4 tips to progress on your brand's storytelling this summer

We're rolling into summer—and while that means longer days and warmer nights, it often means a drop in productivity.

One study found:
• Productivity drops 20%
• Project turnaround times increase 13%
• 45% of employees are more distracted than usual

But while others slow down, you’ve still got time to move forward—especially with your brand storytelling.

4 things you can do to make progress on your storytelling this summer:

1) Truly define your audience 

So many potential brand partners we speak with at Prologue know their audience well, but they've never actually slowed down to define what matters to the audience. How can you speak to an audience when you don't know what they care about? 

You should know their wants, needs, fears and pain points as well as your own. Think through not just your customers, but the personas of each type of customer. Talk to them. Listen to what they say—really listen. Find common threads and pains, and attack that with your copy. 

2) Stop data dumping, start telling stories

When we audit messaging for companies, it's common to stumble into endless stat soup. Stats are forgettable. In fact, it's been found that only 5% of your audience can recall a single stat, but 63% will remember stories (yet another stat you'll forget). 

With stories being 13X more memorable than data dumps, it's clear that story wins. This summer is the perfect time to dig into your messaging, and rethink how you're framing your product or service. Focus on customer success stories, not statistical jargon. 

3) Develop a real storytelling strategy

Spray and pray. Shotgunning. Throwing spaghetti at the wall. Marketing roulette. Random acts of marketing. Whatever you want to call it, it's common with reactive marketing teams. 

Slowing down for a month to really think about how—and where—you should be communicating is so worth it. Countless companies are posting everywhere, all the time, and just hoping to strike gold. A much better approach is to actually cut your channels down, lean into the platforms and tactics that are going to help you land with your audience consistently. In addition to that, you need a strategy for what you're going to say (hint: the answer is probably not bold-face selling and feature announcements, which is what most brand content does). 

4) Build a podcast strategy 

My friends, you've made it to the most valuable advice in this entire email. Grab a note and pen, pull out your note taking app or yell for your assistant to come figure this out. 

I'm a huge proponent of using podcasts as a foundational tool for content strategy. Prologue helps brands execute what I call an inverted model, where we use podcasts to propel social content. 

But here's the thing—you don't need your own podcast to do it. 

We're helping companies build their own shows, but we also help others strategically target and appear as guests on other podcasts that have already built the perfect audience for potential customers. Even better? These interviews then become content, validate your team as thought leaders, and drive inbound leads. 

How to get started

1) Set the meeting today with your team
2) Work on your audience personas—learn to think like your audience
3) Start executing on No. 2 and 3 above
4) Build in your podcast strategy to your overall content strategy

If you need some help getting started, Prologue can help you develop a game plan with a coaching session. Coaching sessions can tackle any 4 of these challenges. If you want podcast specific help, just reply here and we can chat. Just don't be surprised if I take the call from a nice sunny spot outside. Tis the season.

By Brad Luttrell, Founder, CEO of Prologue