B2B Storytelling And SEO: A Powerful Strategy To Win Big!

Intro

It’s almost 2023—storytelling and SEO need to be a part of your content strategy.

When you're working on B2B storytelling and SEO, you need to think of the complete package. It's not enough just to have a great story; you need to make sure that it also gets ranked high in search engines.

Working on B2B storytelling without SEO reaches limited audiences and working on SEO without a story creates bland content. It is best to combine B2B storytelling and SEO to outshine your competitors.

With an SEO storytelling strategy, B2B companies can draw more attention by ranking on SERPs, gain authority in their niche and have a purpose-driven content strategy. This means you can build up your brand's online presence and increase the trust consumers have in your brand.

The problem is that most companies don't know how to do this because they don't have any knowledge of SEO storytelling.

What is B2B storytelling?

B2B storytelling consists of a compelling narrative of the brand that ultimately improves its value proposition to its target audience. It can also drastically better the purchase funnel and forge strong brand-audience connections.

Earlier a non-negotiable for only B2C brands, storytelling is now an integral aspect of B2B companies. Here’s why:

• Makes brands authentic and human
• Addresses customer points effectively
• Builds trust

(Source: Ross Simmonds)

So, it’s time to consider skipping the dry statistics and business jargon and work on a strategy that humanizes your brand.

How does B2B storytelling help SEO?

While it may seem counterintuitive to traditional SEO specialists, B2B storytelling is a concept many modern businesses embrace.

(Source: Sanketee Kher)

1. Improves click-through rate (CTR)

The success of a webpage often depends on how clear and understandable it is for its users. The best way to optimize your site for search engines is to focus on content quality. You can’t satisfy your site visitors with a lackluster experience. In fact, many will simply leave the page if they feel it's not a good fit for them.

You're more likely to earn a higher search engine placement by keeping your content strategy clear, detailed, and easy to understand. You can achieve this by writing a "hook" to draw people in and keep them engaged.

When you have a gripping narrative, you not only have more chances to drive traffic to your site, but you'll also gain new customers, increase brand loyalty, and leave a memorable impression on your customers!

2. Increases user engagement

Stories are a fantastic way to keep readers engaged with your content. These are helpful when writing longer posts or articles that may get confusing or overwhelming if the information doesn't flow right.

Your blog is more than a source of traffic. So, skip the generic blog format and address the user's intent immediately to keep them hooked and on your website for a longer duration. This will increase the session duration and reduce bounce rates. You can easily achieve this with powerful storytelling and SEO strategy.

Another perk of having an engaged reader is that they’re more likely to turn into paying customers.

3. Helps with building backlinks

Specialists target a major chunk of SEO efforts towards getting backlinks from other websites. It is because it lets Google know that your content is helpful and worth sharing. When you share a captivating story, not only does it make your content unique, but it also positions you as the authority in the niche owing to the original angle in your content. So, the more backlinks you get, the higher you may rank.

4. Impacts social media performance

Building a strong brand narrative will improve your social media presence and brand visibility. It is important to craft a story that resonates with your audience. Crafting an authentic narrative will help your audience connect with your product. In fact, it can help identify the unique aspects of your business that you can write about on social media. It can also help improve your brand recognition.

When your brand story is consistent across all platforms, you can drive increased engagement and reach. By focusing on this aspect, you can connect with your audience and align your company with your target market. Of course, this won’t lead to direct SEO gains but can impact your overall bottom line.

5. Brings in traffic

B2B storytelling is a powerful driver for higher website traffic. Companies that use storytelling as part of their marketing strategy see a clear increase in lead generation. This is because people respond to stories easily since they appeal to emotions. So, next time you want to sell your product, tell a story about how it will make your customers' lives better.

There are several ways you can go about telling good B2B stories. You can use data visualization, videos, or even write case studies to help you illustrate your points. Additionally, informational blogs are a great way to drive traffic to your website.

Tips to create an impactful storytelling and SEO strategy

Engage your audience with these simple SEO storytelling tips:

Interview SMEs

With so many businesses scrambling for their position in the market, it's becoming harder to keep up the tempo. Interviewing a subject matter expert (SME) can help you create thought leadership content and position you as an authority faster.

An interview with an SME is a great way to diversify the narrative in your content. It could be as easy as interviewing an SME within your team to get an internal perspective or finding and interviewing experts in your industry for a more nuanced perspective. The great thing about this method is that you not only get interesting content with personal experiences and anecdotes, but you can also build long-last business relationships.

Use stories as examples

Adding stories to explain your point can help your writing come to life. It's even possible to illustrate your point based on a story. Additionally, they create a connection with your audience, help visitors visualize the message, and can even be a source of entertainment. A good story can help the reader visualize your message and feel like they're part of the content.

Stories also help audiences remember you better. Since long-term recall is important for any business, many companies are turning to storytelling. You can use stories in several ways in your content. For example, you can use them as examples to create a sense of urgency for your service or product.

Once you have your story in place, use tools like Ranktracker to find relevant keywords and up your overall SEO game.

Publish case studies

Whether the case studies are on your website or on social media to showcase your partnerships with other companies to give potential clients a peek into how you helped improve your client's business, they are a great way to highlight your company’s success stories.

Add another layer of engagement with a story and watch those cold leads turn hot!

Use elements of storytelling

A story has a set of identifiable parts which help it flow from beginning to end.

And the best stories are often ones that are told from the perspective of a character that is struggling with some conflict (pain point). By introducing conflict into your story, you give your readers a reason to become emotionally invested in the character. Finally, the story’s climax will have the resolution of the conflict (your product/ service).

Add images to your content

Having images in your content is a way to create a narrative. Not only are they good for adding visual interest, but they can also improve your search engine ranking. Having images to depict your points makes for a more immersive reading experience for your audience. Additionally, it helps readers interpret information more quickly.

People prefer to consume information with visuals. They help to break up text and make it easier to read. Here is a list of best practices for using images in your content:

• Optimize your images for easy and fast loading
• Choose images that apply to the topic
• Use the right dimensions to enhance user experience

Win big with an SEO storytelling strategy

SEO storytelling doesn’t need to be an added effort for marketers.

Instead, you can implement it in small ways to create endless pieces of content. Right from infographics and copy on your website to powerful hooks in your blog posts and social media content, you can weave stories in impactful ways. The point is you can build your story framework easily once you know your end goal.

In closing, here’s a quote by Gary Vaynerchuk — _“Storytelling is by far the most underrated skill when it comes to business.” _

FAQs

What is storytelling in digital marketing?

Storytelling in digital marketing is the ability to cut fluff by creating a narrative that helps get the message across to target audiences. It helps evoke empathy and builds strong connections between brands and their audiences.

What are the essential elements of storytelling for B2B?

The essential elements of B2B storytelling are:

• Setup (or overview)
• Addressing the pain point
• Providing a solution (or finale)

What are the best storytelling brands?

Some of the best storytelling brands are Airbnb, Nike, Polaroid, IKEA, Dove, and Apple since they have compelling narratives that resonate with their audience and help customers recognize them.