Everybody loves a good story. That’s why, as content marketers, we should always be on the lookout for fresh and intriguing tales that educate and entertain our target audience.

One of the biggest challenges in content marketing is making a strong connection with your audience and keep them captivated throughout the sales process. One way to do this is by telling compelling stories they can relate to. Whether it’s a tale about a particular problem they’re dealing with or an example of how someone resolved an issue they know all-too-well, when a story is crafted just right you not only have your audience’s full attention, you will leave them wanting more.

The challenge, of course, is uncovering such gems. While you may think you need to scour the globe to find great stories, the true is they’re probably hiding right under your roof. The following are a few resources you may want to ping to build a library of stories that can boost the effectiveness of your content marketing efforts:

• Your Customers. There’s no better source to tap than your customers. Not only do they represent the audience you’re targeting, they can provide unique perspectives on issues they are facing that your audience can directly relate to.
• Sales Team. Every member of your sales team is on the front lines. Most of their time is spent communicating directly with prospects and customers online, on the phone, at trade shows or in person. Not only do they have a good pulse on what your customers’ biggest issues are, they’ve got volumes of stories they’ve heard from your customers and prospects while in the trenches.
• Customer Service Department. Your customer service department talks to your clients every day. They’ve heard just about every problem under the sun. Not only have they helped your customers through many of the issues your prospects are dealing with, they’ve built strong relationships with them along the way.
• Trade Show Attendees. While trades shows aren’t exactly located in your building, they’re under your industry’s rooftop, which is very important. Interviewing industry leaders and prospects at conferences, forums and other related events is another way to collect specific stories for your content marketing efforts.

Tapping these and other resources can help you build a library of stories you can weave into your marketing campaigns, blogs, videos, white papers, and build case studies around. But the first step is to uncover the storytellers. Once you’ve got a compelling story to tell, you’ll have your audience hooked and wanting more.

Do you have other resources you turn to for stories relevant to your market? Feel free to share them.