By skyforbes 
1. THE TESTIMONIAL STORY
The stories you share in business don’t have to be your own; they can be stories from your clients and community members. This is a great way to share social proof and do more than just post a 2-3 sentence testimonial on your website.
When asking for feedback or testimonials, be sure to ask multiple questions about where your audience was, where they are now, and what changed for them. Along with your testimonial statement, you’ll be able to use this information to tell stories on social media and in your email marketing that helps your audience make a purchase decision.
Bonus Tip: Videos are a great way to share stories. Have your client create a short video sharing their story and share it during your next launch or promotion.
2. THE TRANSFORMATION STORY
The transformation story can fall into the Testimonial story above, because who doesn’t love a great before-and-after? If you’re in fitness, health, wellness, products, or even service-based, you can use the transformation story constantly.
Here are some examples:
Fitness – Share a before and after photo of a client or yourself
Product (Skincare) – Share a before and after photo of someone using your product
Graphic Designer – Share the before and after of your client’s graphics
The possibilities are endless.
But, I’m going to encourage you to think a level deeper and share your own micro transformations. Think of the things happening daily that your audience can relate to.
Some places to start are moments of “failure,” mindset shifts, overcoming obstacles, and stories of success. Seriously, I bet if you sat down with pen and paper right now, you could come up with at least 20 posts.
3. THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES STORY
These are great stories to show what you do and your process in business, as well as build trust with your audience.
Human-to-Human or Relationship-Building Marketing is on the rise. People want to know the brand they are investing in. One of the ways to build this trust and go beyond just a product or service you sell is to invite your audience behind the curtain.
Yes, think Wizard of Oz here!
This is one of the reasons I love showing up on Instagram Stories. It’s a simple way to share my day-to-day, my role as a mother, my love of gardening, our travels, and my business.
My audience gets to see multiple sides of my personality, which also builds Brand Affinity, and as a result, the trust is accelerated.
If you sell a product, consider sharing the behind-the-scenes of how you make the product.
If you’re a coach, show your client calls and trainings.
Show how you manage your day-to-day, the things you love, and how you take on the other roles in your life.
These stories are powerful and some of the easiest to start with.
4. THE VALUE STORY
Last week on the blog, we talked about identifying your core stories early on. These core stories include:
+ Your Founder/ Brand Story
+ Your Mission and how it came to be
+ Your Why or Purpose Story
+ Your Value Story
It is important that, as a brand and business owner that you create these micro-stories that show your values in action, affirm your values, and share why you have these values.
For example, one of my values is authenticity. That’s just not a word that I like to use for marketing, I truly believe it to my core. I share that value in my stories because I want to attract people who share the same value.
This is where Brand Affinity becomes so powerful because brand affinity is that shared mission, those shared values. It goes much deeper than someone saying, “Oh, you’re cool. Oh, I like your product or your service. Let me check it out.”
It’s much deeper than even trust; it’s a shared value.
Share these values to bring in the people that align with your values, the things that are important to you, and let the others drift away.