What exactly do we do here at WordWrite Communications?
When a prospective client or someone unfamiliar with our agency asks this type of question, it obviously allows us to talk about our roles as strategic communicators, the types of clients we serve, current inbound marketing trends, social media best practices and the relationships we’ve built with media across the country.
Many of the answers we provide are related to tactics and – let’s face it – serve as table stakes within our industry. In other words, nearly all public relations agencies will tout their media connections, marketing savvy and social media expertise to prospective clients.
But how many agencies would flat out dismiss long-worshipped beliefs that brand identity and awareness are everything? Nearly all business-to-consumer (B2C) agencies and most business-to-business (B2B) shops hang their hats on the supremacy of branding, primarily based on the fact that so many are also affiliated with an advertising arm at their firm.
At WordWrite, however, when we talk to prospective clients, we tell them that in strategic B2B communications, story trumps brand.
Why is that?
- Stories are timeless
- Stories are hard wired into human psychology
- Stories help clarify reality
- Stories succeed because they depend upon active listening from the audience
- Stories are always equal to their intended audiences
So what exactly does that mean to you as a business?
First, an organization’s story must be authentic, describing its true identity and purpose. It’s who you are, rather than what your “brand” says you are. It starts from a place of truth and shuns the idea of “influencing” consumers to make a decision.
Next, this story is validated and becomes more genuine because we at WordWrite consistently position a company’s experts as fluent storytellers who share their strategic story with the right audiences. These storytellers don’t use buzzwords or taglines. Their focus is on sharing the great story of their organization in a way that engages clients, employees, investors and other stakeholders.
Finally, we continuously read the audiences our clients need to reach to measure the effectiveness of their storytelling. For example, how often are people in the organization quoted by the media based on the expertise they share through the authentic story? How much does the organization’s narrative resonate and move the needle in terms of attracting new business? What is the direct feedback a company receives from clients and prospects based upon its story?
Authenticity is the foundation from which all our ideas, strategy and creativity flow at WordWrite.
We see ourselves as honest brokers of communication. We share a client’s story the way they want and need it to be shared to deliver results.
Our credibility is tied to the relationships we have with the media and the other influencers we work with on behalf of our clients. If our ideas, topics and insight are viewed as rote and something they can get from anyone, then our value is diminished.
In turn, our credibility is inextricably tied to our client’s credibility. How we are viewed by the media and other influencers is how our clients are viewed by the media, and vice versa.
Advertising is great if you want someone to know your name or what you’re selling.
However, especially in B2B communications, it does little to demonstrate your expertise, or to truly distinguish you from competitors. To demonstrate expertise and distinguish your organization, you must have a real conversation with your audiences. That conversation has to be authentic. The right people have to be sharing it. And the audience needs the kind of attention that ensures it’s engaged in the story and getting what it needs to build a mutually beneficial relationship.
Trust in your story, because its strength defines your position in the market.
In B2C communications, the Holy Grail has always been closing the deal.
In the B2B world, the Holy Grail is a long-standing client relationship built through collaboration, solving problems and finding solutions.
That’s the world we prefer to inhabit at WordWrite Communications.
Let us know if your business would benefit from a visit.
We’d love to share an authentic story or two with you.
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Jeremy Church is an account supervisor for WordWrite Communications.He can be reached at jeremy.church@wordwritepr.com and on Twitter @churchjeremy.
