POV: you’re scrolling through Instagram and you see someone promoting their new course.

“ENROLL NOW!” they say. “Receive a 1:1 call as a bonus when you enroll today.” they say. And then they follow their announcements with all of the things that you’ll receive in the course. 

6 Modules.

6 Group Calls. 

Monthly coaching.

Slack and Voxer access. 

Course portal. 

The list goes on!

In this scenario, the person is simply selling the service… not the experience that you as a buyer will receive. 

And while these details ARE important when it comes to purchasing, these details aren’t necessarily what you want to lead with when you’re selling your products or services. 

Beyond the logistics, people are interested in what kind of experience or transformation they’ll have when they buy from you.

You see, your audience is currently facing a problem in their life and they’re looking for a solution. Your product or service might be that solution, but they can’t clearly see that when you only lead with the details. This is why you need to sell the experience, not the service.

This is especially true for your amiable, driver, and expressive buyers. While the logistics of your course might speak more to analytical buyers, the other buyer types in your audience need other things.

(I go into more detail about the 4 buyer types in this blog post!)

And this, my friend, is where storytelling comes in!

How Storytelling Helps You Sell The Experience, Not The Service

I know what you might be thinking… another copywriter is about to give you a big spiel on why storytelling is what you need to be doing in your marketing.

I’ll admit that the term “storytelling” has become a bit of a buzz word in the marketing world the last few months, but before you eye roll on me, I’m here to say it’s for good reason!

Storytelling DOES work, and your business DOES need it.

When you tell stories that stick with your audience, you automatically move from selling the service to selling the experience, and THAT is what moves people into confident action.

In fact, did you know that 95% of purchasing decisions are based on emotions?!

This means that your audience initially doesn’t even care about what’s included with your service – they just want to know what that means for them and how it can improve their life. 

When you speak to their emotions FIRST, they will then start to justify their decision based on logic. 

No matter what you do or what you sell, you can use this storytelling strategy, but for this blog specifically, I’m going to dive into what this can look like for photographers specifically!

3 Ways Photographers Can Use Storytelling to Sell The Experience, Not the Service

1. Your Portfolio

It’s no secret that as a photographer, you want to display your portfolio so that people can see your work. 

I would never tell you not to have a portfolio on your site, but what I will tell you is to think outside the typical portfolio box. 

Instead of loading large galleries with beautiful, fully-edited photos, think about how you can tell a story with those photos as well. 

For example, if you want to feature a client’s engagement session on your website, you *could* just load the photos into a grid, include their names, and a small blurb about how much fun the session was.

Or you could take your audience through an experience by telling the story of the couple.

Where did they first meet? How long did they date before getting engaged? Were they high school sweethearts? Where did they get engaged? What was the weather like? Was there anyone else in attendance for the engagement?

THESE are the details that people want to know. 

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, it’s time you put words to the amazing photos that you capture! 📸

(P.S. If you think that as a photographer, the most important page on your website is a portfolio page, read this blog post to understand why that’s not true!)

2. Your “About” Page

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: your “About” page isn’t actually about you!

As a service provider myself, I understand that you want your audience to feel like they know you and can relate to you, but that doesn’t always happen by filling your “About” page on your website with a bunch of random information that describes your entire life. 

The way that you really connect with your audience is by making your “About” page about them, while strategically sprinkling information about yourself that lets them know that you really can relate to them.

One way to do this is by incorporating storytelling in your “About” page. Try sharing personal anecdotes, memorable experiences related to your industry, or other inspiring moments that fueled your fire to start your photography business. 

This can help to create an emotional connection and really intrigues your audience!

(P.S. If you’re struggling with what to include on your “About” page, read this blog post for a full list of do’s and don’ts.)

3. Your Sales / Services Pages

Lastly, and probably most importantly, you want to include storytelling on your sales page or services pages where the logistical details of your offerings are also listed!

Remember: you want to go beyond what your product or service includes and help people envision their life after buying from you.

More than anything, people want to know what transformation they can expect to receive.

To do this, make sure you know what your audience’s biggest pain points are and what they truly want.

What are they struggling with right now? How do they want to feel? What do they want to achieve? How does your product or service help them get that?

You want to speak to these questions and very clearly call them out, so that they feel seen and heard!

For example, let’s take a peek at my own services page:

The first service offering you see is my group coaching program, Storysale.

Before I ever list the details of what you get when you enroll, I start with the statement, “You love the work you do as a business owner, but you’re stuck in a cycle of serving less-than-ideal clients who don’t light you up.”

That statement speaks directly to their problem and follows with how they’re feeling before introducing them to my solution and giving further details!

The goal here is that you lead with something that will speak to their emotions and get them saying, “YES! That’s me. That’s how I feel. That’s exactly what I need.” before they even know what exactly it is that you’re offering. 

And that’s the power of storytelling, my friend. 👏🏼

Ways We Can Work Together

I fully believe that you can implement storytelling into all parts of your business, but if you struggle with knowing HOW to do it, there’s a few ways we can work together to make this happen for you.

• VIP Days – for the person that wants done-for-you copy quickly!

VIP days include:

✔️ 1:1 kickoff call, where we talk strategy and define your project to-do list

✔️ done-for-you writing – after our strategy session wraps up, I ride off into the proverbial sunset (or, as copywriters often do), into my airpods-muffled world to do what I do best: write.

Half-day VIPs = 4 hours of done-for-you writing time.

Full-day VIPs = 6 hours of done-for-you writing time + implementation on your website, email list, and more!

During this time, you get to hang out in your zone of genius or serve your people. In other words, you do you, friend. I’ve got this!

At the end of our VIP day, I’ll send over all of your deliverables, and thank you kindly for trusting me with your brand and your business!

• Storysale – a 3-month group coaching program for creatives to market their magic ✨

Inside Storysale, you’ll receive:

✔️ 10, 60-minute group coaching Zoom calls with me

✔️ 2, 60-minute guest coaching Zoom calls with guest experts

✔️ Weekly 1:1 Voxer access to ask any questions you have about marketing your services, creating offers that your clients will love, brand messaging, and more

✔️ 1:1 Intensives – every month of our program, students will schedule 1:1 intensives with me to put your website copy, SEO page titles, and email copy to work for YOUR business and your ideal client

• The Content Huddle – a writing membership and community that combines practical, proven copywriting swipe files with expert-level support 

Inside the Content Huddle, you’ll receive:

✔️ Swipe File Templates for Your Biz

✔️ Group Office Hours and Mini Trainings 

✔️ Guest Expert Calls

✔️ 1:1 Voxer Support with Sara + Day of Voxer Coaching (One Session Per Year)

✔️ Access to Sara’s Resource Vault

Click here to connect, and let’s work together to create your very own word magic in your business. ✨