People are at the beating heart of everything we do. Living and breathing into the rhythm and rhyme of every story that fires up our content. Stories are a powerful instrument to play with. They help give content the fighting chance it deserves to make a difference for our patients.
Stories spark connection
As old as time, and universal to human experience, stories help us make sense of our world. Bridging us closer, shifting and shaping our attitudes, beliefs and behaviour long after the story ends.
When someone tells us a story our brain lights up in the same pattern as the storyteller’s brain. It’s known as neural coupling or mirroring. Scientists have discovered that many parts of the brain are engaged in story creation and processing. What’s more, our brain candy, dopamine, nurtures and strengthens these networks, as we experience feelings of anticipation of the story’s resolution. We become officially invested.
In healthcare, stories can frame the facts into something human, something real that we can feel. It’s the difference between simply knowing the data and understanding the meaning of the data, and acting on it. That’s the gold dust that can change patient outcomes for the better.
Stories inspire actions by winning hearts and minds
There is an undeniable relationship between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. And this is exactly what drives great content through a story. It leans in, locks eyes, and connects with the audiences’ heart and mind.
At earthware, we use personas to uncover their pains and gains, and link those back to our audience with the think-feel-do model.
Think
What should your audience think about your product and the healthcare issue? What facts and data can we use to convince them?
Feel
What emotional response do we want to evoke? What do we want your audience to feel? How can we emotionally move your audience to make your message understood, and memorable? What meaningful context can we give them?
Do
What action do we want your audience to take? What existing, normalised behaviour do we hope to positively influence?
A great story understands who it’s talking to and illustrates a problem in a personal, and poignant way, allowing us to position your product at the core of the solution.
How we create great stories at earthware
Great content never happens by chance. We follow some tricks and tips, proven methods and carefully considered steps when it comes to the actual writing. We constantly loop back to the strategy and outputs from earlier stages. Here are some examples we use as our resources.
The why
As Simon Sinek proclaims “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. Before analysing how to solve the healthcare problem you have to define your why―for both HCPs and patients. It’s got to be powerful, emotive and memorable.
Understanding your customer
To make personalised customer journeys with meaningful content, it takes a deep understanding of the key roles to your success. This is where we work with you to define your stakeholders and develop personas.
Understanding their problems
Everyone has big and small problems they need solving, our HCPs and patients are no different. To get a clear picture of what these are, we look at your personas’ pains and gains. And with a simple framework, we can identify a story for every pain your customer lives with.
Content that changes lives
We make sure to speak to your different customer types, address their pains and gains, while looping it all back to patient outcomes. We consider the key messages that will carefully nudge your customer to think differently, challenge their beliefs, and drive behaviour change.
At earthware, our digital solutions, design, and content tell a story together. For the people at the heart of it all. It’s why we do what we do.
If you need support creating content that makes a difference find out more about our content services or drop us a line.
Read part one: How to get content right the first time
Read part two: How to choose the right format for your content
