What should you look for in marketing help beyond the labels?

Look for someone who can explain what your customer needs to understand, find the details that make it matter, and keep the explanation true to your business. Creative work, technical skills and sales experience can help. But those labels alone don't tell you whether someone can tell a story you'll recognize as your own.

I'm Eric Yim, and this is how I think about storytelling and the marketing work behind Protocol Text, a marketing business based in Lincoln, Nebraska.

What the marketing stereotypes leave out

My blunt answer to the misconception I'd correct was, “Probably not all sales and marketing people are assholes.”

I think people often put marketing into three buckets: people trying to scam you, people who are hyper-creative, and people who are hyper-technical, where it's all about the data. Those are stereotypes, not a useful way to evaluate someone's work.

A creative label doesn't explain which details they'll preserve. A technical label doesn't tell you whether a customer will understand the page. A sales focus doesn't tell you whether the promises will be accurate.

I'd want to know what a prospective customer should understand after seeing the work, and what that understanding rests on. That's a much more concrete conversation than deciding which bucket a marketer belongs in.

Why I care about the feeling a story gives people

When I describe the impact I'd like our storytelling to have, I think about the feeling Pixar gives people: sharing a story in a way that makes someone care.

That connection goes back to high school for me. I had trouble talking with other people when I was younger, and my older brother often talked for me. Theater and speech gave me a way to tell stories through performances. They helped me come out of that little bubble and build confidence.

I've also worked through feeling like my own story wasn't important. I find it easier to help other people tell theirs. That matters here because an owner may dismiss something as ordinary work when it contains exactly the explanation a customer needs.

A hypothetical service story: repair or replace a fixture

Imagine a plumber helping someone decide whether to repair a leaking fixture or replace it. This is a proposed example, not a client story.

A thin version would announce that the plumber provides quality service. A useful story would explain the decision: what the proposed repair would address, what it would leave unchanged, and why replacement was also being considered.

To develop that story, I'd suggest asking the owner what they actually observed and explained. Was keeping the existing fixture important to the customer? Was there a limitation to the repair? Include those details only if they're true and appropriate to share.

The meaning comes from understanding the choice. A reader can see how the provider explains an option instead of simply being told that the provider is trustworthy.

The ending needs the same care. If the source only establishes what someone recommended, the story should stop there. Don't turn a recommendation into a completed repair or add a happy customer reaction that nobody supplied.

How creative and technical choices can support that story

For that hypothetical explanation, a creative choice might be a close-up photo that makes the relevant part visible. A technical choice might be making sure the image loads properly and the explanation is readable on a phone.

Those choices have a purpose: helping someone follow the decision. An elaborate visual treatment that hides the important detail would work against it.

Measurement can then help evaluate what people do with the explanation, such as following a contact link. That information can guide revisions, but it doesn't give anyone permission to strengthen a claim beyond what the source supports.

What I'd ask before accepting a marketing proposal

I'd ask a marketer to walk through one proposed piece using details from the business:

• What customer question would this answer?
• What information would you need from me before writing it?
• Why does this format help explain the point?
• How would I review factual claims before anything goes live?
• What would you measure, and what decision would that measurement help us make?

Then I'd read the proposed explanation aloud. Does it sound like something the owner could comfortably explain to a customer? Can the owner point to the source of each claim? Has a limitation disappeared because it made the copy less exciting?

A story can sound polished and still feel unfamiliar. If that happens, identify the sentence that stops sounding like the business. Ask for a specific correction before approving it.

Questions about using storytelling in service marketing

Can a serious service use warmth without forcing emotion?

Yes. I think warmth can come from explaining a difficult choice patiently or acknowledging a practical concern. A serious service doesn't need an emotional backstory to be understandable. Use human details that belong to the situation, without manufacturing trauma, sentiment or a customer's feelings.

Does emphasizing story mean ignoring performance information?

No. I'd use performance information to answer a defined question. Contact-link clicks, for example, can show that people took that step; they don't establish why someone trusted the business or whether they became a customer. Keep the interpretation limited to what the measurement can actually support.

Does business storytelling always require video?

No. A written explanation may give someone room to compare options. A photo may clarify a visible detail, while audio may suit a spoken explanation. I'd choose the format around what the reader or listener needs to understand, rather than assuming every story needs a camera.

Should every business try to imitate Pixar's style?

No. My comparison is about caring about a story, not adopting an animation style or promising film production. A service business can make its work understandable in its own voice. The useful question is what deserves someone's attention, not how closely the piece resembles a movie.