10 Tips for Marketing Storytelling
Since the beginning of time, storytelling has been viewed as an important pillar in human life. Stories have a way of enticing, intriguing, and connecting. They are the bedrock of day-to-day human interaction. Telling stories helps you interact and find people that may be going through the same thing.
Storytelling is not just important for human interaction; it can be critical to your business and marketing strategy. Selling your brand not only means getting good advertisements out, it includes you giving your target audience a story they can remember, something they can connect and resonate with. If you can tell a story that combines well with your audience, you have passed the first hurdle.
What Is Storytelling?
Storytelling is using narrative and facts at the same time to tell your audience something. Some stories are factual, and some are improvised or embroidered to explain the core message better. It is a beautiful method of strengthening relationships with your audience and keep them engaged. Though there are different ways of defining storytelling, it goes back to one thing; getting your message passed with impact and meaning.
Why Should You Tell Stories?
There’s a number of reasons why storytelling is important.
(1) They Are Easy to Remember
It is easy for someone to remember something they emotionally care about, and you want people to remember your business.
(2) They Make Complex Concepts Simple
Some products might be more complicated than others, and even if they are not, it can be challenging to say something clearly in a way that connects with the market. Stories can be an excellent copywriting tip to help you avoid technical jargon and give people the facts and tell them how a product benefits them.
(3) They Unite the Audience and Market
No matter your religion, language, race, location, age, or wealth, stories have a knack for speaking to everyone. When your market has a shared goal or pain, it gives them a chance to feel appreciated and heard. A terrific story makes your customer feel emotional and understand what is in it for them.
Storytelling Tips
As we have already established, marketing is always giving your stories to audiences. To make your marketing-strategy work, you need to connect with your audience. However, what makes a story stand out even if the product is not that interesting? Here are ten tips you can use to make your story-telling better:
- Remember the Main Point
It might seem like an obvious thing; it is vital to keep in mind the crucial parts of your story. Think about it this way, a character you always remember makes a terrific plot point, right?
This means if you have a story with so much information or meanders a lot with no start or a proper conclusion, you might get confused and even unsatisfied with the story. Put in your account’s most critical elements in your mood board or other content projects you are working on.
- Learn from the Best
Study up on storytellers who have been done the same thing you are trying to do. It can range from directors, actors, playwrights, fiction and non-fiction writers, directors, and even copywriters.
Try finding out what has made them tell their stories. Finding out their past and knowing their processes can also be a plus. Get a few ideas from their patterns, methods, and even quirks. If you can, you can engage a few of them to find out why they are successful and borrow what you can from them to make better copy.
- Understand Your Audience
You are setting yourself up for failure if you do not get the basics right. Do some research, if you have not, and get to know your target audience, explain your buyer’s personas, know their pain points, and how and where they will be when they get the story. With this information, you can correctly determine the stages of your story.
- Talk to Your Customer One on One
During your research, set some time to speak to customers, be it in person, on the phone, or even in a focus group. After all, it is the customer who knows what they want. Be curious to know how your products help them; how did they know about the product? Can they stay without the product? This will help you understand the critical benefits and how to craft the best strategy.
- Tell the Truth
Honesty is important if you are going to tell your story about your product. You do not want your brand to be associated with dishonesty. Though it is okay to appear enthusiastic and optimistic in marketing, do not improvise too much to get attention from your audience.
- Avoid the Obvious
Sometimes, the best way to tell is a story is through a different perspective. Avoid taking the road everyone has taken while telling the story about the same products you sell. Instead of a regular video, try out different perspectives like a child advertising the product. It will make it more fun and easier to remember.
- Use Data to Tell Your Story
Take the data and the changes that happen and try to determine what is causing this effect. This will be able to tell you what is working and sell that in your story. Use this data that you have analyzed and a story that will leave an impact.
- Avoid Feature Lists
Though using a list or table can be an impeccable way to tell the most crucial features, the most important thing a customer or prospective client care about is why they need to pick your product and not its features. How will the product make them feel? Does it give a picture of how things in the future will be? The answer will probably be no. Instead of giving your audience homework to find out where the value is, give it to them instead.
- Be Consistent
Being consistent is essential, and repetition will make you be remembered. This means keeping the core message the same, whether in a billboard, social media ad, video, webinar, or event. If you mix up the story, then you will likely make it diluted or make it lose impact and fail in its purpose.
- Put Yourself in Your Customer’s Shoes
It is essential to be authentic and put yourself at the same level as the customer. Position yourself as genuine and show that you also get their goals, pain points, and barriers. Achieving this requires you to blend the right language and message carefully. It is not what you say but how you communicate.