Writers, and advertising writers in general, sometimes say they've run out of story ideas. The question comes up constantly: "Where can I get the seeds for wonderful tales that will capture my listener's — or reader's — heart, or at least their attention for a minute?"
It's all in knowing where to look, or listen. Here's what any writer can do to never run out of story ideas.
Start with your client.
From the very first meeting with a client, listen for story material. As you gather information to formulate an effective campaign, ask some non-typical questions to elicit responses you can use to create a campaign. Call it the ANA (Audience Needs Analysis). What does the target audience need?
Record these conversations, because you'll never remember everything that was said. Do it in the least distracting way possible. Use your phone or a small recorder. That way you can pay attention to what comes up instead of trying to take meticulous notes.
Ask your client questions they probably haven't been asked before: "How did you get into this business? What do you love about what you do? What do you hate about your business? What do you do for your customers that no one knows about? Do you have any interesting, surprising or unusual customer stories?"
The most important question is, "What emotional need do you solve for your customers?" This is tricky. The second word is critical, and the answer is not "fit, style or value." The information is not in your client's digital ads or on their website. You'll need to probe to distill the answer. Adding in the "emotion" factor gives your stories power.
When you hear unique stories that connect emotionally with the audience, go deeper. If a restaurant owner casually mentions an old family recipe, find out more. Has it been passed down through generations? What's the backstory?
Talk to your client's customers.
Ask one or two dozen customers why they purchased from your client and you'll get true insights into the client's real strengths. Often those strengths are different from what the client thinks, altering their own perspectives and preconceptions.
This process may well be time-consuming, but it will yield unique stories and a better chance of good advertising results. In the long run, you'll make more money for less time spent.
You are your own best source of stories.
Your life is full of relationships and every one has at least one story. Make a list of everyone you've ever known. It may take awhile, and it's a list you'll continually add to, but do a little bit each day.
Start with your parents, grandparents, spouse(s) and all your relatives. Add your children, your children's friends, their teachers, all the associated parents and relatives. List your teachers, coaches, scout leaders, armed forces superiors, mentors, supervisors, counselors and bosses. Next, write down your coworkers from every job you've had, every person you've dated, and all their associated relatives and friends, every customer you can remember, your old correspondents, plus all your buddies from when you were in day care to the present.
What about those people you come into contact with daily in person, on the phone, or by email: landlords, bankers, police, delivery people, paper carriers, neighbors, health care people, retailers, travel agents, behind-the-counter salespeople, car dealers?
Don't forget the members of your clubs, volunteer, community, political and service organizations. This is only a partial list. You'll think of more.
After every name, write as many words as it takes to remind you of at least one associated story. Some names will generate many stories. Every story has power because it's real.
Now you have a huge list of stories. Ask your friends, your spouse, and your clients for their most memorable stories. Every day more stories are being generated, so you'll never run out.
When you write a commercial or ad, scan your list and select stories that will work for the audience, the advertiser and their benefits. Flesh out each story, amplifying the conflict and drama. Make marketing an integral (but not obvious) part of the story, and you'll take the audience along with you. Right to your client.
