There's nothing as effective as storytelling when it comes to making your audience fall in love and inviting them to buy a product or service.
If you want to check it out, we invite you to remember the TV commercial that most impacted you.
Do you already have it in mind?
We dare to assure you that it told a story and that this, in some way or another, generated emotion in the viewer.
This is called Storytelling, and it is a very powerful technique when communicating a message to your audience.
This article will teach you how to tell stories to impact your consumers creatively and originally.
Get ready to become a natural storyteller!
Contents
- 1 Plot the Structure of Your Story
- 2 The Story Must Connect with the Brand's Audience
- 3 Find the Leitmotiv
- 4 Captivate and Engage from the Beginning
- 5 The Story Must Move
- 6 Don't Be Afraid to Include Knots
- 7 The Story Must Be Easy to Remember and Easy to Tell
- 8 End with the Image or Mention of the Brand
- 9 The Outcome Must Promise Something, as Every Brand Does with Its Product
- 10 The Best Examples of Storytelling
- 11 Why Use Storytelling in Marketing?
- 12 Final Thoughts
- 13 Read Next
Plot the Structure of Your Story
To become a successful storyteller, the first thing you need to learn is how to create a story step by step, so you don't get lost along the way.
As in any process, taking into account the story's structure is essential to obtain the expected result: a chronological narrative that captivates the audience from the first minute.
Every time I write my essays online, I structure them and think through all the steps in sequence.
However, it is not only a matter of following a step by step and knowing that every story has a beginning, middle, and end.
This is where creativity and the power to connect come into play and steal the show when it comes to telling truly captivating stories.
The Story Must Connect with the Brand's Audience
This is the first and most crucial ingredient.
Suppose the content of your story fails to connect with your brand's target audience. In that case, it will not fulfill its essential purpose: to identify with the protagonist's situation.
For this, it is essential to make a good market segmentation and know your audience's behaviors, lifestyle, ideologies, etc.
Dare to know your audience, and you will be halfway there!
Find the Leitmotiv
According to The Literary Bookshelf, leitmotif means driving motif. That is, the raison d'être of the story your brand is telling.
The leitmotif of your account is the one that will make the user fall in love because it will make them identify with it and, consequently, with the brand to the point of purchasing your products or services.
Captivate and Engage from the Beginning
Do you know what an elevator pitch is?
It is a short speech in which, through a few words, you manage to give a message about your brand or business idea.
The name elevator pitch resembles an elevator ride that lasts no more than 30 seconds. In this journey, you must hook your interlocutor and convince them to invest in your brand or buy your product.
Quite a challenge!
The same goes for captivating storytelling: if you haven't captured the attention of your interlocutor in the first few seconds, it's challenging to do so later on.
The Story Must Move
It doesn't matter if they are tears of sadness or joy. Learning how to tell stories to sensitize and move your user is vital. It will mean that they have identified.
If your target audience has been moved, it's because, at some point in the story, there was a word or phrase that reminded them of something in their life and transferred it to their realm, to their existence.
It's time to take advantage of that connection!
Don't Be Afraid to Include Knots
Just like life, a story will never be flat. It must have moments of uncertainty, problems that don't seem to have a solution until it is visible.
Generally, in marketing, the product or service in question answers that problem.
The Story Must Be Easy to Remember and Easy to Tell
Every commercial that has impacted us has been powerful enough to stick in our memory.
In storytelling, creating stories that can be easily remembered and reproduced is key for our content to go viral and leave a mark on the masses.
End with the Image or Mention of the Brand
As we mentioned before, storytelling in marketing focuses on making a problem visible and then providing a solution to that problem through a product or service. This will be the icing on the cake.
Your story must end with the mention of your brand or product to be an answer to the plot that the protagonist lives. This is how the viewer will feel identified and, consequently, will want to get your product as well.
That's the magic of good storytelling!
The Outcome Must Promise Something, as Every Brand Does with Its Product
We have reached a point of utmost care. Every brand must promise something to its consumers; it is one of the marketing principles.
However, make sure that the benefits or incentives you promise are real. Otherwise, you could deteriorate your audience's trust and damage your brand's goodwill.
Remember that in the digital era we live in, the user has a voice and a vote, and the competition is just a click away.
The Best Examples of Storytelling
Now that you know those ingredients that you can not miss when learning how to tell stories, we want to show you some examples of commercials that have made the most of storytelling and its benefits.
Analyze them and try to identify which of the ingredients you have just learned about are present in each of these storytelling examples:
Coca-Cola
A brand that everyone knows. The commercials of this campaign, called “Share a Coke,” are great examples of storytelling because, thanks to fun stories created around the campaign, the brand managed to connect with the public.
They even went beyond storytelling and got their audience to interact with the campaign by buying Coca-Cola cans with their name on them and sharing them on networks.
This is known as Storydoing, and I'm sure you've bought one of these special bottles at some point!
Dove Men Care
You probably remember this funny commercial that went around the world.
It's an example of storytelling that made many men laugh and run to buy a more manly shampoo to forget about using the same shampoo as their wife finally.
You have just seen examples of storytelling that made history thanks to elements such as:
- mystery
- laughter
- or interaction with the consumer
This is undoubtedly the best way to set a message in stone in the minds of your users.
What other examples do you know of?
Why Use Storytelling in Marketing?
Undoubtedly, learning how to tell worthwhile stories requires more effort than launching promotional messages or making articles such as lists or tutorials.
You might think that the investment is not worth it, but the truth is that storytelling can bring unique benefits to your brand.
Stories are the best tool for simplifying abstract concepts and complex messages. Surely you remember how you understood a class better when the teacher gave you a real-life example, right?
The same happens when we learn how to tell stories that captivate our audience: we better understand our idea through examples.
They bring people together. A good story gets a lot of different people feeling the same thing at the same time and can help you create a community around your brand.
Take advantage of the emotions you can generate in your audience and discover how to tell stories that unite!
Final Thoughts
Inspire and motivate. Storytelling makes brands come across as transparent and authentic, helping consumers connect with them.
If you are looking for how to tell stories, you don't need a great plot and special effects; just by listening to your target audience, their needs, and pain points, you can have a great source of inspiration.
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