010 An intro to narrative design Chapter six 10 tips to improve your storytelling strategy Understand ‘why’ storytelling is important – but unsure how to execute a perfect strategy? Here’re 10 tips to help make a good story great: 1. Know your audience If you don’t get the fundamentals right you’re setting yourself up for a fall. So, if you haven’t already, run some research to: • Solidify your target market, • De昀椀ne your buyer personas, • Understand their pain points, and • Discover how and where they’ll be. With this in tow, you’ll have the intel you need to accurately shape all future stages of your story. We can’t emphasize enough how important this step is so don’t be tempted to rush the process. Without the right information on your market, you’re essentially putting your 昀椀nger in the air and seeing what sticks, and that isn’t the sort of approach that secures sales. 2. Set your objective Different products have different objectives. If you’re selling hair accessories online it might be an immediate sale. If you’re a counselor it might be to inquire. If you’re a car dealer it might be to browse your stock. On top of that, some objectives might require more than one story level too. For example, someone buying a hair clip from a large chain is probably less interested in the person behind the company than someone seeking a counselor. With the latter, you need to demonstrate what’s in it for the customer (i.e. less stress, better quality of life, reduced anxiety) while simultaneously showing the person/people behind the sale (i.e. what characteristics do they have that their patients want and need).