Do you want more sales? Tell a good story!

Who doesn’t like to hear a good hero story?

Most good stories follow a similar pattern. There is a golden castle, a king and a beast, there is a hero who slays the dragon and almost dies, but eventually, he finds the mentor and returns to the castle etc.

We are all drawn to good stories because we can somehow relate to it.

But what do stories have to do with marketing? How can we use storytelling in the hospitality business?

Imagine you are a newly hired marketer, you’ve been handed a project of growing the business for the hotel restaurant. It’s not exactly a golden castle, and you are not going to fight the dragons. So how does a brand story fit into traditional storytelling framework?

Well, let’s start with a simple framework you can use to tell stories: theme, hero, villain, beginning, middle and end.

Theme– Think about your what’s the story about, what does your brand do? Is it fine dining, café, or contemporary casual? What makes your restaurant different from the others? What are your restaurant’s USP? You will need all this to build a strong concept.

Hero– Who will be your hero? Is this your brand? Or maybe your restaurant customers will consider themselves taking on the leading role?

Villain– What problems are your customers having that your brand solves?

The beginning –This is when your audience first meets your brand. A good story begins with a hook- a villain makes the appearance stirring the emotions with: “I won’t accept this experience! Your customer becomes aware of the hero- your brand.

The middle– Your customer enters the restaurant and is inspired by buzzing vibe, décor etc. But The villain escalates the negative feelings with “The waiter is unpleasant; I feel rushed to order! The customer decides to take an order, not sure what to expect next. He wonders: “Could this restaurant be the place that respects people?

The end – The restaurants- the hero, is aware of the villain feelings. It defeats the villain by creating the WOW factor.
The customer leaves the restaurant happy, inspired by the culture where respect for customer matters.

Remember, a brand story is not about traditional advertising. No one is interested in your products and service listings. It’s much deeper than that.

It’s about the most important thing of all, your CUSTOMER. It is how you can serve him and solve his problems.

So before you begin with your structure, think about the person who is going to read it. Create a PERSONA.

Your ultimate goal as a Marketer is to relate your story to your customer, and to build a happy and lasting bond with the audience.