Storytelling is a gift and an art. Some people are just born natural storytellers. They know how to keep the attention of an eager audience. However, you don’t have to have to be a professional speaker in order to meaningfully share stories with others.
The Power of Storytelling
According to author Matthew Dicks (winner of multiple storytelling competitions), in his book, Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling, it is being able to identify “storyworthy” moments from your everyday life and to retell those meaningful moments in an effective way, that really matters. Finding, crafting, and telling stories helps you connect with other people, including your guests.
The Storytelling Edge
It is a lot easier to remember a heartwarming and compelling story than it is to remember a set of facts and figures someone tells you. In The Storytelling Edge, by Joe Lazauskas & Shane Snow, the authors share why businesses can succeed by telling stories.
Everyone likes a good story. Stories improve presentations. Stories can leave lasting impressions. Storytelling helps people remember you. Great stories build relationships. Stories get people to care. Great stories (whether funny, fictional, or true) can actually grow your business dramatically.
The goal is to consistently tell your story in a variety of ways over time. Use stories to build relationships. Make it easy for people to care about you and your accommodations. Furthermore, engage potential guests to build a lifetime value with them. Thus, it is much easier to encourage guests to return than to find new guests each time!
Conversation Marketing
In Kevin Lund’s book, Conversation Marketing: How to Be Relevant and Engage Your Customer by Speaking Human, he tells readers that you can deliver the right content to the right audience at the right time when you have a deeper understanding of who they are, what they want to talk about, and how they want to be spoken to.
Conversational content includes blogs, videos, social media, podcasts, native advertising, digital newsletters, white papers, print magazines, digital magazines, books, e-books, and webinars. The audience is your first priority.
Focus On Their Needs
- Talk about what interests your guests
- Address their pain points in a language they understand
- Share relevant content at the right time and place
- Solve problems and provide easy-to-find answers to become a resource to them
- Build an audience with good, relevant content including stories
- Give guests a reason to do business with you
- Address, answer, or solve their pain points in a relevant, unique, and useful way
Start the Conversation
- What is your unique selling point to your audience?
- What do your ideal guests need to know about right now?
- How can you talk about it in a new way?
- What would you like them to do?
- Share content that explains how to accomplish an activity, goal, or result
Answer These Questions
- How can you relate more to your guests?
- What kind of content are they looking for?
- How can you stand out from other accommodations?
- What are your guests saying about you online?
Conversation Marketing promotes engagement. Moreover, it allows you to connect with your customers on a deeper level. In addition, it delivers a personal touch. You can make your customer feel valued, special, and appreciated. Therefore, this allows you to develop a lasting connection with your B&B guests.
Conversation marketing & storytelling both benefit your hospitality business. They are excellent ways to become more successful. As a resource, B&B Consulting is here to provide you with practical advice. This leads to profitable results. If you are looking to grow your current business or would like to buy or sell a B&B, please contact Rob Sales today.