Featuring Nana Yaw Nhyira Butah
How can you tell a story that sells? Are all stories that you share on Social Media guaranteed to bring in Sales? These are the questions I asked my guest in this episode of Colours of Social Media.
[0:01] Hi, welcome to Colours of Social Media podcast, I'm your host, Enoch, RobotBoy Appiah Jr. Today's episode will feature a guest, and as you read from the title of this episode, a discussion of helping with my guest today will be about storytelling.
[0:18] Basically, how to sell your product or services using stores. Before I let him introduce himself, there is what I know about him. He goes by the name Nana Yaw Nhyira Butah, and he is into product management and cloud solutions.
[0:35] Also, Nana is into tech that improves governance. He also has enough for storytelling. In fact, I didn't know that he is into product management or cloud solutions before this interview.
[0:48] I just know him to be a good storyteller, and that's why he is my guest this morning. Before Nana comes in, if you are new to this podcast, kindly subscribe or click on whatever button on your app.
[1:01] That will keep my episodes coming to you. Well, if you love what you are hearing so far, and to those who have been listening to me since day one, thank you.
[1:10] Now let's talk to Nana Yaw Nhyira Butah about how to craft the best story to sell your product or services on social media platforms. To the Colours of Social Media Podcast, and as I said in my introduction, my guest is Nana Yaw Nhyira Butah.
[1:39] And we'll be talking about storytelling, not just any of the co-colonards of storytelling, but how to tell stories in digital marketing. Essentially, how to tell stories with your captions.
[1:51] And before I say anything, I just want to thank Nhyira for joining me. Nana, welcome to Colours of Social Media Podcast. Thank you very much, Enoch. I am excited to be here too.
[2:04] Since we'll be talking about story, it will be good that you start with a story. So Nana, can you tell me a story, just some quick story just for us to break the ice in this conversation?
[2:18] I just want to tell my listeners how good a story teller you are. So just a quick story. Tell me a story. Enoch, I think I anticipated you were going to do this.
[2:31] Really? I give it a lot every time. You don't have to be too well, bro. Everybody either comes at the beginning or it comes at the end. So in some ways, I actually end up preparing.
[2:45] Well, the platform is for you. Tell me a story. It's a cold evening and I decided to take a walk. About a hundred meters away from the house, I hear cries.
[3:03] Cries of a little girl. It's dark. It's scary. And the cries of this little girl is coming from the woods. I don't want to believe in superstition.
[3:24] Even though I'm scared, I still want to help this little girl. I decide to ponder a little and continue my walk. Two minutes after walking, the cries continue.
[3:42] This time I decide to go into the woods. As scared as I was to see what's happening. There behind the tree was a little girl crying. I pecked on her and asked, what's wrong with you?
[4:03] She tells me I am hungry. And I asked, where's mommy? This mommy went out and didn't go. Oops. Okay. I decided to take the pain and walk back home.
[4:18] Because I had some leftover food in the kitchen. I rubbed it and brought it back to this little girl. And with joy, her face, she wipes her tears and unwraps the food.
[4:31] With so much gratitude from her, she pecked on her sister, who happened to be behind another tree to come. And I see the two enjoy this meal.
[4:43] I continued my walk and came back home to rest. The second day, and this time, I didn't hear cries. This time, I see the little girl with her sister, and it would give me a wave.
[5:00] Well, I'm asking myself, where is your mommy this time? So I reached out to them and asked, where is mommy? Like she answered the day before, mommy still hasn't come back.
[5:12] So this time, I go back home, I get a fresh meal, and I bring it back to these girls. They are excited, and they enjoyed this meal. It happened the third day, and by the fourth day, they reached out for 15 of their friends who happened to be in a shelter nearby.
[5:32] Now I have to feed 15 homeless little girls. I'm not sure what to do, but I took the challenge, and I started feeding these girls. And this is how I started Save the World Foundation.
[5:48] Thank you. Always, as always, man, this is beautiful. This can actually score for a short story in one of these. I think maybe I have to tell a publisher friend I know that maybe you can write for them.
[6:08] Please, please, I do write for them. So I could do the story also in another way. I mean, so when you do stories, okay, there are a number of things you should try to do.
[6:22] Get attention, of course. Grab attention. Make it memorable. Evoke some sort of empathy, empathy, and persuade the listener to listen to you and to give you their all.
[6:36] Give them passion. Exactly. Give them value and give them a call to action. What I did in this story was to create empathy. I started by telling about little girls who were hungry and how they lived on their own or how they lived from the trash cans.
[7:02] That led to how I started supposedly, because I haven't started anything like that, how I started Save the World Foundation. I could actually consider the story by telling you how many ladies I have or how many homeless kids I have in my age.
[7:18] And I could go on and on and tell you stories, open stories. I could tell you the impact of the story. I mean, this foundation has made through the lives of little girls and boys in the neighborhood across the country, across the continent, across the globe.
[7:34] And then when I am done telling you the story, I could literally ask you for money. Any emotional person or anyone with empathy would actually sympathize with me and these girls and then donate some money.
[7:51] So stories are very powerful. I'm not an opposed fan, but one of the things Steve Jobs says is that the most powerful person in the world is a storyteller.
[8:04] Yep, yep, true. And I totally agree with you. I mean, not everybody would agree, but I think that is one of the things that I have always resonated.
[8:16] Yeah, I mean, from our end of the world, you know, story plays a huge, a critical part in our album program, especially if you are lucky to stay with your grandparents.
[8:27] They tell you stories every evening. But then we were just, you know, picking the values inside these stories. But then we didn't know as a business, you can actually tell a story to sell products or services.
[8:42] So I think, yeah, storytelling plays a huge role when it comes to digital marketing. But yeah, with the story that you just told me, I want to know how you crafted it because I know maybe you've sort of given me a sneak peek about what the story ain't told, but then I want to know how you craft your story.
[9:09] If all of a sudden someone like this, I just bounced on you that tell me a story, how do you craft it? So when you want to tell a story, especially for, I mean, bigs for business and marketing or product management, you know, I work as a product manager.
[9:26] So when you want to tell stories, then let me break it down into just four simple steps. Define your core story. I mean, know the story, and then know how you're going to define it.
[9:39] How is it going to go? What's the storyline going to be like? And then decide the kind of story to tell. Are you telling a story that would evoke a multi-core empathy or attention in a certain area of someone's life?
[9:54] Are you telling a story that will provoke someone to doing something they normally wouldn't do? What kind of story are you telling? You have to figure it out before you decide to put your fingers onto your keyboard to start writing a story.
[10:09] Exactly, exactly. So, I mean, that's the second thing. So define your core message. So what message are you trying to send across? Decide the kind of story you want to tell.
[10:22] Only value. Let people have value. That's what you want to tell. So with the story I told at the beginning, I'm trying to let them know what the money I'm asking for is going to be used for.
[10:35] I'm giving them value. The fact that when you give me 2,000 CDs, you are going to be impacting 2,500 kids I feed on a daily basis. And then educate and pass on knowledge.
[10:49] So if you are giving them value, of course you have to dedicate and pass on knowledge. And the last thing is give them a call to action. I will just tell you a story and then leave it there.
[11:00] I'll tell you a story and then ask you to do something. Ask you to take action. Ask you to commit to a cause. Ask you to support in a way. Ask you to give me a thumbs up.
[11:11] Ask you to give me like a comment, a like, anything. So in essence, when I'm telling stories, these are the things that come to mind. Or before I tell stories, these are the things that come to mind.
[11:25] And it's important that for marketers, you're able to put these things in perspective when you want to tell a story. It doesn't necessarily have to be done chronologically, but you can just have it mixed up.
[11:40] How is that about to happen? It's an art. It's not science. It's not mathematics. Is it some sort of astrophysics? What's it called? Equation.
[11:52] So as an art, let it come naturally. Even though I knew you were going to ask me to tell a story, I tried to type it. It just won't come. So I think just a few seconds before it started, I tried to tell the story.
[12:06] It won't come. So I just said, let me leave it and then I'll tell the story. Cool. Awesome. You know, you see, I keep on telling you, anytime that we meet, I keep on thanking you for that session you did.
[12:22] When, you know, Digi Clanny, we went about storytelling. Yeah. And right after that workshop, the moment I go home, most of you guys, you don't know, but with my storytelling, with every business that I'm now working with, I try to tell stories.
[12:41] And it is because of this guy who I'm talking to, this guy here now. It's because of Israel, because he has that art of, you know, telling stories.
[12:50] And I picked a lot of things when we went for that workshop and so on. So once again, I just want to thank you for that workshop. How long have you been telling stories?
[13:03] I know at the beginning of our conversation, you were saying something like when you were kids, but then, quote-unquote, professionally, how long have you been telling stories?
[13:14] So professionally, I think I've been telling stories for, you know, let me see if it's okay. I was telling stories without knowing. So I think when I started my career, a couple of years ago, I normally want to give people a background to something, give them reasons why they should do it.
[13:38] Yeah. I mean, not explicitly, but I'll find a way of giving them, catching their attention and being able to give them reasons to do whatever I'm asking for.
[13:48] Yeah. And then, so let's say that that's about six or seven years ago. And so I had been doing that unknowingly until, say, three years ago when I decided that, you know what, I think I have a thing for storytelling.
[14:09] Yeah. And of course, that's also because I like to interact with when I laugh to talk. I don't like to. I laugh to talk, you know? Wow. So I said, okay, let me see what there is in storytelling.
[14:21] So I chanced on a few TED Talks, and then I picked up a few tips on how to tell good stories, how to make your stories impact, how to keep people's attention over a period of time.
[14:37] And it can be boring when people have to listen to speeches and to watch you talk about data and what you submit, your thesis and all. But when you're able to push all these things into stories, you're able to keep people's attention for as long as you keep telling the story.
[14:54] So I'd say seven, I mean, let's say between four and three, yes, I have been telling stories. Professionally. Yes, yes. I don't want to eat. I don't want to eat.
[15:07] And, oh, let me give Anna to whom Anna is due, you know? Priscilla, Sherry, Koshi, wherever you are. Thank you so much. Priscilla is one of the people who I won't say introduced me necessarily, but Priscilla is one of the people who sort of.
[15:27] Introduce you to. Well, not introduce you. Yeah, Anna introduced, but she's one of the people who inspired me to take professional storytelling, you know?
[15:36] So I met her a couple of years ago. She's not a really good friend of mine. And I mean, she always has a way of telling stories. She tells it without you knowing she's telling you a story.
[15:48] She wants to sell you something. She's telling a story. And she wants to get information. She starts by telling a story. She wants to even pursue often.
[15:57] She's telling a story. Well, that's the kind of person most people. Most people have the knack for telling stories. But then again, I know and believe that if you follow the resources like the TED videos that you just mentioned, I know and believe that if you follow these resources, you can be good storyteller whether you were born for it or not.
[16:21] So yeah, I just want to leave this one out there. So yeah, but then, yeah, so you made mention of tech talks that these videos helped you when you decided to tell stories professionally.
[16:36] But I want to know are there any other resources that you can think of when it comes to a simple marketer looking for resources? On how to tell stories.
[16:48] Yes, I would say there are. So let me also say that we do a lot. We all tell stories one way or the other. Everybody does tell a story. One of the easiest ways to tell stories for marketers is to talk to their clients or customers.
[17:05] People have wonderful stories. Let me give you a typical example. Give it to me. Let's say that I work with a financial house, whether I'm microfinance, whether it's a bank, whether it's a savings and loans.
[17:18] And I'm able to help a business owner secure or a businesswoman secure money for business alone. Let me even make it a lot more crude. Let me say a marketer man who sells tomatoes on the table.
[17:33] She needs about 300 cities to run her business. In returns, she's probably going to have 400 cities at the end of the day. This 400 cities is probably going to be able to help her pay her little boy school fees of about 50 cities and probably have some 20 cities extra for herself.
[17:57] And then, I mean, you know, basically, she's going to make profits over by 100 cities in addition to the 300 I gave her. I could literally just walk to the woman and say, you know what, I want you to tell us how...
[18:12] 300 cities helped you or affected your life. She would probably have to mention the amount, but that's like a good story for you to sell your services.
[18:24] Wow. So you can use that one. You know, you can craft a story around that one. You can craft stories around those. You can craft stories around why your business is, I mean, as an assistant.
[18:38] I mean, you can use your personal stories, personal testimonies, use feedback from clients. Let's say that I have... I've been trying to use a particular service.
[18:47] It hasn't been working. And so I find your service and I come, you know what, guys, I've been trying to use XYZ app. It's not really doing what I want.
[18:56] And I think I want to use yours. That's a good story for you to do. Yep. Yep. So let's say that stories are all over us. Sometimes we also try to limit ourselves to what's happening in the business.
[19:11] And I mean... We think too deeply. Yes, we think too deeply. But, you know, take it out of place. Take it out of context. Take it out of your environment and then see how it affects somebody else.
[19:28] Let me give you another story. So I'm stuck in traffic. Yeah. And I'm running late for a meeting. I want to be on time because it's the first time I'm meeting a client.
[19:42] But here I am in a chocho in traffic. I think of a plan. I think of an action. I'm looking for solutions. And then, oh, I remember, I could actually have a Zoom meeting in the chocho and invite all the chocho mates to participate.
[20:00] Okay, dang. So it dawned on me. I'm meeting a client who is looking at launching a new product. And so I decide to tell my chocho mates, guys, I have a client who is launching a new product.
[20:14] Can we do a quick commercial for the client? And, well, some were a little not too excited, but majority of the people liked it. And so well, they signed up.
[20:26] And we had the finest commercial I have ever done all my life. Wow. All in exchange for a sachet of water. So that's the story. So it didn't happen in the office.
[20:44] Anyway, it just happened in the chocho. And I just made it happen anyway. I'm just here. I'm just here. How do I put it? I'm just here laughing in my head.
[20:55] That is beautiful. But, yeah, I know you. I know you. But I don't know my listeners out there. They don't know who you are. If we give you the time, you will tell all the stories in this world.
[21:09] So I just want us to go for a quick commercial break. When we come back, you will tell us why storytelling is important for business. So you are listening to Colours of Social Media podcast.
[21:20] If this is your first time listening to this podcast, kindly subscribe so that you don't miss the next episode. Which will surely be about the digital marketing.
[21:30] If we are friends already and you love what you are hearing so far, kindly share this episode. It will go a long way to help me. When we come back, you shall tell us why it is important for business to tell a story to the clients.
[21:45] We'll be right back after this. Welcome back. My name is Enoch, a PR RobotBoy junior. And you are listening to Colours of Social Media podcast, the podcast for digital marketers and small business owners.
[22:05] If you've been with me for the past 15 minutes or so, I'm having a conversation with Nana Isha Yau Ota. And we are talking about storytelling, not the story your grandma have been telling you since you were a child, but storytelling in digital marketing.
[22:22] Before we went for a break, Nana was telling us about the resources you can rely on if you want to tell a full story. But right now, I want to know, Enoch, why storytelling for business?
[22:37] Because I've been in this business for over 10 years. And I know that short captions really grabs the attention of the audience, especially on Instagram.
[22:51] So why don't I go ahead and just tell my audience that I'm selling this product for social media coming by after I'm on social media to sell stuff.
[23:04] But then I have to craft a whole story around this product or services that I'm offering by storytelling for business. All right, so Enoch, this question is interesting.
[23:18] And let me answer by saying that marketing or the art of business development was instituted with storytelling as one of the oldest techniques.
[23:31] Okay, so it's ingrained in marketing. It's part of business development. It's part of marketing. This is why when we tell stories, we leave memorable imprints in the minds of people.
[23:48] There's a lot of stats. There's a lot of numbers. But storytelling is one of the ways of leaving memories for clients and potential clients such that they would always go with something in mind for the business.
[24:03] Yeah. Traditionally, it's always good to tell stories because it creates impact or it gives the listeners or the person on the other side some level of impact.
[24:16] Yeah. I may be struggling with something and then you are probably marketing your solution. But instead of marketing, you're telling me a story of how someone used your product or service and it worked for them.
[24:32] That's the impact you've given me. Yeah, yeah. And by default, I'm actually going to... I mean, I'm going to consider working with you or buying your product or signing up for the service.
[24:46] What happens in that process is that there's an exchange of challenge and solution as well as objectives. So I'm giving you a solution and you've exchanged it with them, a challenge you have or a problem you have.
[25:01] A problem. Oh, that's a good one. I've also been struggling with this thing. I've been wondering how to create apps without necessarily doing your hard coding.
[25:11] I mean, it looks like this is something I want to use. That's your challenge and I have given you an impact for it. Then additionally, you actually give the person experience.
[25:21] More like, I mean, in recent times, we've had things we call customer experience. It's not only when I call it customer care that I get that experience.
[25:31] It starts from the day I interact with the product or the service or the brand from the very beginning. That's where my customer experience starts from.
[25:40] And so you want to be particular about telling stories when you want to get business or close deals or get people to buy your product or pay for your service.
[25:55] And let me add that the brain or the human brain or the part of the human brain that's called the cerebral cortex is responsible for memorizing sequences in our bodies internally and externally such that it's able to predict what's going to happen next.
[26:13] So when you want to climb or when you start climbing a staircase, the cerebral cortex automatically memorizes the sequence of the environment.
[26:25] So it assumes that, okay, there's a staircase without climbing. There will be another step. So it memorizes that sequence. And that's what psychology will call the zygonic effects.
[26:38] It's more like remembering unfinished things, you know. So you start a story and then your mind by default is asking for more and so it is looking for what's going to happen next.
[26:51] Oh, okay. So now we are here. What next? Oh, okay. Okay. So this happening. So that's how the brain works. And as much as possible, it's important for business marketers or I mean business owners or business leaders or product development or product management.
[27:11] I mean, anybody that works with storytelling to be able to leverage on it. So you have the brain and you know exactly how it works. It's your responsibility to leverage it for your business whatever you want to do.
[27:26] Yeah. So also, okay. We are digital marketers. Let's put traditional marketing aside for a bit. We are digital marketers. And I want to present to you a couple of platforms that you tell me which platform will be best for you as a digital.
[27:47] Well, for me as a digital marketer to tell stories. So these platforms are Facebook, right? Almighty Facebook. Recently, they just changed their name.
[28:00] Okay. The Facebook company changed their name to Mita. But then their product, Facebook. And another of their products, Instagram and Twitter.
[28:11] So and LinkedIn. We have four platforms. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Asia, where do you think will be appropriate for you to go all out if you want to tell a story about a product or a service that you offer?
[28:32] That's a good question Enoch. I would assume that prior to choosing what platform you want to use as a digital marketer we have already established who your persona is or your ideal persona is.
[28:48] You already established who your target market is. And so what I would say in answer to that is you can tell stories all over the place. Tell stories on Facebook, Instagram, all of these platforms.
[29:08] Let me tell you why. Don't tell the same stories you tell on Facebook and LinkedIn with you. Wow. Hey. You don't tell the same stories you tell on Instagram, on Twitter.
[29:22] Charlie, you are making our way difficult too. No, it's not difficult. Just let it flow naturally. So I worked with this business. I mean, it's a business I was consulting for.
[29:39] And they are into poetry, okay? Yeah. And they have farms, huge farms across the country. And she's like, I've been doing Instagram. I've been doing Facebook and all that.
[29:59] And nobody's interested in investing in my business. Investing in my business? I mean, she has bias, but now she's looking for investors. Investing, okay.
[30:09] You have a LinkedIn account. She says, no. You know, LinkedIn, so you have a bad day. That's what it's like. What's LinkedIn do for me? That's what you see.
[30:19] You are doing the right thing. Your people are buying from Facebook and Instagram. But the people who buy or the people who want to, who patronize your service, are where they are.
[30:34] The kind of people you are looking for are not where you are, kind of. And as much as possible, you have to find them where they are. So go to me.
[30:41] And tell your story over there. Go and tell your stories over there. Over there, you're not selling a product. You're not trying to get them to buy anything.
[30:52] You're trying to tell them the story. It started by telling the history of her business, how she started, how she came up with the idea to start the business, what challenges she's faced.
[31:09] And we kept going on and on. And then eventually she got on board a program. And it's one thing after another. The rest is history. And so know exactly what you're seeing on each platform.
[31:23] I won't post the same picture on LinkedIn with the same caption. I won't do that. I'll probably see. So let me give it another example. Let's say I sell.
[31:36] What do you sell? I don't know. Do I sell? Yes. What do you sell? Give me something. Okay. Let's say share butter. Yeah. Share butter. What do you say on share butter?
[31:47] Yeah. Okay. On Instagram or Facebook, I can show you an image and show you why it is good to use share butter. I'm going to come up with a nice design and grab your attention.
[32:01] On the flip side, I can go to LinkedIn. I still want to sell share butter to you. But I will give you a beautiful story about why professionals have to be particular about their skincare.
[32:12] Awesome. That's a story to market share butter. But I'm telling you why it is important as a working professional to be particular about your skin and how your skin looks and what your skin tells about you in a working environment.
[32:28] And I mean, I could go on and on and on. Same business, same communication, but I'm telling you a different story. True. True. True. So know what you want to do.
[32:40] Then again, like I said earlier, define your core message. It's like the kind of story you want to tell, convey value, educate and pass on knowledge.
[32:50] And then finally, a call to action. So with these in mind, you can actually, it's not a difficult thing if you ask me. I'm not saying this because it comes easy.
[32:59] It doesn't come easy to me, honestly. Sometimes I would write stories and then I mean, delete it and write and delete until it's the kind of thing I want.
[33:09] Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah. So, I mean, irrespective of what platforms you are on, find a way of telling the stories anyways. All right. But just that you don't have to repeat a story you've told on IG, on, let's say, LinkedIn or any other social media platform because you have different audiences on all of these platforms, right?
[33:35] Yes. Yes. I mean, additionally, you also want to also, I mean, you want to note that there are different character, what's it called, spaces for each platform.
[33:49] Exactly. Exactly. You can't have like a whole essay on Instagram and then expect that you will transport that whole essay to Twitter. Yeah, talking about a whole essay on Twitter, how about doing it in a thread form?
[34:08] Do you think it is effective so that people will just be clicking through the threads to read the story? It is beautiful to do threads. Yeah.
[34:18] Just make sure your stories are exciting. So, like, tell the story. I mean, start to well, grab the person's attention. Like I mentioned earlier, your stories have to grab attention.
[34:32] When you grab someone's attention, let them have the oxytocin they need. The humans, you're able to get their brain to secure this chemical. You have the person's attention.
[34:43] As long as you can, make sure you're telling the story. So, threads are good, but let the story be exciting. Don't start first. Ready or wait.
[34:55] You know, sometimes when I read the story, I think it's like I may be wrong, but I can't say for a fact it's more than a two-page story on Twitter.
[35:12] Wow. And this person had, I forgot to, it was the person had used threads, simple as it is, to tell the story. And then it was, I thought it was a, I mean, for me, I thought it was a real life story.
[35:27] Yeah. Only to find out the finished invite was when I finished it. I see it too. The person was. And then I found out that, ah, come on, this person tells fictional stories.
[35:37] And I just read one of those fictional stories. And he had created characters on Twitter. So, one character was actually, one character, which is like another Twitter account was telling a part of the story.
[35:48] And then another character, which is also another account was telling. Yes. Yeah. Very, very, very genius. Was telling another part of the story.
[35:57] And then halfway to at some point in the thread, I mean, either was the code. Either characters were interacting with the original one. You know, they'll come and see something in objection to what the main character said.
[36:13] Yeah. It was, I'll be honest, it wasn't exciting. So, use it, yes. But make sure those stories are beautiful. We love beautiful stories. We don't like beautiful stories.
[36:24] Awesome. Awesome. So, you made mention of design, right? And that immediately brought a question in mind. So, I just want to ask you. Then we move on.
[36:37] So, right. We are, we are talking about storytelling, right? And from what I know, I listen to stories with my ear. And sometimes I read stories in letters to understand.
[36:53] But I want to know, are there enough ways that as marketers, we can tell stories apart from using words and audio? Are there other ways? Yes.
[37:07] There are so many ways. I mean, tell those stories. For instance, if I'm short of words, you know, I can use those other ways. Let me see. Okay, good.
[37:19] But you can tell stories with memes. Don't you expect that, right? Memes. Yes! Oh, bloody, bloody, bloody. You could tell stories with memes.
[37:31] I think it's one of the, it's one of the things very few people explore in the town market. I haven't seen, I haven't had time to sit for, to sit and watch the squid game.
[37:48] But I found... Oh, you should. You should. Otherwise, I will spoil it for you. I will spoil it for you if you miss next time. I'll make sure.
[37:59] The next time I meet you, I've seen something about it. So, I at least I've had except from friends. Yeah. And I hear that there's this candy, or this candy that is made from...
[38:13] Umbrella. A melted sugar. Yeah. That is the Umbrella Man episode. The Umbrella Man episode. Yeah, that's the Umbrella Man episode. And then you have a needle to cut it out.
[38:27] I hear that's actually a Korean candy. I mean, I'm looking forward to trying it one of these days. I found a place I can try that, so I'll try one.
[38:35] Umbrella, yeah. It is amazing. So, I mean, I've seen it. I've seen it with different brands and all that. One of the things I noticed people do is that a lot of businesses now are actually putting their logos into that kind of thing.
[38:54] Mm-hmm. And then making, I mean, giving people like a good idea of what they want to talk about with their logo. Some put a sign in it, and they ask questions about it.
[39:04] So that's a meme, but it's telling a story. Another thing you could use is photos. See, I have found very good graphic designers, but I think an exceptional graphic designer is one that can tell stories with their design work.
[39:25] That's the finest thing a graphic designer can do. That's it, that's it. I wouldn't mind giving you text as a graphic designer. I tell you, you know, this is the story I have, come up with the design for me.
[39:38] It's like another level for them, for a lot of graphic designers, especially in Ghana. But that's another good way of telling that story. I had to tell a story of them, or I had to do a post, a couple of months ago, I was working with a company that's into power, and they had to do a post on...
[40:01] Is it ECG? Is it ECG? No, no, it's a private, what's it called, power company. And they had to do a post on their history and what their processes look like, you know.
[40:18] I literally just gave the text, we typed the text out and gave it to the graphic designer. And then he came up with a very beautiful flow of how they get power from wherever, from a customer, it goes to VRA, from VRA, it goes to Bitco, from Bitco, it comes to them.
[40:37] And that was an image. That's a graphic designer. I didn't have to do much talking. Anybody I showed it to says, oh, that's beautiful. Oh, okay, so this is where the...
[40:49] Exactly, so that's another way of telling stories. Then we have, of course, videos. Videos, whether with audios or not, can still tell stories.
[41:01] I've watched some beautiful stories or movies without sitting here in a single way. It was quite difficult, but as I followed through, I could tell exactly what the movie or the story was about.
[41:14] So that's also another way. And then, of course, the defaults we all know is text. Yes, yes. Even audios, even simple audios are a beautiful way of telling stories.
[41:26] I don't know if you're supposed to listen to BBC these days, but... I do. You too, eh? Yeah. Good. So then I'm sure you know of the stories they share.
[41:39] I mean, sometimes you have all these plays that are acted on some shows. Yeah. And then you get to listen in. Those are beautiful ways of telling audio stories.
[41:50] So whether it's memes, even GIFs. Even GIFs, you know, even GIFs, those stories. Today's... Oh, today, man, you lost. So, I mean, I could do a very beautiful...
[42:02] I think as digital marketers, we have this powerful tool called the computer. Well, technology that we can manipulate. We can create however we find fate in.
[42:18] Yeah. Yeah. So, anything you want to tell stories, anytime you want to tell stories. I think last two weeks, when Manu was whipped by zip, I think on Monday, I saw a very beautiful...
[42:35] This is a church. And I think they were trying to tell... They were trying to motivate... You know what it's called? What's it called? Motivational Monday.
[42:45] So they were just trying to encourage people... Yeah. MMP. Yes. Or Momo. Some call it Momo. I don't quite subscribe to that though. Yeah. Momo is so empty.
[42:55] So what happened was that the... I think this is a while back. They had taken a photograph of a Mayu fan praying in church. I know a lot of these churches do wrap your team.
[43:08] Yeah. I just used to church, you know. And I think they are taking a picture of a Mayu fan praying in church. Seriously. So, they are taking pictures, random pictures.
[43:20] So on Monday, they post the picture and say, we know the weekend was tough. But the board is still giving grace for people. And then the picture was a lady in Mayu colors praying, you know.
[43:36] That's a beautiful story, definitely. Yeah. You have been encouraged. I'm sure they've got tons of engagement. I'm very, very, very sure. I'm very, very sure.
[43:50] I mean, the Chelsea fans will go and bash them. I mean, in fact, bash the Mayu fans and tell them how much of a terrible team they are. The Mayu fans will go and actually comment and tell them how unfairly they've treated with that post.
[44:08] Yeah. You know, tell them about who fans will go and also add their. Yeah. Yeah. Two cents to it. I know, right. So, there's so many ways of telling stories.
[44:19] I think with time, a lot of notes of storytelling are coming up. Yeah. And it's important to know what works for you. And then you guys go with it.
[44:30] Exactly. Exactly. Okay. So, what problems do brands face when, you know, they are trying to tell a story? In your own opinion, I mean, yeah. Okay.
[44:47] So, brands have lots of problems when it comes to storytelling. One of them is they are not able to define what storytelling is. Wow. Wow. So, what's storytelling?
[45:02] I mean, I didn't have to answer from the beginning, but I'm... Yeah. Storytelling is simply truth well told. That's it. That's it. Truth well told.
[45:14] Truth well told. That means you don't have to lie. You don't have to lie. Because even that one cry, it is not ethical as a marketer. Exactly.
[45:24] So, that's not one. You tell your truth. But then your creative way. Tell it well. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. Let's go. That's the definition, the simple definition for storytelling is well told.
[45:38] Mm-hmm. The second challenge, I think, brands face is that they are not interested in investing in hiring. Yes, not just storytellers, but digital marketers that have the skill to tell stories.
[45:53] Wow. I'm looking for a day where someone would go for a meeting. I mean, an interview, like at the guitar marketing interview. And they ask you more.
[46:02] And they ask you to tell a story in the interview. I'm looking for a day when it's going to happen. And honestly speaking, if I ever find... Don't put this into your mind.
[46:13] Say again. Don't encourage employers. Don't encourage employers. No, but honestly speaking, if I ever find myself on a panel interviewing at the guitar marketer or interview...
[46:27] You ask the person that question. I'm going to ask you to tell me a story. Wow. It just tells me how your brain works. Yeah. It's a big creative.
[46:38] So a lot of people are interested in just getting people who can post. Oh, we just want someone to manage a thing. So he just posts for us. They're not interested in getting someone who can tell the story behind the brand and be able to leverage storytelling for their good.
[46:56] Yeah. But I think a fair thing is that even up to now, businesses still don't understand the power of storytelling. So instead of leveraging it, they're interested in sharing their products or services.
[47:08] There's this insurance company I've always been bashing. And I will keep bashing them until they do the right thing. Don't. You just come and tell us what that is telling insurance policy.
[47:20] And I keep saying insurance policy. So I will present the insurance policy. What is something about insurance policy? You know, educators on insurance policy.
[47:29] Tell them truth, creativity. You should tell them that. Tell them truth, creativity. And I keep telling them, see, guys, tell your stories. So that's the other thing.
[47:40] Then the final thing is they are not able to... In businesses, another problem is that businesses are not able to interpret stats and data into storytelling.
[47:53] It is beautiful to be able to interpret data and facts or stats into storytelling. See, we don't like numbers. Yeah. Even mathematicians don't like to be bombarded with too many numbers.
[48:06] Well, they would enjoy it, but when they want to enjoy something, it's more numbers than you really want to enjoy for entertainment. So when I'm on social media, it really isn't about numbers.
[48:15] But convert this all translated into stories for me. Use visualization tools to visualize the data and be able to tell me a story. We do surveys a lot of the times.
[48:26] Okay. So let me use myself as an example. We do surveys where we are developing a product. Okay. Yeah. And these multi-core surveys feed directly into product development.
[48:40] Because in the product management space, you're supposed to hear from customers, hear from internal stakeholders, and be able to come up with their needs, to come up with solutions that you can actually meet their needs with.
[48:57] So you always do surveys, you send out questionnaires, and you're going to pollute them and then give them to the development team based on how you understand it, rewrite it out.
[49:09] That kind of thing. And a lot of the times, you are bombarded with so much data. Yeah. I mean, whether I use Google Sheets or Jods or whatever it is, you have so much data that you have to be able to translate it into something.
[49:28] Something useful for the engineer, something useful for the developer. Yeah. Something useful to tell the business owner that sees it. When we did the feedback, this is what the customers are saying.
[49:40] It's just raw data. And so if you're able to translate it into stories, you're more likely to get the buying of top management or directors or top C-suite executives and all that.
[49:53] So I think these are the four or five things that I believe lots of businesses face with storytelling. Oh, sorry. I mean, I keep on telling you that any time I have a conversation with you, I feel like I should tell more stories.
[50:10] And this one is not an exception. So, yeah. I'm now energized to tell more stories with my content on social media. Right. Okay. Tell them more.
[50:26] Yeah. But with how do I put this? You write in a story, right? Like a well-told story. A story that you think I've checked all the checkboxes of this story.
[50:43] And, yeah, I've actually written the story really, really well. How are you going to structure this well-told story? How are you going to put it?
[50:56] Let's say maybe I don't know. I don't know your style. But let's say I'll put the city at the top or maybe the city away at the bottom so that the moment the audience, the person who reads it, he or she will just act on it.
[51:13] So, yeah, I just want to know your structure for well-told story. How you do it. Okay. So, honestly, I don't like writing stories. I just like to tell them and walk off the stage.
[51:27] Oh, wow. I don't call myself a good writer. I mean, I don't call myself a writer at all because that's not what I do. There are people who are skilled and well-versed in that space, so I'll leave it to them.
[51:43] But what I do when I have to tell stories is this. I mean, let me, like, you want a structure, so let me put in the structure for you. I try to speak to people's emotions.
[51:57] Okay, okay. So, the story I wrote earlier, early on, I mentioned that it was a cold evening. It was dark. I hear cries in the woods. As soon as you hear cries, it has to do with emotions.
[52:14] And I was scared, and I didn't want to be superstitious. Those are lines that I'm trying to connect with. So, those are things that I would use to speak to your emotions.
[52:32] So, first of all, speak to emotions. Then secondly, establish connection. So, I spoke to your emotions. I told you about the fact that it was dark.
[52:42] I was going for a walk. And then now, I am establishing a connection by telling you that I met a little girl, and she asked her, we all don't like the cries of little girls.
[52:54] We all don't like the cries of little children. So, I'm of children, let me see. So, I established a connection for you. You don't like to hear a child cry.
[53:08] You don't like to hear a child in a certain disadvantage position. So, that's a connection both of us have. And then I established the power of contrast.
[53:22] So, empathy and sympathy. I'm telling you about a child who is suffering. At the end of the story, I'm going to ask you for money. And so, now I'm getting you to put your emotions into action, and then when I ask you for money, you're actually going to give me.
[53:38] So, I am leveraging on the power of contrast. And then finally, give value and then a call to action. So, let your story speak to emotions. Establish connection.
[53:53] Leverage the power of contrast. So, there's always the good and the bad. There's always the positive and the negative. There's always the sweet and the sad or the bitter.
[54:04] Always make that contrast. Let it be very, very clear in your story. Because that's why you want people to see your story. That's the message you're carrying in your story.
[54:17] And then give value and then give a call to action. Yes. Thank you, man. In our space, do you see brands picking up storytelling in their dealings with their customers?
[54:37] I think it's coming up bit by bit. Like we are having this, someone is going to listen and start telling stories. Yes, that's their hope. Yes, knowledge is important for digital marketers.
[54:55] I mean, any professional who needs to apply storytelling. And as much as possible, while we share these nuggets, while we share these thoughts on storytelling, people begin to pick them up.
[55:08] I see that a few brands online, especially on Instagram, are telling stories. Of course, the brands I work with are telling stories. And so these are things that are coming up.
[55:22] It will take a while, but I think it's only a matter of time and then we'll get there. So I see a few stories coming up. Let me see that. See, we all have stories to tell.
[55:37] Corona has dealt with us in one way or the other. People have lost businesses. People have had to miss it, some papers. People have had to deal with mentors.
[55:52] So many things have happened over the period. So you have to leverage the storytelling for business. Awesome. Awesome. The next question is, the moment I decide to ask this question, it means we are coming to the end of our conversation.
[56:13] And the mindlessness knows that the moment I ask this question, it means we are about to end our conversation. So here it goes. Why do you love this job?
[56:30] That's a difficult question. Well, I can tell you, with me interacting with you guys, my friends in the same industry, I actually love the interaction.
[56:43] And I always pick a couple of things or two the moment I interact. So I love that the moment I put up my PC and set up a calendar meeting between any of my friends in this industry, I love it.
[56:57] So I just want to hear yours. Yes. Let me be honest, there's a number of things for me. I started, I didn't really start with digital marketing as a career.
[57:12] I have a pure background. My background is, yes. So I have a bachelor's degree in business information technology and a master's in MIS. Wow, I didn't know that.
[57:32] Yeah, so I didn't start over as a digital marketing. Not at all. Right, right, right, right. So that's what happened. I think when I started my career, I just wanted to solve problems.
[57:52] I'm always looking for opportunities I could share my day. I could share my thoughts on issues. And so I started learning about digital marketing.
[58:06] I took a few courses. And it was also around the time I was trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to do in the IT space. And so I tried my house on digital marketing.
[58:17] I tried my house on product management until I finally got to product management, which is what I do now full-time, even though I still consult for a few clients in the digital marketing space.
[58:32] So product marketing is simply where I am now. And it still resonates with everything I've said because it positions me well to help with solutions.
[58:46] I can pick a product and be able to tell you where the product will work, where it's for tea. I mean, when I say product, I mean, any digital product.
[58:56] So an app, for instance. I can pick an app and tell it that's tea. Looking at this app, maybe you should have positioned this well. You should have done this.
[59:06] When I tap this button, I wish. Or I think the average customer or user would want it to work like this, you know that kind of thing. It's always been about giving solutions.
[59:17] I want to be valuable to everybody and to have to talk. In a sense, that's where everything else is coming from. Yeah, awesome. And the thing is, you are not the only one.
[59:30] Because I talk with other guys and they gave me the same reason. That, you know, they are willingness to help others pull them into this industry.
[59:42] It's like that's all that we live to do to help others. Isha, where can I find you if I want to look for you? Well, I know we are in the same community.
[59:53] I can just grab my phone and just give you a personal message right away. We're in the same clan, digital clan. So, yeah, I can just call you whenever I need you.
[1:00:05] But then for my listeners, for instance, they want to get in touch with you on the ground or Twitter, even on TikTok. Where can we find you? I'm here to call TikTok.
[1:00:18] Charlie, you should go. You should go. It's fun there. It's fun. Although I'm still figuring it out how to, you know, manipulate it. I'm still learning the space in Ghana because I think you have to, you know, be a comic or know how to dance.
[1:00:40] I think, Charlie. Well, I would dispute that. I think every TikTok video I have seen is... Yeah, dancing. Charlie, are there two of you? Yes, they are dancing.
[1:00:52] I don't know how to dance. They are dancing, ranting, telling stories. You see, that, I mean, having said that, Ricky, I think it's also a beautiful place to tell stories.
[1:01:03] Yeah, yeah. I was telling, I was sharing with a friend that someone could actually make a living on TikTok telling stories. So you can just find very beautiful stories and then take two minutes, three minutes' time.
[1:01:18] Just tell it. Just tell it and then walk off. The next time, come on, tell another story. Tell another story. It's really a matter of telling.
[1:01:25] People would want to come to listen to you tell stories. Yeah. So it's a beautiful thing to do. Yeah, we should explore after all. It's one of the fastest growing platforms in the world currently.
[1:01:40] So yeah, clearly we have to explore. Anyway, where can we find you? I'm on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Yeah, so I think I go by...
[1:01:52] He is in Shira on all three. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. He is in Shira. And then on LinkedIn, it's my full name. It's a professional. Please, we have to pretend you are a professional.
[1:02:08] And pretend you are raised in your space. Oh yeah, yeah. On LinkedIn, we all pretend. But then again... Pretend you have some big titles. Yes, yes.
[1:02:19] Okay. So he's in Shira, H-E-I-S. Yes, he is in Shira, H-E-I-S-N-H-Y-I-R-A. Got it, got it. That's mine. Oh, okay. So, listeners, there you have it.
[1:02:35] He is in Shira on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Yes. Awesome. And if you read a show, show notes, I'll leave a link to his personal page with that Instagram or LinkedIn.
[1:02:52] If you want to interact with him professionally on LinkedIn, I'll leave everything there on the show notes. You just have to click on it. Then you get connected to Nanaya in Shira.
[1:03:03] Shira, once again, I just want to thank you for coming on Colours of Social Media Podcast. And I do hope that you enjoyed our conversation because I enjoyed it very, very much.
[1:03:19] I did, I did. It's an honor to tell stories. Before I end this episode, I want to thank Nanaya and Shabuta for joining me on this episode. I also want to thank you for listening.
[1:03:37] Remember, if you are new to this podcast, please consider subscribing. That's actually the only way you can support me. After subscribing, share this episode with your network.
[1:03:49] You will never know who might need these valuable tips. My name is Nokrobert Boyakila Jr. And this has been Colours of Social Media Podcast. See you soon.