What’s NEW for AEC websites?
Examples, and case studies of some of the hottest trends:
Content Management Systems
Responsive Design
Simplified Navigation
Going Vert (Scrolling), Parallax Scrolling CTAs & Lead Generation
Graphic Design Trends
Marketing Automation
Cross-channel marketing
Beyond text and photos: content that scores big with prospects, SEO
Respect the environment: Today’s digital ecosystem
Q&A, Comments
How – How To Create Your Next Website
Ding Repair (fix it up) or New Board (whole new website)?
Lifecycle of a website
Assembling your surf team:
Getting the right team on board
Selling a new website to your team
Leading the content charge
Assembling the right surf instructors
When to go outside for help
Marketers are buzzing about “story.” Ten years ago, we were frothing about “branding.” Like “branding,” I’m concerned that the term “story” is being applied too liberally, and will lose its credibility. To avoid this, we need to be precise when referring to “story.” Story has a definite structure. By learning this timeless structure, all AEC marketers can better tell stories to win new business.
Robert McKee, a Fulbright Scholar praised in Hollywood for his consulting on narrative structure defines story as “the expression of how and why life changes. A story begins with balance, then something throws life out of balance, then a story goes in to describe how balance is restored.”
In previous posts, I shared why AEC Marketers should use story (the why), and the three stories we must master (the what). Now, I’ll recommend how to craft your stories (the how). Story structure will make your stories, and firm, more memorable. Stories move a prospect along the continuum of getting to know, like, and trust you, and your firm. Well constructed stories filled with emotion and vulnerability build relationships. As you know well, relationships win new business.
Story Structure 101 After reading a gripping novel or seeing a moving film, have you ever wondered if there is a secret formula for story success? There is, and it’s no secret. You may have heard of the famous 3 act play: Introduction, Rising Action, Resolution. I prefer the structure below from What Great Salespeople Do: The Science of Selling Through Emotional Connection and the Power of Story by Mike Bosworth and Ben Zoldan. These 5 stages are the “secret sauce” for all great stories. I’ll use an example of an AEC “Who We’ve Helped Story” to illustrate these 5 stages.
Setup – This is where you drop your listener into your story. Quickly ntroduce your characters, location, and any relevant background information. To make your protagonists likable, share what makes them human (dreams, fears, desires, etc.). The audience needs to connect with your project team and want them to succeed.
Conflict – If there is no struggle, there is no plot. It just isn’t interesting. There needs to be something formidable that stands in the way of your project team’s success. In the AEC world, this could be timing, personalities, budget, politics, or physical constraints.
Turning Point – Stories are explanations of how and why life changes. This is the aha moment that changes your team. This could be some new insight that alters how your team solves problems on the job site, or the reason why you entered a new market. The turning point could even be an epiphany that changed the strategic direction of your firm.
Outcome – This is an untangling of events in your story. Think of movie credits rolling where we learn what your favorite characters are doing with their lives today. The resolution explains how your story ends and what effect the experience has had on your team.
Your Point – In this stage, you reinforce your theme or point of your story. This is often a core belief or value that your firm holds. If your firm has a new way of delivering projects, this is where you would share that process. It might sound something like this, “as a result of what we learned by continuously overcoming X, our firm believes that Y not only is the best way to deliver projects, but it also separates us from our competition.
Recommended Story Development Process The way in which you develop a good marketing story is not the order in which you ultimately write or tell that story. Because clarity and brevity are so important in marketing stories, write or tell the story in chronological order (stages 1 thru 5 above). Develop the story in this order:
Your Point – Ask yourself, “why am I/we telling this story?” Possible answers may be to share your impressive safety record, demonstrate your creativity, or persuade that your project delivery method saves money. Always start with why.
Outcome – To make sure your story ends in a way that supports your point.
Setup
Conflict
Turning Point
Now you have the key elements, practice writing or telling the story in chronological order.
Share Emotion Great story structure without emotion is like a jumpy house before it’s been inflated. Emotion gives it life, makes it interesting, and ultimately memorable. There are 6000 words in English to communicate emotion. Use them to describe how your main characters feel, not just what happened. If you just recount the facts, expect to put your audience to sleep. Consistently ask yourself, how did your protagonist feel at each stage of the story. Feelings are the glue that constructs real and likable characters. Emotional connection is also what makes your story, and your firm memorable.
Reveal Vulnerability This is the hardest thing to do for AEC firms. Our work is so highly technical, and we are consistently asserting our expertise, that to reveal vulnerability seems weak. But we actually gain power when revealing vulnerability. Try this with a friend. Reveal something you may be struggling with, or a mistake you’ve made and watch what happens. Because of what neuroscientists call mirror neurons, your friend will most likely share something vulnerable in return. In simple terms, this “monkey see, monkey do” behavior is a mutual exchange of emotion. This is the definition of a relationship. By telling your story, your prospect may tell you their story. This is where you learn what your prospect’s pain points are, and what you can do to solve them. It takes courage, but going first in revealing vulnerability, is critical. You establish that it’s safe to be real, that your prospect can trust you with their authentic story. It’s counterintuitive, but vulnerability makes you more likable, not less. Perfection is boring, stiff, and lifeless. It’s our imperfections, that make us likable. Stories about when your firm made a mistake, what you did to correct that error, and what you learned, are incredibly powerful relationship builders.
Nothing is more intimidating to a writer than a blank sheet of paper. My intention is that this post serves as a template for you to jump-start your stories. By utilizing a proven story structure, and integrating emotion and vulnerability, you will create stories that elevate your firm’s proposals, presentation interviews, and websites to win new business.
What Do You Think? Does having a structure constrain or enhance your creative storytelling?
Any examples of where you’ve revealed vulnerability, and it’s helped or hurt you?
I recently led my training seminar How To Become a Creative Superhero for The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS). A critical lesson in the seminar is that failure is essential to success. I know…this seems wacky. But we must fail, and the benefits are below. Embracing failure as part of your creative process lands you on the path to marketing (and life) success.
If You’re Not Failing, You’re Not Living
Much of marketing professional services is demonstrating meaningful differentiation from your competitors. To do so, you’ve got to consistently communicate your uniqueness in new ways. Being different requires taking risks. Hugh Mcleaod says “great new ideas have lonely childhoods.” Creating something new can be messy, uncomfortable and unknown. It requires great courage. Even the world’s best fail. “Talent and intelligence never innoculate anyone against failure,” reminds J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.
The Benefits of Failure
Failure teaches you things that you could learn no other way. As Bucky Fuller says, “You can never learn less; you can only learn more. The reason I know so much is because I have made so many mistakes.” This philosophy is the heart of the Japanese business concept “kaizen” (continual improvement). By pushing against, and breaking through boundaries, you develop a range of acceptable solutions. It’s also liberating to have your biggest fear (failure) be realized, and know you are still alive to create brilliance. Your subconscious mind wants you to succeed. You can see this in mini-failures that are actually “happy accidents.” This happened to me recently in a client presentation when the words out of my mouth were not what I intended (aka Freudian slip), but were actually considerably better. Be sure to recognize the gifts of failure when they show up in your creative process.
Build Failure Into Your Process
Like life itself, the creative process is beyond our total control. Accept it when failure shows up as a guest in your creative house. Greet failure and keep moving. This simple acceptance opens you up to the creative magic that will flow. The goal is to embrace failure early and frequently. You can even make it fun. Consider offering a booby prize to the person that comes up with the most ridiculous idea in your next brainstorming session. Be sure to save your ideas that don’t make the cut. They are simply solutions to the next creative problem. Plus, nobody has to see your “sketches.” You only need to unveil your final work of art.
Failure is like spinach for Popeye: it doesn’t kill us and only makes us stronger. The mind once stretched to a new idea never regains its original shape. Now take your newfound love of failure and incorporate it into your next creative marketing project.
by Dan and Chip Heath
by Dan Pink