AMA: Hedra Head of Marketing, Paul Rudwall on Storytelling

It’s easy to look at a great storyteller and think it just comes naturally to them; but, the reality is most great storytellers got there through a lot of hard work and practice.  So, my first recommendation would be to stop thinking about it as something that comes naturally. Instead, think of it like any other skill that can be learned with practice, patience, and hard work. If you’re skeptical, just look at the early work of some of your favorite storytellers and compare it to their later wor ...Read More

This is a really hard one, particularly as organizations grow in size and complexity. But, your ability to shape market perception hinges on the consistency and discipline with which you bring your message to market. This isn't to say it shouldn't be tailored situationally, but the core narrative and message need to be consistent. Some of the lessons I've learned here (often the hard way) are: Consistency Starts at the Top: It's phenomenally difficult to drive consistent adoption of a story inte ...Read More

There are a lot of great frameworks for storytelling, and I don’t subscribe to just one. The right framework depends on what you’re trying to achieve and who you’re trying to reach. In other words, form follows function. That said, it's helpful to study and internalize some of the frameworks for good storytelling. Some of the better-known frameworks that I've found helpful include: The Hero’s Journey StoryBrand Three-Act Structure SUCCESs (Made to Stick) The Challenger Narrative Each of these ha ...Read More

I think the most common problem (in a landslide victory) is when marketing teams make their company or their product the hero of the story. Put simply... You are NOT the hero... Your customer is. There are obviously a lot of other things that can go wrong (e.g. too many messages, ambiguous messages, undefined audiences for your story, etc); but, I think mistaking yourself for the hero of your story is both very common and very problematic. Just a few of the ways this problem rears its head inclu ...Read More

For the most part, I'd say that the answer to this is the same as my advice when someone feels they're not naturally a good storyteller. That said, I think this warrants answering separately because your personal story is absolutely critical to your success. In my experience, people tend to care about themselves much more than they care about the products they market. So, when someone struggles to tell a compelling story about themself, it calls into question their ability to tell an effective s ...Read More

The most important word is contained in your question - balance. Whether you focus first on functionally-oriented or value-oriented language will probably vary based on your audience and the goals of your homepage. But, at the end of the day, people need to know both what you do AND why it matters. That said, my default recommendation for most companies would be to start with what you do. Unless you have a high level of brand/product recognition and affinity, your homepage serves as the first pl ...Read More