MEDIA |
May 2023
Be A Better Storyteller for Your Jewelry Business
Laryssa Wirstiuk
The story of your jewelry business possesses the unlimited potential to attract your target customers if you know how to communicate it effectively and leverage it impactfully.
Storytelling sometimes gets dismissed as a wimpy “soft skill”. It’s not often respected as much as business functions like finance or sales. But knowing how to tell a strong, compelling story is ultimately what separates the forgettable, short-lived businesses from the legends. Keep reading to discover how to put some “muscle into your story”.
The Power of Stories
Think about your own experience with stories, especially as they relate to how you learn new information and make memories. Can you remember a time in your life when you grasped a concept more easily because it was presented to you in story format rather than as a list of facts you needed to memorize?
If you, your salespeople, and your marketing collateral aren’t telling stories, then your customers may feel overwhelmed by and disconnected from the facts you’re presenting to them. But when information is presented in story form and driven by emotion, customers are more likely to relate and connect, feel compelled to pay attention, and even share it with others.
In fact, researchers at the London School of Business found that people only retain 5% to 10% of information if it consists of statistics alone, but when they hear it presented as a story, they remember 65% to 75%.
As everyone in this industry knows – jewelry often has so much emotion tied to it. Jewelry is, for sure, not a necessity. People buy jewelry because they want to step into a feeling: express love, remember a person or a special moment, and much more. Relating to jewelry through a story is a way for a customer to know the purchase is meant for them.
How to Start Storytelling
The word ‘story’ is typically connected to the written word, but stories are not exclusively communicated through text. Stories can be short or long form.
They can be as brief as a sentence or as in-depth as a 1500-word blog post. They can also be visual. As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. When you’re planning your next photoshoot for your store, think not only about how pretty the images can look, but also: how can they truly tell a story?
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There’s also audio and spoken-word storytelling, which doesn’t require text or images accompanying it. This type of storytelling is easy to consume, and it’s relatively inexpensive to create. Not enough businesses in this industry are taking advantage of these formats.
And then, of course, there’s video content, which can be short form, long form, live, or recorded. As we know from social media, video is one of the most compelling forms of storytelling, especially in our digital age. There are many opportunities to tell stories in videos, and they don’t have to be highly produced as long as they’re authentic
Refine Your Story
Get in touch with your business’s values, mission, and purpose first. After that, consider the main characters. Is your business the character in its own story? Is the founder the “hero” or protagonist? Are your customers the main characters? What role does each character play?
You’ll want to infuse personality into the story as well as in the tone and voice you’re using to tell the story. Be as authentic and transparent as possible. The story should be meaningful and personal.
A common mistake in storytelling is overcomplicating it. Sometimes business owners feel like they need to make up for something they’re lacking through “fluff”. But keeping the story simple is best. At the same time, don’t be afraid to linger on important details. As they say, nail down your “elevator pitch”.
Are you ready to start attracting the best-fit customers for your jewelry business? Start with your story and watch how it transforms casual window shoppers into loyal fans for life.
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