Once you decide on creating a video, the first step is to find the story your business can tell to really connect with your audience. Since you’ve decided to read this article, you’ve likely already discovered that the story is the most important element of any video. This article is a list of questions that you can answer to help find your story.
This list is designed to get you to look deeper for stories you may not have thought of before. Once you’ve completed all the questions in detail, you can then use the answers to identify the best stories that match the 4 descriptions at the end of this article.
Before we start, one rule to remember while answering the questions is that you should steer away from responses about how great your company is. This is a big mistake many brands make when developing any kind of content for their audience. To best connect with your audience, your story should make them feel like the hero.
- What’s the story of how your company started?
- What risks were taken by starting the company?
- What was the problem that your company aimed to resolve?
- What was the previous solution to the problem your company fixed?
- Who are the people that benefit the most from your product or service?
- What ability does your audience gain with your help?
- What are the ways you specifically help people become better?
- Aside from your product, does your audience need anything else to be better at something?
- How is everyday life different for your audience with your product or service?
- What revelation does your audience have while using your product?
- At what point does your audience realize they need a solution to the problem you cure?
- Why wouldn’t people use your product?
- What emotions are associated with your product in your customer’s eyes?
- What are the things your audience cares deeply about?
- What does your target audience’s world look like?
- How are you different than everyone else in your industry?
- How is a particular community helped by your existence?
- What causes or initiatives does your company believe in?
- How does your company support those causes with your work?
- What are the most challenging aspects of running a business in your industry?
- In what ways has your company grown since it’s started?
- What was the worst day of your company’s past?
- What was the best day of your company’s past?
- What gives your company the ability to help your audience?
- What do the employees at your company want to accomplish as individuals?
- What’s a day like for an employee?
- What do you believe your company’s mission will be in 5-10 years?
- What’s special about the environment at your company?
Now, look closely at your answers and circle the responses that share the following descriptions:
- It’s an emotional story (happy, sad, scary, etc…)
- Your customer is the focus.
- Your company is passionate about the response.
- It aligns with your goal to create the video.
Any of the circled responses will be a great possibility for your video.