Marketing is always about storytelling, and great marketers are always great storytellers.
It is very important that we develop the ability to tell good stories on LinkedIn.
Most people in the world of digital marketing are bad storytellers.
When they speak about their business, products, and services, they often talk about boring facts and rely on jargon-filled corporate “marketing speak”.
Consumers are not impressed.
Never use marketing-speak on LinkedIn! Tell good stories instead!
Hollow words create no emotional responses and just bounce off like Teflon.
In this article, I share with you how to become a better storyteller on LinkedIn and give you real-life examples and recommendations for themes and topics.
The Power of Pre-suasion on LinkedIn
Stories are powerful shortcuts when it comes to building relationships on LinkedIn.
Imagine meeting a random person at a networking event. If you don’t know anything about this person, you have to quickly figure out if the other person is trustworthy.
This natural human behavior often happens on a subconscious level and can take up a lot of our precious time and energy.
Now imagine a different scenario.
You go to the same networking event, but everyone already has a clear idea of who you are, of what you stand for, of your ideas and opinions. All because of the stories you put out there and the stories others wrote about you.
Now everything is much more comfortable. Your stories have already done most of the work for you long before they met you.
Stories Work, Even if People Have Never Heard of You Before
Think about the last event again, but this time someone from the audience has not heard any of your stories before.
Tough luck? No! All you have to do is give a decent first impression, and you are halfway there.
After the meeting, the other person will check you out on Google and LinkedIn.
And what do they find? Carefully planted stories that allow you to pre-suade others. That is the power of storytelling.
If you can master the art of storytelling, any LinkedIn goal becomes easier:
- Getting started with LinkedIn marketing
- Getting free press and media
- Finding leads on LinkedIn
- Finding mentors on LinkedIn
- Building a LinkedIn sales funnel
- Creating an email list on LinkedIn
- Starting a B2B podcast
Emotional Connections Through Authentic Stories
Authenticity resonates. Share personal experiences or challenges that relate to your professional life.
Open up about lessons learned, obstacles overcome, or defining moments in your career.
Being genuine fosters deeper connections with your audience, as people value transparency and honesty.
Crafting Compelling Stories on LinkedIn
In business, we tell stories all the time, even if we are not aware of them.
To own your story, you need to understand the elements that contribute to it.
Know Your Audience
Understanding your audience is key to crafting stories that resonate.
Research your audience's interests, challenges, and industry trends.
Use this knowledge to tailor your stories, making them more relevant and impactful.
The more you understand your audience, the more precise your storytelling can be, ensuring it connects on a deeper level.
Make Your Audience the Hero of Your Stories
Center your stories around your audience's experiences and aspirations.
Share stories that highlight common challenges your audience faces and showcase solutions that empower them.
Position your audience as the hero who overcomes obstacles with insights or tools you provide.
This not only creates a strong connection but also shows that you genuinely understand and care about their journey.
Structure Your Stories
A well-structured story keeps your audience engaged from start to finish.
Follow a clear structure: set the scene, introduce a conflict or challenge, and conclude with a resolution or insight.
This classic storytelling arc can be applied to posts, articles, and even videos.
How to Write Relatable Stories
A conversational tone makes your content more approachable and engaging.
Write as if you're speaking to a colleague or friend.
Use simple language, avoid jargon, and invite dialogue.
This encourages your audience to engage and share their thoughts.
Whether in your LinkedIn profile or company updates, this tone makes you more relatable and human.
Visual Storytelling on LinkedIn
Visuals can amplify your storytelling, making your content more engaging and memorable.
Incorporate images, infographics, or short videos that complement your narrative.
Use visuals to illustrate key points or to provide a behind-the-scenes look at your story's context.
Videos and photos in your profile and posts can help to tell the story of who you are and what you stand for.
Make sure to include rich media in your LinkedIn presence for maximum impact.
Interactive Storytelling Techniques
Encourage your audience to participate in your storytelling by using LinkedIn's interactive features.
Create polls that relate to a story you've shared.
Ask for opinions or experiences that resonate with your narrative.
This not only boosts engagement but also builds a sense of community around your content.
Selling With Stories
Shift from promoting products to highlighting the benefits and outcomes they provide.
Tell stories about how your offering has led to success, growth, or positive change.
This approach emphasizes value and resonates more deeply than a traditional sales pitch.
For instance, instead of saying, "Our product is the best," share a story about how it helped someone achieve something remarkable.
Consistent Brand Storytelling
Consistency strengthens your brand and reinforces your message.
Ensure that your storytelling aligns across all LinkedIn channels, whether it's your profile, company page, posts, or ads.
Use a consistent tone, style, and messaging to build a cohesive brand narrative.
This will help your audience understand who you are, what you stand for, and why they should trust you.
Characteristics of Great Brand Stories
Great brand stories can be big or small.
What they have in common are the following 7 characteristics:
- Authentic: True to your brand's values and mission
- Believable: Grounded in reality and relatable experiences
- Purposeful: Aligned with your brand's goals and message
- Relatable: Connecting with your audience on a personal level
- Memorable: Leaving a lasting impression on your audience
- Inspirational: Motivating your audience to take action or think differently
- Shareworthy: Compelling enough for your audience to want to share with others
Incorporating these characteristics into your LinkedIn storytelling will help you create more impactful and engaging content.
Examples of LinkedIn Storytelling
Customer Success Stories and Testimonials
Highlighting real-life success stories builds credibility and trust with your audience.
Share how your product or service has made a difference in your customers' lives.
- Who are your customers and clients?
- What obstacles did they overcome, and what were their results?
- What do your customers love about your product?
Create case studies about your customers or share testimonials directly in your posts.
Use quotes and testimonials to add authenticity.
These are powerful ways to show potential customers the value you provide.
Check out examples of LinkedIn content ideas that highlight customer success here.
- Who are your customers and clients?
- Which obstacles did your customers and clients overcome and what were their results?
- What do your customers love about your product?
- Create a case study with one of your customers.
- Share a whitepaper with your audience.
- Ask for testimonials and share them with potential customers.
Behind-the-Scenes Stories
Transparency builds trust. Sharing stories of what's going on behind the scenes can be an incredible tool to make your company more relatable to your ideal customers.
- Share insights into your company's culture, processes, or decision-making.
- Post about your team's efforts on a project, share stories about company events or explain the reasoning behind a business decision. This humanizes your brand and fosters trust.
Your Company Stories
Every company has an origin story.
- Does your company name tell a story?
- Is it as good and consistent as it should be?
- Have you planted enough seeds?
- How did you come up with the name of your company?
- How did you start your business?
- How did your business overcome difficult times?
- How did your company grow?
- Is your company involved in the local community?
- What does a typical day in your company look like?
Your Branding & Positioning Stories
Everything about your company tells your story, including how you position and portray yourself.
- What story do you tell with your logo?
- What is the meaning of your brand colors?
- Are you using a particular style of photos? Professional or casual? Black & white or color? And why?
- Why did you decide to brand and position yourself in a certain way?
- Why did you decide to rebrand your business?
- What’s your writing style? Is your text easy to read? Do you come across as serious or fun?
- What is your content marketing strategy and what topics are you writing about in your personal or company blog?
- What’s your content balance? Do you use mostly text or visuals such as photos and videos?
Your Team Stories
Your employees can be incredible assets to enhance your company stories. But also who you selected to become part of your team, tells a very important story about your company values.
- How did the founders develop the idea for your company, product, or service?
- What was the epiphany moment that led to the creation of your company, product, or service?
- What is the background story of each founder?
- Show the human side of your business and tell us a story of the personal life of individual employees.
- Do you have a special mission or cause that is driving your business?
Your Press & Media Stories
How does the public perceive you? What stories do they hear about you in the press and media?
- What are others writing about you?
- Who are your brand influencers and evangelists?
Your Search Stories
Even your search terms on Google & Co. can tell an interesting story about your business.
- What comes up on Google or Bing when you search for your company name?
- What are the results for each of your founders and management team?
- Which website shows up on page 1 when you search for your product names?
- Do you have a Google My Business listing?
- Who is competing with you for page 1 for more generic search terms?
- What do different search types tell about you, such as Google image search?
Storytelling Ideas For LinkedIn
Your LinkedIn Profile Stories
Your LinkedIn profile isn't just a resume—it's the story of your life, waiting to be told.
Use the 'About' section to create a captivating narrative that outlines your professional journey.
Begin with how you started, highlight key experiences that shaped your career, and conclude with your current ambitions and future goals.
Use the 'About' section to create a captivating narrative that outlines your professional journey.
Begin with how you started, highlight key experiences that shaped your career, and conclude with your current ambitions and future goals.
You can also share anecdotes that illustrate your passion and expertise.
This not only humanizes your profile but also makes it memorable.
Every element of your profile tells a story by itself. But they are even more impactful if they work together in synergy.
Think about considering these elements while crafting your profile story:
- Profile photo and cover photo
- Headline
- Profile description
- Work experiences and projects
- Skills and endorsements
- Accomplishments
- Personal or company hashtags
- Rich media (videos, photos)
- Connections and professional network
Here are some examples of stories that you can tell on your LinkedIn profile:
- Do you have a good profile photo on LinkedIn?
- Do you have a cover photo on your LinkedIn profile? What does it show?
- What does your #LinkedIn profile photo say about you?
- Do you have personal or company hashtags on LinkedIn and are you using them? (If you aren't sure how to inject hashtags into your stories, my LinkedIn Hashtags Guide would be a good starting point.)
- What does your LinkedIn headline say about you?
- What do you say about yourself in your LinkedIn profile description?
- Which work experiences are you highlighting in the work experience section on LinkedIn?
- Which projects did you list in the education section of your LinkedIn profile?
- Are you using rich media, videos, and photos on your LinkedIn profile?
- Which skills did you feature in your LinkedIn profile?
- Do you have endorsements on LinkedIn and which qualities did you highlight?
- What are your accomplishments on LinkedIn?
- Who are your LinkedIn connections and who is in your professional network?
- Are you positioning yourself as a thought leader in your industry on LinkedIn?
Your Company's LinkedIn Page Stories
Your company's LinkedIn page can tell a powerful story as well.
Highlight key experiences that demonstrate growth and overcoming challenges.
Showcase the human side of your business by talking about your team and company culture.
Make sure your branding—your logo, brand colors, tone, and style—aligns with your values and is consistently used across all LinkedIn features.
This will reinforce your brand story and make your business more recognizable.
- Do you have a LinkedIn company page?
- Did you upload a company logo to your LinkedIn page?
- Do you have a background photo on your LinkedIn page?
- What did you write in your LinkedIn page description?
- Are you using LinkedIn showcase pages?
- What types of content are you sharing on your LinkedIn page? Articles, photos, videos, or text posts?
- What themes and topics do you cover on your LinkedIn page?
- Do you share the content of employees and team members on #LinkedIn?
- Do you use native content on LinkedIn or do you link to your website?
- Do you engage with readers who comment and share your content on LinkedIn?
- Does your team engage with your shared content on #LinkedIn?
Your LinkedIn Content Stories
In a feed saturated with content, capturing attention is crucial.
Use storytelling in your posts to evoke emotions, spark curiosity, or present an unexpected perspective.
Start your posts with a hook that piques interest—suspense, provocative questions, or surprising facts.
Incorporate relatable scenarios that draw readers in and encourage them to read more.
- What’s your social media marketing strategy?
- Do you have a company hashtag?
- What do others mention about your brand online?
Your LinkedIn Messages & InMails Stories
Your messages and InMails are another way to tell your story.
Make your outreach personal by including elements of your story that relate to the recipient.
Share a brief anecdote or experience that connects with their interests or industry.
- What unique experiences or milestones in your career might resonate with the person you're contacting?
- Is there a pivotal moment or turning point in your professional journey that you can share?
- How did a mutual connection impact your career or business, and can you share a brief story about that?
- What challenges have you faced in your industry, and how have you overcome them?
- Can you share a story about a project or accomplishment that you’re proud of and that relates to the recipient’s interests or needs?
- What unexpected lessons have you learned in your career that could offer value or insight to the recipient?
- How can you frame your reason for reaching out as part of a larger personal or professional narrative?
- What personal anecdote can you share to illustrate your passion for your industry or role?
Your LinkedIn Ads Stories
In a competitive market, storytelling can set your brand apart in advertising campaigns.
Craft ad content that tells a mini-story about your brand's mission or a customer's success.
Focus on unique aspects that highlight your brand's values and differentiators.
Make your audience feel part of your journey and emotionally invested in your brand.
Cross-Platform Storytelling
Your LinkedIn storytelling should align with your presence on other social media platforms and search engines.
Ensure consistency in your brand story across all channels, including:
- Other social media networks (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
- Your website and blog
- Google My Business listing
- Search engine results
How to Get Started With Storytelling
To become a master storyteller, you first have to review every aspect of your story that is already out there.
Review your LinkedIn profile, company page, and posts.
Use the following checklist and take detailed notes:
- What does this text/photo/article/press release/... say about you?
- On a scale from 1 to 10: (1 = very bad, 10 = very good)
- Is the story aligned with your narrative?
- How important is each element for your story?
Storytelling on LinkedIn is a powerful toolkit that complements your overall marketing strategy.
Controlling your own narrative creates trust, brand consistency, and protects your reputation.
You have two choices: Take control of your own story or let others write it for you.
What do you choose?
The power of LinkedIn storytelling is in your hands – use it wisely to shape your professional narrative and achieve your marketing goals.
