![]() Nailing down your narrative can unlock a multiplier effect. And of course then the idea is-as a company, can we influence that? Can we try to maybe knock out an old one that was there and put in a new one that’s going to guide how they see the world in a way that benefits us?” So the strategic narrative is really what’s in their head. It’s this story in their head that they’ve built by observing the world and discerning patterns for how to thrive. “And maybe this happens in some sort of trivial situations, but I think where someone’s really got some urgent thing, where they’re really going to take some bold action-it’s not that. “We like to think that people make decisions by, ‘We have some problem, we’re going to survey all the options for solving it, all the solutions, rank them on some criteria, and then we’re going to calculate the best ranking and choose the best one.’ The strategic narrative = the story in the buyer’s head It also forces you to distill your story down into a quick, focused pitch, requiring a discipline and clarity of intent you wouldn’t otherwise have with an internal doc. “It is something that the world is gonna see,” Andy says, and that allows you to get real feedback on whether or not it is resonating with your audience. ![]() Not only does that keep it from having the kind of visibility and team buy-in needed to truly drive a brand’s story, but, as Andy points out, “A collection of messages does not tell you how to talk to somebody in a real conversation.”Ī sales deck, on the other hand, is public. Marketing narratives often go in an internal positioning document that nobody actually sees. Ultimately, the end narrative will be driving every department, so every area should be involved-but it needs to start at the top. Rather than having marketing come up with a narrative that is then relayed back upstream to the CEO, the CEO should be the one authoring the story from the outset, with direction and input from the rest of the team. And if you really believe that, then the story is CEO work.” To paraphrase Ben Horowitz, “A company without a well-thought out story is a company without a well-thought out strategy,” Andy says. Your CEO needs to lead the creation processĪndy typically works most closely with a company’s CEO rather the CMO. The “subscription economy” isn’t about Zuora or their offerings-instead it describes a bigger paradigm shift in a compelling way and, in doing so, creates a sense of urgency for the solution Zuora can provide. In the case of Zuora, that shift was boiled down to the idea of the “subscription economy” as a monumental change from the transaction-based marketplace of yesteryear. “It’s a story that the buyer can have in their head that’s valid-and that is not dependent on the company itself,” he says.Īn effective narrative goes beyond the company to describe some larger shift in the landscape. That’s not what makes a strategic narrative, according to Andy. Too often, a company’s narrative is all about them versus the competition, and how using them will benefit their audience. Get smart: “A company without a well-thought out story is a company without a well-thought out strategy.”Ĭreate a narrative that is larger than just your company Former software developer and journalist.įind him on the web: Andy Raskin | LinkedIn | Twitter What he does: Messaging mastermind and go-to narrative expert for venture-backed firms in Silicon Valley. He also shares plenty of real-world examples, including the story behind Zuora and the greatest sales deck he’s ever seen. ![]() In his conversation with Steve, he clarifies what a strategic narrative is and what it isn’t, and he offers actionable insights regarding who should be in charge of authoring it and where it should live. With a website that says simply “Strategic Narrative,” however, the question is this: What exactly does he do?Īs one client told him, he “got their story straight”-and it was worth every penny.Īndy goes beyond traditional marketing concepts to craft narratives that reframe the world and reshape the buyer’s journey. Andy Raskin is the storyteller of Silicon Valley, with a list of clients that includes some of the biggest venture-backed names in tech.
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