Last Updated on December 17, 2021 by Troika Gellido

Should you persuade customers with statistics, or stories?

Marketers and business owners love data and statistics. It can tell them if they’re doing a good job, or failing at something. It informs them if things need fixing, or if it’s time to shift priorities. However, when dealing with customers, these statistics should be able to flesh out a good story for your brand.

Brand storytelling is crucial in today’s customer-centric era. Pulling back the curtain to show more about your business can be daunting at first, but a well-told brand story can make a company feel real to its audience. Whether you’re operating business-to-business (B2B) or building your brand in the business-to-consumer (B2C) space, there’s always more about storytelling than meets the eye.

Why does your brand need a story?

A great brand story does not only allow your customers to see precisely what your business does, but also what it stands for. Brand storytelling coveys purpose and builds a bridge between you and your audience.

B2B marketing is essential for wineries. Reliable connections are crucial for unforeseen changes in the economy and successful brand building. Wineries that are not implementing brand storytelling and B2B marketing are risking losing chances to develop the business further.

If you genuinely want to cut through the clutter of data and information, you have to relate your data and statistics through storytelling.

10 Reasons Why Storytelling Is Better Than Statistics

People are more likely to remember a story than a statistic, which is why it’s so effective for conversions. The winery industry is no exception to this. As a winery owner, you need to provide real connections for your brand that you can incorporate in your B2B marketing plan. Statistics and data provide direction, while stories encourage action.

1. It creates an emotional connection

Excellent brand storytelling creates an emotional connection. When people see a story they can connect with, the brain releases oxytocin, encouraging empathy and compassion. Customers are more likely to give money to others in that emotional state, whether a charity or a business that aligns with their morals and experiences.

2. Deeper connections convert

Consumers are more likely to pay a higher price once they find a deeper connection with that brand, such as shared beliefs. When you successfully engage your audience with your story, you become authentic and relevant in their lives. Shared beliefs can earn your brand loyal customers who are willing to pay any price you lay out.

3. It lets your brand stand out

Consumers are looking for brands in which they can identify. Every day, social media and email marketing campaigns inundate people with information, and the only thing that sets your business, in this case, winery, apart from the competition, is your story. Around 90% of people purchase from brands they follow on social media because they can witness a relatable story unfold through visual content.

4. It’s more memorable

Almost every brand in the world has online presence, and each one is vying for the top spot on social media feeds and search engine results. Your story is what makes you memorable. Psychologist Jerome Burner states that people (consumers) are 22 times more likely to remember facts when relayed in a story.

5. It keeps you ‘likeable’

Your marketing’s storytelling success lies in its ability to be relatable with your audience. When businesses share their honest experiences, consumers can identify right away. The science of persuasion states that people prefer to say yes to common ground. With that concept of “sameness” comes a likeability factor.

6. It shows your brand’s purpose

Consumers, primarily in a B2B situation, want to feel that they’re working with other companies that allow them to share in a purpose. Creating a strategic narrative lets you bring your customers or stakeholders along for the ride, resulting in a shared reason to keep moving forward, encouraging growth. When the company purpose gets lost in the shuffle, everyone involved, clients included, can lose direction quickly.

7. It tells about the people behind the brand

Your brand story can never be copied since it’s you and your people’s story. Current and potential clients prefer to hear what your brand’s purpose is, your core values, and what motivates your people to move forward. Telling this in your brand story shows who and what kind people runs your brand. Stories can connect you, your brand and your people with your customers in a lot of suprising ways.

8. It comes with empathy

Consumers have become incredibly aware of brand empathy, which is why brand storytelling has become such a critical component of marketing strategies. The bottom line here is simply this; stories are personal, statistics are not. Showing empathy means demonstrating a firm understanding of your audiences’ needs, wants, and ambitions. If you can’t recognize the pain point of your target consumer, then you have no way to humanize your brand or services.

9. It showcases your mission

Whether you believe it or not, your mission matters to your audience. By carefully expressing your mission in story form, you can harness the power you have over your audience. Reel them in with your fantastic story because chances are, it’s much more interesting than you think. Sharing your brand’s mission can capture your audience’ hearts.

10. It drives long-term B2B relationships

While B2B sees statistics as a big part during their decision-making process, know that data and statistics are best expressed through stories. Sharing statistics through a good story allows your company to have stable branding and marketing directions, making B2B relationships easy.

3 Tips to Help Build Your Wineries’ Brand Story

Working storytelling into your marketing strategy is relatively simple when you have the knack and tools for it. Here are a few tips to kick things off if you’re just getting started.

• Take people behind the scenes. Show them what happens daily on the grounds of your winery via photos and video, and feature your employees on your social media pages frequently!
• Use live streaming options to volunteer details about your story. Tell your audience how you got started, what your winery means to you, and why you do what you do every day. Be authentic.
• Stay as consistent as possible. Your audience is intelligent; they take in many content daily and recognize brand information inconsistencies. Once confused, it can be difficult for them to reform that confusion. Remember, as long as you’re honest, you’ll stay harmonious with your message.

Storytelling and B2B Marketing

While statistics can tell part of your brand story, they don’t encompass the human part of it. Data and stats are focused on numbers and successes thus far, but they fail to express what your brand is about.

Winery owners always have an incredible story to tell, and a skilled marketing team will recount that story by combining reality with remarkability. There is never a need to oversell or exaggerate. The goal of brand storytelling is to shed the best light possible on your winery while creating interactive content that people embrace.

Discover the possibilities behind telling your brands’ authentic winery story by contacting us today!