Weave your CX narrative for better, not worse

Brands big and small across the world understand that an effectively woven narrative can grab customers' attention and draw them in. This is especially valuable in a customer-driven economy where customers’ attention, information, and trust are like currency—all of which can be earned with the right narrative.

A popular notion is that a narrative essentially tells a story. However, stories merely recount events, whereas an expertly crafted narrative can do that and more.

People and stories

People invented the art of storytelling as a means to record events, share information, and present ideas. It evolved with us as we invented language, the written word, the printing press, audiovisual media, digital media, and finally social media. The art of storytelling has burgeoned into a powerful and lucrative medium. Stories are a favorite with people everywhere. We like stories—listening to them, reading them, telling them, re-telling them, and embellishing them with every telling, as well as making them up and crafting them with care.

The story and the narrative

Every story has a motive, a message it conveys through the recounting of events. How this story and its message impact people depends on how people feel as the story's audience. This is where narrative comes into play. It's not restricted to the story and the characters and events that move the story along. The narrative is a composite whole that includes the setting and ambiance of the telling, the storyteller and the medium, the language, sounds, visuals and music, the story itself and the subtext. It's every element and aspect that people can connect to, identify, and associate with—or, in a word, what they can relate to.

When does the power of the narrative kick in?

A story is only as good as its narrative. So what gives the narrative the power to draw people in and hold their attention? It all comes down to people—not just the people in the story itself, but the people in the audience who are reading, listening, or watching. How the audience relates to the story is what manifests the narrative's power—for better or worse. It's a double-edged sword.

Weave a narrative for better CX

Every narrative has the potential to draw some people in even as it turns some people off. This is determined by whether you weave a narrative or wield it. As powerful as it is, a narrative is not a weapon to be wielded or a power to be unleashed—not if you want your brand story to endure. Instead it's an artful arrangement of elements that people can identify with, carefully woven together by associating and relating to people's needs, expectations, and aspirations. A weave makes for a stronger bond, unlike a weapon which cuts through ties.

Use SWOT analyses to pivot your narrative

SWOT analyses of your brand, its offerings, the market, and the customer are the best tools for framing your narrative. You can center your argument on your brand's strengths and opportunities or on the competition's weakness or potential threats to the customer.

The thing to remember is that opportunities must be viable and valuable, while threat perceptions should primarily raise awareness of solutions and not ridicule or cause panic. Fact is, you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Make sure you understand your customer

The best way to understand people is to be genuinely interested in what they say and feel. It takes work to gain a deep understanding of your target audience. Or, in the case of business, who your customers are in terms of their culture, perceptions, needs, and aspirations—not by being nosy, but by listening to understand. The only thing more important than this is to take the time to make sure your customer knows and feels that you understand them.

Remember: You're not your customer

This is always true. Your brand may well be the result of a need or aspiration that you may have directly or indirectly felt at some point, but this hardly means you know your customer like you know yourself, which is not to say there is no shared need or perception. There quite likely is, but there's no guarantee your customer is going to relate to your narrative like you believe they will. Making assumptions about your customer can sink a brand into oblivion.

Your words become your identity

How you use your words will determine how your customers see you. The wrong turn of phrase can do you more harm than you can imagine. Even something as simple as addressing a woman as sir or a man as madam, can lead to your undoing. It conveys a lack of interest in who your customer is. Don’t take words lightly and don’t seek success by being flippant or glib, because it doesn't go down well with the people you're hoping to persuade when you come across as immature or rash.

Don't get lost in translation

There's increasing relevance for the phrase "think global, act local" in business today. Ideas and concepts that work well in one culture or language need not translate as effectively in another. It’s not enough to translate; it’s important to interpret a message in the right context so the nuances and the essence of the narrative aren't compromised. Find bilinguals with an understanding of both cultures to help say it right.

Businesses spend time, effort, and money to find the right narrative for their content strategy. They focus on finding the best story to inform, nudge, or hook customers to make purchase decisions. In so doing, businesses will do well to recognize that a good narrative can do much more: It can create, nurture and sustain a relationship from purchase to loyalty to advocacy—the three stages of the ideal customer journey, and an indication of CX success.