While B2B lead generation has changed a lot since the Rolodex days, one thing has remained the same - word of mouth. If you want to translate the world of media into word of mouth, people have to be able to remember your message.  And people remember information best if it’s conveyed in a story. Storytelling in marketing has always been crucial. After all, as humans, we’re programmed to remember stories more than facts.  So, how do you tell a business-related story well? To learn how to strengthen your brand storytelling muscles, there’s no one better to consult than Ron Ploof.  Ron is a writer who develops tools that help you with your brand storytelling. His The StoryHow™ PitchDeck has some great tips on developing persuasive storytelling that converts awareness into purchase consideration.  4 keys of brand storytelling in B2B markets The art of storytelling marketing boils down to 4 essential keys. For better B2B lead generation, you should:  1. Use proverbs In a B2B market, building relationships with customers early and often -- before they are in a buying mindset -- is important.  Let’s turn that into a proverb: “Purchasing decisions are best before budgets.”  Proverbs make your brand memorable.  To make your own, you can do a Google search for existing proverbs, and create derivatives of them. For example: “A spoonful of story helps the data go down.”  Did you recite that in a sing-song voice in your head? That’s the power of storytelling. 2. Use persuasive selling techniques Customers won’t buy your product just because you are the biggest company in your market. You need to use persuasive sales enablement techniques.  Persuasive selling helps people see their needs in full color and shows how your product or service is the best thing for those needs.  In the words of Aristotle: “In order to persuade...you need logos, pathos, and ethos.”  Logos = logic, factsEthos = credibility, ethicsPathos = passion Customers don’t buy on facts alone. In fact, deciding which products or services to purchase -- even in the B2B world -- is often driven by emotion.  You may be working with enterprise accounts, but you are still working with people. And people buy based on emotion, only then justifying that purchase with logic.  So, the core focus of business storytelling should be forming an emotional connection with the reader. 3. Match the message to the media Having a great message isn’t enough. You need to match your message to the right form of media. Practice brand storytelling with short blog posts.  Then, if the customer connects with that message, turn the post into a whitepaper or a longer-form ebook.  If the story could be told in a visual format, use video.  Think about which format or medium will give the story the most impact and lasting power in the minds of your customers. 4. Make your customer the hero First, you need to find a story that resonates with your ideal customer.  Then, you can worry about where it fits into the marketing funnel.  Ask yourself:  What are the roles? - You, your customer, competitorsWhat are the events? - Tradeshow,