Stories sell because everyone loves to hear a great story. But whether it’s a product or a service, today’s fast-paced world allows the commodity to sell only if it is marketed with a story. As children, weren’t we always captivated by stories? Therefore, one of the best ways to catch a person’s attention is by telling a story.

Let’s take an example:

Picture two scenarios where a brand is trying to sell cosmetics.

In case A, the brand uses basic marketing strategies by simply putting out images and information about the products on social media and informing consumers about the products’ benefits, qualities, and features.

• In case B, the brand uses its social media platform to tell consumers the story of how it was a solution for a problem that the founders faced, and how the different cosmetic products are sourced.
• In case A, a customer may lose interest after a point because marketing and sales pitches without a purpose fall flat. Case B is more likely to pique the customer’s interest, thereby generating more attention towards the brand.

How are marketing and storytelling intertwined?

Marketing is the art of selling and promoting products and services – and one of the best ways to do this, is by telling a story. Storytelling allows you to paint a picture in users and customers’ minds, and lets them visualise and imagine how the product or service can benefit them.

Why is Storytelling Important?

In a world where an adult’s average attention span is less than 5 seconds on a piece of content, and competition on products and services is so high, it becomes increasingly difficult to grab someone’s attention and tell them about how your product or service can benefit them. This is why brands need to use methods to engage their audience and keep them interested too, and the best way to do this is by storytelling.

Storytelling helps a brand in many ways –

• Building Emotional Connect with Consumers

Authentic stories help in building emotional connections with consumers. For example, telling customers the story behind the formation of a brand, helps them connect with the brand better.

• Increasing recognition

Airbnb uses its brand story to help customers understand the message behind their tagline “Belong anywhere”, as opposed to only posting information about listings. People who don’t use Airbnb, still know about the brand. Their simple brand story has helped increase recognition and recall value.

• Going Viral

Have you noticed how some brand stories have gone viral? One of the best forms of marketing is letting your product have a compelling story or using visuals to tell your story in a way that makes it a trend. For example, Netflix used the poster of the movie Bird Box to encourage people to make memes, which ultimately went viral and helped gain social media traction.

How do you find your story?

Now that we’ve established that storytelling is an excellent form of marketing your brand, how do you go about building your brand story? There are various ways to do this.

• Inception story

Is your brand built on an exciting foundation? Since your brand started a business, did it combat any specific problems that you identified in the environment?

For example, Facebook’s founding story is based on creating students’ profiles in several universities to allow them to socialise and connect online. So let the consumer’s know what propelled your business to take off? Did you have any personal experiences that allowed this? Tell that story and engage the right audience.

• Brand Persona

Have you developed a persona for your brand? Just like a person, brands also have significant personalities. Build this story up to form a human connection between your brand and its users. What does your brand believe in or stand for? Does it have certain philosophies or guiding principles? Humanise it, in the form of a story. For example, take a look at the Pillsbury Doughboy or Kellogg’s cereal animals – these characters help in reflecting the brand’s persona and connecting with people easily.

• Mission Statement

Do you know where your brand is headed in the future? Develop a mission statement in the form of your brand’s current and future goals. Lay down milestones that you wish your brand to achieve, which will help you weave a story.

A mission statement should be written in a single sentence that allows people to connect to your brand. For example, Starbucks’ mission statement reads “Bringing people together by creating casual meeting spaces.”

Market Your Story!

Everyone has a story to tell – the idea is to find a way to tell it to the world. If you want your brand to improve its marketing, go ahead and write its story down. With access to so many mediums of communication, your story will not be unheard. Use your brand’s story to sell it better.

Tags: 2021 trends, Brand Campaigns, Content Marketing, content marketing tips, content marketing trends, Digital Marketing, Digital marketing strategy, marketing campaigns, Marketing strategy, marketing trends, Social Media Marketing