Storytelling in marketing operations is often overlooked, but it’s the skill that determines whether your data drives decisions or dies in a slide deck. After Carey Picklesimer of Cordurrio and I spoke about storytelling, I wanted to dive a little deeper into some details. What really stood out to me was how we were approaching storytelling differently. In this post, I am going to share why I believe storytelling is essential to marketing operations, and why knowing your audience and different storytelling frameworks will create better alignment with your marketing and sales colleagues.

Challenges of Marketing Operations Lanugage

Being the new kid on the marketing block, it is easy to see how marketing operations are so misunderstood. We are not like our friends, the creative designers, or our communication and thought leadership colleagues. We are the system and data people. Marketing operations speak a totally different language. The Marketing Operations role has really emerged over the last twenty years.

The advantage our marketing peers have over us is their long-standing knowledge and understanding of their work output. They make ads, they create white papers, and they create content for the website. That understanding came from years of storytelling about their work and adjusting those stories. If you were to compare an advertisement from a magazine in the 1940s with a digital ad today, you would see that even the approaches these disciplines take have changed over time. Those creative marketing leaders succeeded by selling their vision to leadership and reporting on the outcomes of their changes.

Human habits change: where we go to get information has changed, and how we consume information has changed. The best marketing leaders constantly adjust and test new approaches. They know what has been done, what is being tested, and which approaches have succeeded. These same leaders tell stories of business impact and how marketing influences reach and reputation. That is why there is a clearer understanding of traditional marketing functions.

Another challenge for marketing operations, as a new function, is the lack of seniority within the marketing organization. Most companies start with a Marketing Operations Manager or Senior Manager. More senior roles like Director or Senior Director of Marketing Operations are only just beginning to appear. These high-profile positions are still new and have not yet had enough time to tell the full story of the value of what their teams do. It is critical that individuals working in marketing operations, and those who manage them, hone their storytelling skills to demonstrate value, grow their teams, and expand their responsibilities.

Start with Storytelling

To get started with storytelling, it is essential to know your audience. Just as you would when planning a nurture campaign or scoring leads based on purchasing power, you must do the same exercise when planning your storytelling. Never assume your audience knows what you do, how you do it, or what the outcomes are. Bring them on your journey. Learn who they are, what matters to them, and how they prefer to learn. Are they visual or auditory learners? Do they have limited time? Are they more concerned about influencing a project, managing a budget, or understanding how they’ll be impacted by your work?

Another important element is how your audience receives information. I like to use the DISC personality approach to assess which storytelling framework to apply. If you are speaking to multiple people, focus on the decision maker as the primary personality in the room, but try to accommodate others so the group can follow along. DISC identifies four key personality types:

• Analytical – logical and clarity
• Amiable – trust and relationships
• Expressive – inspiration and vision
• Direct – results and speed

Because each personality’s core needs are different, different storytelling frameworks work best:

• Direct – Challenge, Action, Results (CAR)
• Expressive – Hero’s Journey
• Analytical – Situation, Complication, Resolution (SCR)
• Amiable – StoryBrand

As storytellers, we should be aware of our own personality types and why we may default to a certain framework. For example, I am a Direct personality and often share information in the Challenge, Action, Results (CAR) format regardless of audience. This has led to failures when presenting to an Expressive who is more focused on vision and future state.

A good first step is to figure out who your audience is and where they sit within DISC. If your organization offers DISC assessments, leverage that data. Otherwise, observe preferences in conversation: do they talk big picture, or do they prefer short, direct points? Once you’ve mapped your audience, align the storytelling framework to them.

Here are high-level definitions of the frameworks:

• Challenge, Action, Results (CAR): Challenge sets the scene and context. Action details the specific steps taken to address the challenge. Results highlight the outcome and impact. Reference CAR
• Situation, Complication, Resolution (SCR): Situation establishes the current context. Complication introduces the challenge or disruption. Resolution proposes the path forward and demonstrates value. Reference SCR
• Hero’s Journey: A model where a hero goes on an adventure, overcomes a decisive crisis, and returns transformed. Learn more
• StoryBrand: Similar to Hero’s Journey, but structured into seven parts where a character with a problem meets a guide, is given a plan, takes action, avoids failure, and ends in success. Learn more

Example: Let’s say there are concerns about MQL quality. You and your colleagues dig into lead scoring, find opportunities to adjust, and discover that better scoring aligns more closely with successful closed deals. This will impact both marketing and sales leadership. If your marketing leader is Amiable and often uses StoryBrand in all-hands, adjust your story to resonate with them. If your sales leader is Direct, present the same work as Challenge, Action, Results to show benefits clearly.

Spend the time to figure out which storytelling framework works best for your audience. While we all default to our personal style, stretching into new frameworks improves alignment and buy-in from peers and decision makers. Creating a common language and understanding helps projects execute smoothly and reduces frustration about Marketing Operations’ impact.

For executives, the ability of Marketing Operations to tell clear, audience-aligned stories is what creates visibility and alignment across marketing and sales. As Marketing Operations is still a new function, the value of these roles can be overlooked. Using the right storytelling framework for the right audience not only demonstrates impact but also helps secure buy-in, resources, and understanding across the organization.