Stories can transcend borders and bring people together regardless of their age, sex, or other demographic differences. People love to hear an interesting story, and that’s something many marketers fail to take advantage of. Used effectively, storytelling can make brand messages far more impactful, build loyalty, and get people talking about your brand in a positive light.
If you’d like to use brand storytelling as part of your content marketing strategy, read on to learn how to turn your brand’s mission, vision, and values into a compelling narrative that will resonate with your target audience.
What Is Storytelling Marketing?
Storytelling is the practice of using fact and narrative to communicate a brand’s message. Depending on your marketing goals, your stories could be factual or fictional. The important thing is that they engage your audience, are memorable, and evoke the desired emotion.
Storytelling differs from traditional marketing because it gives your audience an easy-to-remember “why.” Let’s imagine you’re a tour company and you have a sale on all-inclusive trips to Spain.
Your target audience isn’t just “people who want to go to Spain”; it’s everyone who wants a holiday. If you focus your marketing on the sunny climate, great food, wine, and historical sights, you’ll be able to craft stories that catch the eye of a wider audience.
When they’re looking to book their next trip, they’ll remember what you were offering.
The Elements of Effective Storytelling in Marketing
In your creative writing classes at school, you probably learned about things like the hero’s journey. Storytelling for content marketing doesn’t have to follow the same kind of arc, but there are some key elements to consider.
What Makes Your Brand Unique?
Why should people buy from you over a competitor? Is it your customer service? Your commitment to sustainability? Your social responsibility? Work out what you stand for and base your marketing on that message.
Know Your Audience
Buyer personas should be the cornerstone of every marketing campaign. Without knowing who your customers are, you can’t create marketing materials that will resonate with them.
A Recipe for a Compelling Story
A good story has a few essential components:
- Characters: The characters in your story could be you and your team (if the story is about why your brand exists) or people that represent the demographics you’re marketing to.
- Conflict: Your characters should face a problem they must solve. That problem should be one that your target audience can relate to.
- Resolution: By the end of your story, your characters should have solved the problem, leaving everyone happy and your target audience feeling positive about your brand.
Strategies for Implementing Storytelling Marketing
Once you know who you’re talking to and you’ve prepared all the components for a good story, it’s time to get started on the real job of content creation.
Creating Content That Resonates With Your Audience
The key to good marketing content is a consistent, clear voice. If you’re formal on your blog, sarcastic on Twitter, and joke around on YouTube, you’ll confuse and alienate your customers. Consistency is key to building trust and forming long-term relationships with your audience.
The need for consistency doesn’t just apply to your voice and tone, it applies to your content creation schedule too. Posting regularly keeps you in the minds of your customers.
If you can’t commit to writing several posts each month, consider investing in a content creation service to help you keep to a consistent posting schedule.
Build a Multi-Channel Online Presence
Unless you’re catering to an older demographic, there’s a high chance your customers consume several different types of media, so you’ll want to have a presence everywhere they go. That means blog posts, YouTube channels, Instagram, podcasts, etc.
Do some market research to work out where to prioritize your marketing efforts. Learn the tone and style of the platforms your audience prefers, and start producing content to cater to those platforms.
Incorporate User-Generated Content
One great way to build trust with your audience is to turn your existing customers into brand advocates. Go beyond sharing reviews and testimonials. Share the stories of some of your most loyal customers. This will bring your product or service to life and help prospective customers see more clearly how they could benefit from what you’re offering.
Case Studies of Successful Storytelling Marketing
Some of the world’s biggest brands have retained their status partly due to their ability to tell a story. For example, John Lewis is a major British department store famous for its annual Christmas TV advertisement.
Each year, they produce a short ad that tells a story about the magic of Christmas. Their 2016 advertisement was particularly memorable because it was produced in partnership with the charity Age UK and got across the charitable message without being heavy-handed or didactic.
Apple is another company that does a good job with storytelling. The brand is a firm consumer favorite. It manages to appeal to a wide demographic because it’s known to make high-quality, easy-to-use products while also promoting a youthful and energetic appearance, as shown in its HomePod advertisement.
You may not have the marketing budget of John Lewis or Apple, but you can still learn some lessons from their approach to storytelling. Know your audience, have a clear message in mind, and tell your story enthusiastically and unapologetically.
Measuring the Impact of Storytelling Marketing
Whenever you implement a new marketing strategy, tracking the campaign’s performance is a good idea to see how your target audience responds. Some metrics to pay attention to include:
- Social media engagement rates
- Brand recall
- Conversion rates
- Email open rates
If possible, use A/B testing to compare the performance of traditional campaigns with your new stories. Send short surveys to customers who engage with your brand and ask what they think. The more information you can gather, the better.
It’s Time to Tell Your Story
Storytelling differs from traditional marketing in that it uses narrative elements rather than simply communicating facts. This can be a powerful way to connect with your target audience. It takes practice to craft good stories, but it’s a skill worth learning.
Book a consultation with us today to learn more about how stories can elevate your content.
