How do you align your storytelling with key business objectives in a way that is authentic to your target audience?

To align storytelling with key business objectives in a way that feels authentic to your target audience, the first step is making sure your KBOs are aligned with broader business goals. In my experience, this only works when the whole business is focused on the same priorities and knows how to weave the story into their own content and conversations.

Next, it’s helpful to know exactly which audience segment the story applies to. This is where shared messaging guides come in handy—they help keep everyone on the same page around who the product is for and what it solves. For example, if the goal is to boost revenue for a specific product line, I find it useful to answer these basic questions first:

• Who is the target user?

• Jobs to be done: What problems are they trying to solve?

• Pain points: What challenges do they face with current solutions?

• Your product’s solution: How does it meet their needs?

• Differentiation: What makes your product stand out?

• Value delivered: What benefits do users get?

Once I have those answers and the team is aligned etc., the next step is the hard part—making sure the message is actually used/woven throughout the customer journey in a way that feels natural and not forced. Here are some ways I’ve seen work well:

• Top-of-funnel content: Create educational content focused on the pain or common problems your users face and walk through a solution, with your product mentioned as a side note.

• Customer or internal dogfooding content: I’ve seen success with these in blog posts, videos, social posts, and industry events. The focus should be on a user talking about a specific problem they encountered and how they solved it using your product (with the user as the hero and the product as a side note).

• Working with sales: I’ve found it helpful to align on the right discovery questions with sales first to identify fit. Then, tailor demos to focus on the pain points that matter most to your audience, only showcasing the product if it makes sense. The key is that while we may be focused on pushing a specific product, if the user doesn't feel the pain, it doesn’t make sense to push it. Focus on solving the pain they do have, and the opportunity to expand will come later.

By keeping everyone aligned with consistent messaging, the story feels authentic and relevant across all touchpoints—whether it’s in content, demos, or live conversations.