can help you achieve these benefits. 

Real Life Stats Of How Great Storytelling Leads To Great Businesses

Storytelling is the tried and true method of connecting with your audience and increasing revenue.

In Corporate Culture & Performance, authors John Kotter and James Heskett demonstrated that companies who convey purpose and value outperform their counterparts by a factor of 12 and have a profit performance ratio 750x higher than companies without shared values.

When a brand is humanized through storytelling, net profit increases. The Global Empathy Index (2015)  

5 Elements To Tell A Business’ Story The Right Way

1. Relate To Your Audience

Who is your target audience and what do they want or care about? What do you have in common with them? Show people that what matters to them matters to you.

2. If You’re Local, Speak Local 

What makes you local? Make sure to identify with your customers through your knowledge of the local area to help form a familiar connection. Is there a beach where you thought of the idea of your company or a famous mountain you climbed when you got your latest idea?

3. Humanize Your Business 

Why did you start your business? What are your mission, vision, values? What do you hope your services or products will do for you and your family? For the community? Adding this personality and real emotion as a business will also lead to a more engaged culture which ultimately helps business and proves ROI continuously. Invest into your voice and build a culture that humans want to be apart of. 

4. Show A Community Spirit

What other local businesses or organizations have you supported or worked with? How can you show how much you care about the community? Charitable giving and giving back creates a sense of reciprocity in others that can lead to more business.   

 5. What makes you unique?

What sets you apart? What can no other competitor replicate?. But also Sharing what’s unique about you and what you do is just as important as what’s unique about your business, product or service.

How to Tell Your Company’s Story For Greater Growth

When it comes to telling your company’s story, focus on the details. The following questions may help:

Who are the founders of your company? 

Who are the founders of your company and what’s interesting about them?

What brought the founders together and what were the steps that led to where you are now? 

Why did you start your business?

Let people know what drove you to making this business. Were you trying to fix a problem or were you really interested in a subject? Let themus know the “why” behind it all. 

What is your company’s mission? 

What do you believe as a company? What’s your mission? Let your customers know. 

What are the goals of your company? 

What’s your five-year plan? Where do you want to be? Tell your customers where you hope your dreams will take you, so they can dream with you.

What makes your business unique?

This is your chance to tell your audience what you do best. Maybe it’s customer experience, maybe you do something faster than everyone else. Emphasize how special you are. 

What’s one thing you want customers to know about you? 

Are you trying to make water skiing a more affordable sport? Do you want them to know how much you love your family? What’s the one thing you want everyone to know about you.

What experience can both your customers & employees expect when doing business with you? 

Lastly, and most importantly, who are the people inside of your brand? Your employees, or network of professionals within the organization, and the experience they create for your customers is quite possibly one of the biggest pieces of your story. 

4 Examples of Arizona Business Storytelling Done Right

1 – Experience Scottsdale

Experience Scottsdale did a great job telling the story of a resident making memories that literally last a lifetime. As shown by the age progression of couple that the spot focuses on. It captures the essence of the city by adding a touch heartwarming emotion and mixing it with breathtaking views. It wrapped up very nicely at the end and they were able to fit it into 30 seconds. Amazing!

2 – Presidential Pools 

Presidential Pools are proud to be independently rated the #1 Pool Builder in Arizona and the largest pool builder in the country. They have been instrumental in providing AZ families with a better quality of home life. We loved how they wanted to tell individual stories about a single customer experience.

3 – Desert Financial

Desert Financial Credit Union, formerly known as Desert Schools, has been a staple in AZ for decades. For years they have been producing vignettes that focus on customers and how desert financial has impacted their lives for the better.

4 – Fox Restaurant Concepts

This group of geniuses care about good food… a lot! And they were inspired to bring fresh, healthy food to the masses, but not only through one restaurant concept, but many! And thus, Fox Restaurant Concepts was born. They like to give credit where it’s due though. They see their employees as a family and this video does a great job of illustrating their appreciation for them.

Ambient Skies’ approach to telling your Arizona business’ Story

Our passion is telling stories—especially for local Arizona brands. With a combined 30 years of experience, we can help your Arizona local business tell the story it was always meant to.

We focus on two main avenues to tell your brand’s story. 

  1. First, we want to become experts in telling your story. 
  2. Then, we tell that story as though it’s a consumer’s first time hearing it.

Sometimes people have trouble spotting what makes them unique, or even what their story should be. As seasoned professionals with a Hollywood background, we get down to the nitty gritty with you. We want you to have the best story out there, and our team can create that narrative so that your audience connects with you on every level. 

We Know How To Find What Makes Your Company’s Story So Special

You might be thinking, what if we don’t have that great of a story? What if we’re a brand-new company?. What if we don’t seem that interesting? 

That’s where we can help.

We’ve worked with AZ businesses for almost 20 years (Est. 2007) to help them tell their own amazing stories. We can help you tell yours, too.

Arizona Business Case Studies That We Are Proud Of

1 – Suntria Solar

With so many companies in the solar energy industry, it was difficult for Suntria to stand out. As their marketing consultant, we worked with the brand to help them discover what made them special. We created two different storytelling platforms: one about the families who were positively impacted by installing solar panels, and one following the Suntria employees who work day in and day out to ensure their needs are met. Through this work, we were able to humanize a larger local brand, and help them achieve amazing results.

2 – California Pools & Landscape

Homeowners everywhere know the magic a backyard can bring. Working with California Pools & Landscape, we told the story of couples and families building stronger connections and creating new memories by having a backyard perfect for entertaining, romantic getaways, and fun with the kids.

About The Author:

John Schaus

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We can't wait to hear from you!

The easiest ways to get in touch with us are to request a meeting, give us a call, or shoot us an email.

[email protected]
(480) 420 4368

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