By James Nord

What can you do to change someone's mind? Present a list of well thought out, evidence supported facts? Absolutely not. The only way to change anyone's mind is by telling a story.

Hell, just this morning I was listening to an economic reporter talk about the effect of Trump's China tariffs on the American economy. The way he described it was by telling a story about an American light bulb manufacturer, a manufacturer who has historically refused to move their factory out of the US, and who now, because of increased prices of Chinese steel, is considering moving their factory to China.

Stories help us understand complex concepts, different viewpoints and cultures, help set societal norms, fall in love with people, brands and places. Storytelling is also universal, as old as civilization itself and is platform agnostic. You can tell a story with a meal, a photo or a poem. I truly believe that it is impossible to be an exceptional marketer if you can't tell a good story.

As you build out your influencer campaign you need to think about your brand or product’s story and how you are telling it. One mistake I think brands are making is focusing stories about the influencer, not the product. It should be a collaboration of the product and its effect on that influencer, or the influencer should be used to demonstrate that product’s unique benefits.

Shameless plug: For our brand focused conference this year we are doing something different and focusing on storytelling on the internet. What works, what doesn't and how we can do better. We will hear from photographers, influencers, architects and trainers about how they use storytelling to their advantage and to be good at their diverse jobs. In addition we will have in-depth breakout sessions that will get into the weeds of running effective influencer strategies. We’ll also share our biggest takeaways from the over 500 campaigns and seven years doing what we do. Buy tickets now, they are going quickly and we cap the event at 100 people.

To learn more on how brands can better navigate the influencer space, sign up to Fohr CEO James Nord’s weekly email here.