Every one loves a great story. In the business world, it’s the difference between a lead and a completed sale, between a bid and a contract, between the kind of advertisement that works and the kind that people immediately ignore. When we talk about STORYTELLING , we often confine it to the realm of the fantastical and the artistic––to books, movies, music and everything in between. But storytelling goes far beyond those mediums. The craving for narrative is a fundamental, almost primal human impulse, the basic way in which we interpret the material world.
Effectively crafting the story of your business is of the utmost importance to obtaining and retaining clients. That does not mean a simple listing of what your services and benefits are or who consists your client list. That’s sort of like the plot summary. The story of your business is not just what you do, but WHY you do what you do––what makes your company unique. What is working with you going to feel like? How to suggest the vibe of your company effectively can feel like quite a tall order, because, as you already know, it’s hard to translate your business’ internal ethos into a story that makes sense to the outside world.
The medium of video is arguably the most accessible storytelling format, and the rise of internet streaming gives companies of all shades and stripes an opportunity to craft their story just the way they want it to be told. It is no longer enough to just maintain a website––streaming video is the standard, almost ubiquitous form of communicating. Think about it: how many times do you pause from working to watch a short video? If you’re a superhuman, maybe none. But mere mortals love watching videos on the internet, and we strongly advise you to take advantage of that kind of compulsion to tell your company’s story.
Whether you work with an internal video department, an ad agency, or with a video production company, embark on telling the visual story of your company by hiring seasoned professionals. Your creative partner will know exactly how to translate your core narrative into an incredible, consumable format for your audience. Your potential clients might not notice technical mistakes or discrepancies, but they’ll notice if it doesn’t feel right––and will stop watching, or forget it immediately after they watched. The flip side to the popularity of online video is the problem of white noise, of forget-ability.
But that challenge is also an opportunity to blow people out of the water with a great visual story. If you capture the unique ethos and quality of your company and it’s people, your audience will remember. And with video you have complete control over the narrative in a way that feels more authentic than the text on the “About” section of your company’s website. Aspects like tone, inflection, excitement and passion can all come through far more powerfully in a video that text on screen just cannot compete. As you dive into this year, keep thinking about your unique “WHY” story and collaborate with those who can help you tell it well.
Lee Rothenflue, owner of “Cut to Black”
“Cut to Black” is a production company focused on storytelling through film. Lee has over 13 years experience overseeing the production and post production of many different types of film and video projects. From feature films, documentaries, corporate promos and commercials, they productions emphasize the heart of the story.
January 26, 2014
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