Priority Pursuit - Marketing Guiding Statements
Priority Pursuit - Marketing Guiding Statements
5. How to Write Your Small Business's Story Pitch
Have you ever felt like your brand's story is lacking that extra "oomph" that sets it apart from the competition?
Maybe you've been asked about your business's story and found yourself at a loss for words. It's not uncommon for entrepreneurs to neglect the importance of creating a captivating narrative for their brand. Though it can be a daunting task, crafting a compelling brand story is a crucial step in forming a deeper connection with your customers.
This is where the story pitch comes into play, and we're thrilled to bring you part five of our marketing guiding statement series all about it! We'll be sharing our top tips for writing a story pitch that captures your brand's essence and makes a lasting impression on your audience. And, we'll even provide an example to help you visualize the end result.
So, join us for this exciting episode, and let's get started on creating a story pitch that will help your small business shine.
Specifically, this episode highlights the following themes:
- The impact a well-crafted story pitch can have on your audience
- A practical example to help you visualize the process of crafting a story pitch
- The importance of empathy in your story pitch
Other Mentioned Links & Resources
Learn more about Treefrog services:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com
Learn how to write your Marketing Guiding Statements:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/marketingguidingstatements
Save $20 on your first order from InstaCart
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/instacart-coupon-code
Join the Priority Pursuit Podcast Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/179106264013426
Follow Treefrog on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/treefroggers
Follow or DM Victoria on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/victorialrayburn
Kelly Rice 0:00
As a small business owner, you have to pitch your business and creating a story pitch for your business is so helpful because it gives you a concise storyline that engages potential customers by first empathizing with them and your audience. And we learned how empathizing is really important when you're wanting to become the guide second, giving them a plan of action. And third, showing them what success can look like.
Victoria Rayburn 0:26
Hey, there, you're listening to the Priority Pursuit podcast, a podcast dedicated to helping small business owners to find, maintain and pursue both their personal and business priorities so they can build lives and businesses they love. We're your
Kelly Rice 0:38
host, Kelly rice, and Victoria Rayburn. And today, we are excited for part five of the marketing guiding statement series. And in this episode, we are breaking down the story pitch. So
Victoria Rayburn 0:48
over the last several episodes, just as a quick recap, we have been talking about the importance of developing your marketing guiding statements, AKA your messaging before you develop or implement your marketing strategy. This is because without clear messaging, you will not be able to connect with your ideal customers hold their attention or get them to do business with you. So
Kelly Rice 1:11
when you jump in doing all of the marketing things like social media, and developing a website and creating reels, and all these other types of things, before you create your marketing guiding statements, you actually end up wasting a lot of time and money on things that actually they just don't work. This is why today we're covering the fifth area you need in your marketing guiding statements. And it's called the story pitch.
Victoria Rayburn 1:32
So in the publishing world, before a book is written in full, the author goes to a publisher to present their story pitch, which is just a concise description of what a story is about who the story is for, and why it will sell. This is also what a story pitch that will can do for your small business. Well, we know like initially, this definition that comes from the publishing world. But again, so many aspects of story, really, so many aspects of the industry can be applied to your marketing to clarify your messaging. So today, Kelly is going to walk us through the strategy of developing your story pitch. Okay, so Kelly in the marketing world, what is the story of pitch? Why does it matter? And how do you use it.
Kelly Rice 2:15
So just like the one liner that we talked about last episode, most of us are really bad at explaining what we do, why we do it, and why it matters. And most of the time, when somebody asks us about our business, we start rattling off services. Or like, if you're like me, sometimes I used to just get like this blank stare and like, ah, we do these types of things, instead of telling people how we can solve their problems. So again, we don't want to bore people with information and we want to captivate them expecially in your marketing materials, and on your website, and this is where your story pitch comes in. So the story pitch goes beyond the one liner to create a full storyline that will engage your audience and show them why they should work with you. So while your story pitch also has many uses, like the one liner, you will use it more in a long form content such as your website overview, brochures, overview videos, and especially in presentations or networking events.
Victoria Rayburn 3:17
Love it. So Kelly, when we talked about the one liner, we talked about how you know this is essentially a way to further engage people in conversation. But your story pitch is really to engage your customers I mean at a deeper level. So how can you use your story pitch to engage customers?
Kelly Rice 3:34
Well, for starters, we will put the talking points to work again, to create this, this marketing guiding statement, it will use elements also from the one liner. Now, you may not be an author, you may or may not be an author. A lot of us are. But there's also a lot more small business owners who are becoming authors. So they're also getting introduced to this type of story format when they're writing their books. But as a small business owner, you have to pitch your business. Unlike an author who is actually pitching their book, you have to pitch your business. And creating a story pitch for your business is so helpful, because it gives you a concise storyline that engages potential customers by first empathizing with them and your audience. And we learned how empathizing is really important when you're wanting to become the guide. Second, giving them a plan of action. And third is showing them what success can look like. So the way that you want to form your story pitch follows basic story guidelines, and it looks something like this. So you want to start with a problem. You want to make the problem a little bit more worse. You want to express empathy, describe the solution, show the positive outcome. And then finally, state your why. Now unlike your one liner, your story pitch will likely be a few paragraphs long. And remember, you want to be able to work harder Are sorry, you don't want to work harder, you're already working hard enough, you're a small business owner, you want to work smarter, not harder. So you want to be pulling from your marketing guiding statements as you've already created from your talking points and from your one liner, because you actually have most of the information you already need in order to write this
Victoria Rayburn 5:17
story. As a small business owner, you probably have a seemingly endless to do list. But I can almost promise that there are things on your list that can be outsourced, like grocery shopping. I mean, as a wedding photographer, the last thing I wanted to do after shooting a wedding on a Saturday was to spend my Sunday in a grocery store. So I am forever thankful that a friend told me about Instacart Instacart is a grocery delivery service. basically use the Instacart app to make your shopping list then a personal shopper goes to your preferred store selects groceries for you and delivers them to you. Typically all within just a few hours, you can also schedule your delivery time, which is wonderful. Personally, I will sing Instacart praises forever because one has saved me from countless hours and to Instacart employees local personal shoppers, meaning with every Instacart purchase, you're putting money back directly into your local economy. Well Instacart does charge a delivery fee when you upgrade to Instacart. Plus for just $99 a year you'll receive free unlimited deliveries for all orders over $35. Considering the time and frustration you'll save that's $99 well invested if you'd like to avoid going to the grocery store and save $20 On your first order from Instacart of $35 or more visit treefrog marketing.com/instacart. Again, if you'd like $20 off your first Instacart order of $35 or more visit treefrog marketing.com/instacart. The Priority Pursui podcast is brought to you by treefrog marketing a marketing agency for small businesses that takes the guesswork out of marketing to learn more about our services, which include messaging and strategy development, website development, SEO management, content marketing, Google and social media advertising, social media management, sales, funnel development, consulting and more, visit tree frog marketing.com. Again, visit tree frog marketing.com To learn more about our services and just schedule a free consultation.
Kelly Rice 7:19
So let's walk through tree frogs story pitch as an example, because if you're a visual and audio learner like me, you want to be able to have that something to follow. So I'm going to read it and then we'll kind of break we'll break it down into the sections that we talked about to make it a little bit more manageable. So most small business owners and leaders aren't sure where to start when it comes to marketing their businesses, nor do they have time to manage a marketing strategy themselves. As a result, their employees finances and Business Growth suffer at treefrog marketing, we understand these struggles firsthand because we are small business owners ourselves. As a result, we've created ScienceBase marketing systems that help small businesses save time in increased profits. So they can finally breathe and feel confident in their marketing efforts. We do this because small business owners and leaders work hard and deserve to have thriving businesses and lives outside of the office. So I know that's long. And when you're watching or listening, it's a little hard to, you know, kind of break that down. But the goal is, is that if you stop and think about it, you actually should feel really comfortable about utilizing treefrog if you are a small business owner, and you have the struggles that that we outlined. So the first thing that we do in the story pitch is that we have a problem. And if you go back several episodes, again, you'll learn that our ideal avatar, the small business owners, they struggle with finding time to do everything that they need to do both at work and at home. Therefore our problem talks directly to this audience and lays out the problem that they're facing. Right? This is the same thing that we did in the one liner as well as we're saying, Hey, you have this problem. So problem again, in our story pitch is most small business owners and leaders aren't sure where to start when it comes to marketing their businesses, nor do they have time to manage a marketing strategy themselves. And then second, we're making that problem just a little bit worse, by laying out what will happen if they let that problem continue to fester, or they don't do something about it. So then make it worse part is as a result, their employees finances and Business Growth suffer. So if you're a small business owner, you can more than likely relate to this. You're like, I have so many responsibilities, I'm doing all the things I seem to only be doing the things that are on fire, and I want to be able to be proactive instead of reactive. And if I could do that, then my employees will be happier, my finances will be in better shape and my business actually will grow. So that is the whole creating a problem and making it worse. It's not to fear longer people, it's to help people understand if they're in that situation, that they can relate to this, like you're getting their brains to go, Oh my gosh, that is totally me. Now, we've learned from the following a story based framework, that the next part of this, we have to be some kind of guide, because we just can't say, oh, all these bad things happen to you, or you're in this crazy place, the guide comes in and shows empathy, before jumping in and telling the hero what they need to do. And remember, your business is the guide, and your customers must be the hero of the story. So the empathy portion of the statement, we're telling our ideal customers, we know what it's like to be in your shoes. So we just got them to say, oh, my gosh, I relate to that. Now we're saying, at treefrog, we understand the struggles firsthand, because we're small business owners ourselves. So the idea is, is that we got you, we understand this, we've been in your shoes, we, we get it. So what happens is, we start to have a conversation and that sales threshold comes down, because in no way are we trying to force feed a sale, we want to have a conversation. So that's why stating the problem first and then going into empathy is so important in your story pitch. So next, we get to come in as the guide with the plan, and what it will look like if our ideal customers actually follow our advice. So this portion gives the solution to our customers problems, and helps them see a way out of the of their chaos that they're in. So our solution is, as a result, we've created ScienceBase marketing systems that help small businesses save time, and increase profits so that your comes the outcome, they can finally breathe and feel comfort, and feel confident in their marketing efforts. So the idea is, is that here's the solution, this is what you need to do in order to get out of your chaos or solve your problem. And if you do it, you're going to finally be able to take that deep breath and just be like, Oh, my gosh, I feel so much better. And I know now that my marketing efforts are going to pay off that kind of all making sense now. Oh, yeah. And then, yeah. And then we have one final portion of this longer when we told you that the story pitch is a little bit longer than the one liner. But the idea is that you just you're building a deeper story. And you're building again, that story pitch like you would if you're an author trying to pitch your book. So then the final portion of the statement talks about why we do what we do. People make buying decisions first based on emotion, and then they back it up with facts. And if you've already you've already set the stage, in the previous sections of your story pitch about the problems and emotions and showing empathy. But your why brings it all together. As you hear treefrogs why you'll see that we're looking to get our ideal customers to say yes, that's what I want to sow treefrogs why reads because small business owners and leaders work hard and deserve to have thriving businesses and lives outside of the office. So if we go back to all the things that we've ever heard from marketing perspective about why are why is important, this is it. This takes away that sales feel as well, because we're not in it just to sell you a widget. We're in it because we know from an organization what we offer, it will make your life better. And you deserve to have a better life. Because you work so hard. You should have a thriving business and a life outside of it. You shouldn't be stuck at your son's baseball game on a computer all the time trying to figure out work stuff, you should be able to sit there and yell at the refs like everyone else, like Kelly does. So I sit in the outfield, so they can't hear me. Yeah. So by following the story logic of your story pitch, you'll be able to capture people's attention while helping them understand that you are the one that can help solve their problem and what their lives could be like if they followed your advice.
Victoria Rayburn 14:12
Man, I'm so glad that in this process, we've been using Treefrogs guiding statements as an example just in that, you know, it makes me like hearing them out loud. It just makes me so excited to you know, be part of this team. But anyway, story for another day. But guys, this is part five of a seven part series about your marketing guiding statements. Now if I know in this episode, there is really a lot of content. There are a lot of steps and sometimes it can be hard to visualize what all that looks like. So if you go to tree frog marketing.com/marketing guiding statements, you can find a download that lists all of the story elements you need in one place that way. You don't I mean, you know Kelly's voice is wonderful but in case you don't want to like hit rewind and do this again. And again, you'll find step by step instructions there. And then also at treefrog, marketing.com/marketing guiding statements, you will find the all of the marketing guiding statements episodes that we're doing. So basically, this is your mini course all about messaging and marketing guiding statements, and you don't want to miss out on that, we will be releasing the next two episodes over the next few weeks. However, we know that you are a busy, busy small business owner, and that marketing guiding statements are important. So again, go to treefrog marketing.com/marketingguiding statements to get early access to these episodes, and to download our download, which is always a funny thing to say all about writing your marketing, guiding statements. And guys, if you've been going through this process, and you're just feeling entirely overwhelmed, please don't panic. Again, you have a lot of things on your plate. And sometimes you just you just can't do one more thing. But we do want to let you know that we do write marketing guiding statements for small businesses. You can This is a service that we offer. You mean you don't even have to like do your website with us or do anything else, we are more than happy just to write your messaging. So that way, all of your marketing moving forward is sure to work. You can learn more about this service at treefrog marketing.com/messaging. Now, remember, and I know we've said this, just so many times at this point, but it's so important. Before you can have effective marketing, you have to have clear messaging. So while creating your marketing, guiding statements is a lot of work. Remember that if you don't know how to communicate with your customers, you won't be able to connect with them or hold their attention. And as a result, every marketing tactic you implement or tasks you complete will literally only be a waste of time and money for the sake of your small businesses success. For the sake of your relationships with your family and for how well you're able to serve your team and how generous you can be with your small business. Please prioritize your marketing guiding statements. Again, visit treefrogmarketing.com/marketingguidingstatements to access this full podcast episode series and our marketing guiding statements download. And if you are interested in the possibility of having our team write your guiding statements for you go to treefrogmarketing.com/messaging to schedule a 15 minute consultation to find out what this is all about. Guys, thank you so much for prioritizing your small business today by tuning in to another episode of Priority Pursuit. We are already looking forward to hanging out with you again next week and diving into the last two marketing guiding statements.