7 Story Mapping Software For Better Business Marketing

Intro

Ever noticed how a good story can capture your heart and mind in ways plain facts can't? Businesses are catching on too. Instead of just pushing products, they're sharing stories, crafting journeys, and making us feel something by using story mapping software.Additionally, they are leveraging visual tools like Squarespace animations to make these stories even more engaging.

For anyone scratching their head, thinking, "How can I make my business's message come alive?", this one's for you. We're about to dive into the 7 best story mapping software tools that will boost your marketing game. We include their key strengths, pros and cons, and pricing rates. We also include examples and best practices so you can use them effectively.

After reading this guide, you'll know how to choose the best-fit story mapping software to help you elevate your business.

Ready to become a storytelling pro? Let's get started!

7 Must-Try Story Mapping Software

Here are 7 best story mapping software to choose from to help you plan out your narrative and organize your ideas. Read on to discover which tool is right for you.

1. StoriesOnBoard

StoriesOnBoard is a popular digital product for product managers, product owners, digital creators, and agile product teams. It features an advanced story mapping tool for planning, visualizing, and managing the product development process or product workflows.

It has a user-friendly interface and collaborative features. Together, it makes communication and teamwork within the organization a breeze. StoriesOnBoard also offers several functions and features for the marketing teams' daily activities.

They can visually map customer journeys, from initial awareness to conversion. They can also create content to engage customers at each journey stage.

Here are more vital details that you should know before deciding if StoriesOnBoard is the right digital product for you.

Key Features

• Advance security functionalities
• Create a clearly defined user persona
• Share product backlog using a private link
• Set requirements on the story card detail section
• Provide a text editor to write easy-to-understand specifications

StoriesOnBoard Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Create unlimited story maps	Limited reporting and analytics
Multiple two-way integration options	Steep learning curve for new users
Track team members using Slack's user activity feed

StoriesOnBoard Pricing

• Basic [$9/user/month]: Include unlimited story maps, release management, Slack integration, etc.
• Standard [$12/user/month]: Additional safety features and two-way integrations
• Pro [$15/user/month]: Access advanced Jira security and priority support

You can start each plan with a 14-day free trial.

2. CardBoard

CardBoard is a digital whiteboard with a simple user story mapping tool for the agile team. Thanks to its flexibility, you can utilize it to improve your business marketing.

You can design your board in various ways quickly. It features a drag-and-drop editor to add cards, text, documents, and images to your product board. You can also consolidate all the project information in one place (sticky notes, files, etc.).

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Key Features

• Team voting
• Map user journeys
• Add images to boards
• Enterprise-level security tools
• Flexible payment options (invoicing)

CardBoard Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Control board permissions	Should have additional options for systems like GitHub
Multiple integration options	Pricing structure may be a bit steep for smaller teams or startups
Free trial don’t require a credit card
Allow setting dividers and swimlanes
Provide static IP address for whitelisting

CardBoard Pricing

• Essential [$12/month]: Get unlimited boards, manage account collaborators, send view-only links, etc.
• Professional [$20/month]: Access to control board permissions, team voting, and 4 integration options
• Enterprise [$24/month]: Include all advanced security features, team onboarding, and priority support

Start making user story maps by signing up for its 14-day free trial.

3. ProductGo

Jira is a popular bug-tracking and agile project management software for product software developers. It helps a product developer organize and manage their projects, tasks, and issues. If you want to add the benefits of user story mapping software, ProductGo can make that happen.

ProductGo is an all-in-one software solution with well-made user story map functionality. It provides a detailed visual representation of the product backlog based on the user's perspective. It features an intuitive roadmap interface to plan your product strategy efficiently especially if you’re planning to expand your market and sell to Discord, Telegram, or leverage email marketing using automation tools.

• Prioritize features
• Map out key milestones
• Communicate the product vision to stakeholders

ProductGo offers a comprehensive set of features. One that stands out is the customer feedback collection for their post purchase experience. Here's a user story mapping example of how you can use this functionality for an ingredient and chemical supplier. The goal is to gather valuable insights about the quality of ingredients for nutritional products.

• Stage 1: Create a dedicated board for capturing customer feedback. It will serve as a centralized hub for gathering customers' insights and suggestions on who uses their nutritional products' ingredients.
• Stage 2: Each customer feedback will have a card on the board. It will include the customer's name, contact information, the nature of the feedback, and relevant attachments.
• Stage 3: Categorize each feedback using labels or custom fields. The labels may focus on product quality, specific ingredients, or areas of improvement.
• Stage 4: Assign a team member responsible for handling customer feedback on individual cards. They should address potential issues and discuss them with relevant stakeholders.
• Stage 5: Create tasks or sub-cards within the feedback cards to track the progress.
• Stage 6: Extract meaningful insights from the customer feedback data using ProductGo's reporting and analytics features.

Key Features

• Product management tool
• Advanced Persona & user journey
• Requirements and complex backlogs refinement
• Visualize the big picture through a sprint or release planning

ProductGo Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Flexible boards for multiple projects	Limited customization options
Managing a huge volume of flat backlog	Pricing tiers may involve additional costs for teams
Provide release planning to visualize the big picture	New users may take some time to adapt to the interface
Use sprint planning to resolve the backlog of issues

ProductGo Pricing

• Jira Cloud: Free for 10 users | $25-$825 for 20-5,000 users
• Jira Server: $10-$3,500 for 10-10,000+ users
• Jira Data Server: $500-$5,000 for 50 to unlimited users

Choose your hosting type and preferred pricing tier, and get started with a 30-day free trial.

4. FeatureMap

FeatureMap recognizes the diverse needs of organizations on data security and infrastructure preferences. To cater to those requirements, it offers an on-premise version and seamless integration with locally hosted Jira instances. This combination allows for enhanced data control and workflow efficiency.

It features a RESTful API for real-time updates and data retrieval from maps. It can also compile a single text document with all the information you put on your map. All you need to do is export the map.

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Do you want to build a web app but don't want to code? FeatureMap provides full Zapier support. Here's how Zapier integration with FeatureMap can assist in developing a word game app.

• Integrate with a database or an API to retrieve the Words With Friends dictionary and scoring rules.
• Set up automation triggers in Zapier to initiate actions based on specific events or conditions. For example, you can create a trigger that activates the word generation process. It works whenever a user enters a set of letters in the word generator web app's interface.
• Automate tasks in response to the set triggers. This could involve processing the applying scoring algorithms and generating a list of valid words based on the word game rules.

FeatureMap Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Run daily backups	Limited card customization options
Ideal for beginners	Analytics and reporting functions are not as comprehensive compared to other user story mapping software
Excellent collaboration features
Provide real-time updates and notifications to the product development team

Key Features

• Use SSL/HTTPS secure connections
• Centralized requirements management
• Multiple export options (Trello, Microsoft Office, image, etc.)

FeatureMap Pricing

• Free [No Time Limit]: Create 2 maps and add comments, attachments, and markdown formatting
• Premium [$7/month]: Create unlimited maps and access to export options
• Pro [$10/month]: Get API and Zapier support and real-time sync with JIRA

You can get started with Premium and Pro pricing plans for free by signing up for its 14-day trial version.

5. Trello

Trello is popular for several reasons. One of the main reasons is its visually appealing and easy-to-use interface. It allows teams to organize and manage user tasks and projects easily and intuitively. Its interface is based on a system of boards, lists, and cards.

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Additionally, Trello offers real-time collaboration features. That's why it became a remote team's go-to solution for handling task management, meetings, onboarding, and more.

Trello can create various story maps using its board and card system. One example is when crafting a story map for the creation process of small business websites. You can add an activity card with a simple description for each phase.

• Phase 1 | Define Product Goals: Identify the purpose and objectives of the website. Also, research the target audience and potential competition.
• Phase 2 | Content Strategy: Create a list of website pages (Home, About, Services, Contact, etc.) and outline the content for each page. This includes content you’d want to use in social media to boost your small business.
• Phase 3 | Design & Branding: Build a visual identity and branding elements. Create mockups for each web page to see if the design suits the brand.
• Phase 4 | Development & Coding: Select a technology stack for the small business website. Once done, start developing the website's front-end and back-end functionalities.
• Phase 5 | Testing & QA: Test the website's features and functionality to fix bugs or issues.
• Phase 6 | Launch & Deployment: Make sure all necessary configurations are in place for a successful launch.

You can also add your customer journey map. It's a great way to get a high-level view of who you attract (ideal customers) to the website.

Key Features

• Advanced checklist
• Integrate with 200+ apps
• iOS and Android mobile apps
• Organization-wide permissions
• Custom backgrounds and stickers
• Customizable boards, lists, and cards

Trello Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Offer unlimited storage	Analytics and reporting capabilities are relatively basic
Customizable boards, lists, and cards	Limited advanced features that some teams require for effective story mapping
Compatible with desktop and mobile devices
All pricing plans include built-in automation

Trello Pricing

• Free: Create unlimited cards and 10 workspaces with unlimited storage (10MB/file)
• Standard [$5/user/month]: Get advanced checklists, custom fields, and 250 MB per file (storage)
• Premium [$10/user/month]: Include unlimited workspace commands, admin and security features, and easy data export
• Enterprise [$17.50/user/month]: Access all features available with more advanced security and controls

Get Trello for free, or explore which pricing plan is right for you.

6. Craft.io

Craft.io offers agile story mapping software to complete all your complex product backlog. Its user-friendly interface allows teams to create and organize user stories effortlessly. It also provides tools to prioritize user stories based on their importance, impact, and strategic alignment.

You should know 2 vital elements when starting a story map: epic and features. Epic works to organize groups of features. While features represent a specific set of requirements that you need to build. If you have development tools (Jira, Azure DevOps, or GitHub), you can sync them into your features: Workspace Settings > Integrations.

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The screenshot above is Craft.io's Spec Editor. It’s a rich text editor that allows you to format and structure your specifications effectively. You can add key elements like headings, lists, and tables. There are more advanced drag-and-drop elements available to make your documentation clear and organized.

By utilizing Craft.io, the ad agency can:

• Streamline an agile workflow
• Ensure alignment between teams and clients
• Run successful advertising campaigns that drive results

All these while prioritizing a personalized and efficient user experience. The good news is, Craft.io also supports an iterative and Agile development approach. It's beneficial for software development companies and outreach software solutions to break down complex features into smaller user stories.

This iterative process helps to refine and improve the standalone and custom software development services continuously. Developers can track the progress of user stories and epics throughout the development cycle using document attachments, comments, and statuses.

Here are more of Craft.io’s features:

Key Features

• Sync items to Jira
• Status automation rules
• Structured rich text editor
• Auto-convert notes to features and stories
• Connect designs, mockups, and personas to user stories

Craft.io Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Update backlog in real-time	Steeper learning curve for complex projects
Intuitive and user-friendly interface	A bit pricey; suitable for larger teams and organizations
Allow tracking Jira/Azure DevOps dev statuses

Craft.io Pricing

• Essential [$39/user/month]: Create product roadmaps, integrate with dev tools, and prioritize product work
• Pro [$89/user/month]: Offer unlimited contributors and viewers for free, and create a dedicated feedback portal
• Enterprise [custom pricing]: Provide on-premise Jira and Azure DevOps integration, and enterprise-grade security

Choose the pricing tier that suits your needs and book a demo.

7. Delibr

Delibr is an exceptional tool that provides a robust platform for story mapping. It allows teams to collaborate, visualize, and iterate on their product narratives. It offers two-way Jira integration to update and maintain your product documents and Jira tickets seamlessly.

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Delibr offers customizable templates to get you started, simplifying the creation process. You can also create templates to fit your team's needs. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it simpler and faster. You can add the cards and columns around the board with ease and other vital details (acceptance criteria, personas, etc.).

Delibr's user interview capabilities can help the manufacturer effectively gather feedback. It conducts organized customer interviews to capture the user's critical information (needs, preferences, and pain points).

Delibr offers a range of features designed to enhance the story mapping process. Here are notable features you should know:

Key Features

• AI Assistant
• Structured interview templates
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Interview scheduling and reminders
• Multiple integration options (Slack, Miro, and Figma)

Delibr Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
User-friendly interface for quick adoption	Limited integrations beyond popular project management tools
Excellent analytics and reporting features	Support's response rate and availability depend on the pricing plan you purchased
Ideal for a smaller team (maximum of 100)
Multiple export options (PDF, PNG, and CSV)

Delibr Pricing

• 1-100 users [$5/user/month]: Include unlimited documents and attachments with free training
• Enterprise [custom pricing]: Contact sales to request pricing for custom solutions

Conclusion

So that wraps up our list. But, here’s the thing: choosing the right one isn’t about going for the shiniest or the most hyped-up option. Think about your story. What feels right for your team? How much tech mumbo-jumbo are you willing to handle? Which one shares your vibe closest?

Every brand has its rhythm, its own heartbeat. Find the tool that vibes with yours. Once you do, dive in, roll up those sleeves, and let your story flow. Your audience? They’re waiting for the next great tale.

Story mapping is just one aspect of bringing in more leads to convert. You need to build a strong brand identity online so even cold leads will consider checking your brand out. For this, you will need to adapt SEO strategies and that’s what Ranktracker can help you with. Want to understand how this works? Visit our site to know more.