You are running a business; it’s growing, and sales are average. Everything is going well, but there is one big problem. You’re not able to scale your business and reach new heights. Why is that so? The reason might be customer feedback.
Large companies have already understood this, and that’s why they use customer feedback to build a story that attracts the target audience’s attention and builds trust. If you use this strategy properly, you can create maximum impact on your audience. Suppose you’ve all the data, insights, and reviews. What’s next?
A story is not about using buzzwords, complex vocabulary, or Shakespearean poetry. You need to craft a story that walks people through the journey. Indeed, client feedback is important, but using it properly is even more important and can give more power to your content strategy.
So, how can you use it to accelerate your business? Many questions might come to mind. In this blog post, I’ll share everything you need to know about this topic.
So let’s get started.
Is Your Business Missing Out on Valuable Customer Insights?
Every business loves 5-star reviews and feedback. But more than that, they use it as a basis to optimize their campaign and make changes to the product. You might be going through the same phase. You have received a lot of feedback from customers. It gives you insight into what the customer wants.
But most of these are only 1-3 lines long testimonials. They are short, spread positive notions about your business, and precise. But there’s more to it.
Suppose you’re trying a new ice cream on a day when you’re feeling sad. You take a bite of ice cream and feel so refreshed. It gives you nostalgia for how your childhood ice cream tasted. All good memories start to overflow. But the review you write will most likely be:
Tasty ice cream. It reminded me of my childhood. 10/10 recommended.
But the story behind the bite is far more interesting and will help people connect more with the ice cream brand. So what should businesses do?
Take testimonials of satisfied consumers → Comprehensive case studies → Persuade new and real customers.
For this, you need to use a platform that tells you about what customers like, dislike, or love about your product. You can get help from powerful tools like Luminoso.
Remember, users don’t want to see content that’s all about:
- I am selling XYZ thing
- My services include XYZ
Avoid doing that. Create a winning content marketing strategy and apply a user-centric approach.
Step-by-step How To Build Story from Customer Feedback
Are you confused about how to build a story? Want to create a story that skyrockets your business growth?
Here is a step-by-step strategy on how you can achieve it. Consider this a recipe to make your business stand out from the crowd.
Step 1: Collect All Customer Feedback
The first step in this strategy is collecting feedback from your customers. But how can you collect it? What are some of the channels you can use?
There are plenty of sources you can use. Some of them are as follows:
- Surveys
- Reviews
- Social media channels
- Customer support interactions
Remember to identify your target audience. You can diversify them into various audience groups. Learn about your stakeholders and the metrics that are most important for them. Now, use it as a foundation to craft the right message.
You can use the knowledge of the audience as a basis to formulate a sales message, case study, and everything else. If you’re still unclear about it, then you should do this.
- Find the decision maker or those who can influence purchasing decisions. Personalize your message accordingly.
- What are your ideal customers looking for in the product or pain point you’re solving? Ensure that you’re properly communicating it in the story.
- Find the first impression of customers about your product. Remove any concerns or resistance between making a purchase.
- Analyze your competitors and note how they are winning customers. Find their weaknesses and areas of improvement.
- Most importantly, find the metrics that are important for your campaign.
Your story should include this:
Find the audience / key problem and create your story around it = Customers feel special.
The KPIs for every point might be different. So ensure that you’ve already clarified these. In short, analyze and set the right parameters.
Step 2: Craft It Like A Pro Storyteller
You’ve compiled all the insight, reviews, and necessary data. It’s time to use words and let them do the magic. But before that, you must make your insights actionable.
It should be done even before analysis. But how can you achieve it?
It begins with knowing the priorities of your customers. To make your insights actionable, you should follow some of these tips.
These insights should speak about the organization’s strategies, values, and mission. It’s not about looking at the analysis and thinking about what you can improve. It involves analyzing data and understanding what you must improve.
Step 3: Make A Compelling Narrative Structure
Build an engaging narrative structure that takes your audience on a journey. Suppose there is a coffee company. It has amazing taste, ambiance, staff, and everything is almost perfect. But there is one problem: it serves customers extremely late. Sometimes it even takes 1 hour and even more.
Now, what should they do?
They should narrate the story of how they identified the problem, took customer feedback into consideration, resolved the issue, and the result. You should use emotions and try to connect with your audience.
Use personal stories, add human elements, and dive deeper into it at an emotional level. Build relevancy using compelling content and anecdotes.
Use data visualization tools to create charts, graphs, or infographics that support and enhance the key points in your story. Visual elements make complex data more accessible and engaging.
Step 4: Refine It To Perfection
You’ve done all the necessary steps that are mentioned above. Now, it’s time to make it perfect. You need to build an impact, starting with making the audience trust you. Your case should report clear analytics.
Another thing you should know about your audience trusting you is giving them confidence. In short, they must have complete confidence in how data is collected analyzed, and how insights are presented.
Sometimes, potential customers might question your method of data collection, or skateholders suspect you’re not using the right numbers. Openly share your process; this transparency will help address any questions about the results.
To strengthen this trust, align the data with the existing projects of stakeholders and their team’s efforts. Find their involvement in other projects and share insights resonating with their beliefs. Don’t forget to add a clear call to action.
Step 5: Monitor Your Progress
Continuously monitor the impact of your customer feedback stories. Track engagement metrics and gather feedback on the stories themselves.
Use this data to make improvements and refine your storytelling strategy over time.
Practical Example Using Step-by-step Strategy
Suppose you run an online clothing store specializing in stylish clothes. You’ll gather the feedback using various marketing channels. Your clothes are trendy and fast fashion. So, who’ll be your target audience?
Gen-Z.
You’ll use their feedback as the foundation for your story. Now, find what needs to be improved. It can be jeans quality, jacket colors, delivery time, etc.
Share how you identified the issue, actively listened to customer feedback, made improvements, and ultimately delivered a superior product. From start to end, you ensure that the shopper receives excellent service.
Now, tell your target customers a compelling story of how you used customer feedback. These customer stories will build a positive impact, leading to business success.
But transparency is important. Tell about your data and process. You can even highlight sustainability efforts for eco-conscious customers.
Lastly, track metrics such as sales, customer retention, and engagement. Gather feedback to refine your storytelling strategy over time.
Tips For Successful Brand Storytelling
Here are some tips that will give your story a new life. It’ll transform your story, which will bring better results.
- Proofread your customer case study. Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. These can distract from the message.
- Ensure that the tone of your story is consistent throughout. It should match your brand’s voice and the emotions conveyed in the narrative.
- Summarize the main points or key takeaways within the story. Make it easy for readers to grasp the significance of the feedback and its impact.
- Avoid diving straight into the process of creating stories. Instead, prepare a roadmap defining the message and intent you want to convey through these compelling brand stories. It ensures your stories align with your business goals.
- If you plan to use the story in marketing or customer communication, consider A/B testing different versions to determine which resonates best with your audience. Do social listening customer interviews and create a buyer persona to get an understanding on a deeper level.
Conclusion
A compelling customer success story built on your buyers’ reviews can drive conversions and boost sales. Implement the strategies mentioned in this blog, and you’ll be surprised to see the transformation of your business.
Remember to focus on the customer journey and tell how your product or services changed their life. It is the key to creating a successful brand story that wins people’s hearts. Learn the difference between a great story and a boring story.
Your story shouldn’t make people yawn. Instead, it should make people excited and compelled to keep reading. It’ll increase ROI and take your business to a new level. Not only this, it increases customer loyalty.
Using user-generated content is an amazing way to market your business. Especially businesses that don’t have a big marketing team or budget can easily leverage this strategy.
