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Communities are comprised of stories, stories of businesses and the people behind them, stories of how their product or service came to be. The stories are inspiring, educational and need to be shared.

Sharing your business community’s stories is a way to add rocket fuel to your shop local campaign. Shop local programs are designed to keep money in the community. Storytelling gives people an incentive to do that because it’s no longer about a campaign but about people, individual people they “know” through stories.

Why Your Shop Local Campaign Needs Storytelling

If you are in a very small town where everyone knows everyone, there’s a good chance your members’ stories are already circulating. Living in a larger town means your members might need help with that.

Establish Who You Are

Telling a member’s story shows potential customers who the business is, above what it sells. This is extremely effective because people want to do business with businesses they know, like, and trust. Storytelling can address all of these.

Communicate Similar World Views or Characteristics

Storytelling also helps people establish affinities towards the business owners and emotions drive sales. When a potential customer learns of a business’ story, she will look for similarities between herself and the story. Often times, if she sees herself in the story she is more apt to buy from that business because she is contributing (indirectly) to her own success or her views of it.

Stories Also Build Expertise

Telling a business story can establish the business owner as an expert in the industry, service, or product he offers. When people have questions about a service or product, they want someone who is knowledgeable and can provide good advice.

How to Use Storytelling in Your Shop Local Campaign

There are a number of ways you can employ storytelling as part of your shop local campaign. You can:

• Create a series of videos from local business owners detailing what they love about your town. Include how long they’ve been there and when they knew they wanted to call it home. This tells the business’ story indirectly but ties them inextricably to your town and showcases an affinity they have for your community. These video love letters to your community can be very moving.
• Run a member spotlight featuring members in your shop local campaign. These should do more than just give their business name and address. They should communicate what makes them special and why your community is lucky to have them.
• Interview your members. Questions should include unusual get-to-know-you questions alongside serious ones. You can create videos, podcasts, or written transcripts from these interviews. Your goal as the interviewer is to tell the member’s story and establish know, like, and trust with her.

Storytelling is critical to the success of a shop local campaign. Without it, the campaign is just an open call to shop at non-chain stores. Why are these stores special? What do they bring to your community? If you’re not sharing this, and providing the understanding behind why it’s important to shop local by giving them the opportunity to “get to know” the people they are supporting, your shop local campaign will be one in word only.