Why Use Storytelling in Marketing?
Marketing is essential for any business looking to expand. Across all of our businesses here at Big Golden Pineapple, we use a variety of marketing strategies. One of these involves storytelling, which is a way of evoking deeper emotions in your audience. With most marketing communications, the emotions people feel tend to be short term, and could include a sense of urgency, shock or delight. But with storytelling, you can speak to people on a deeper level, helping them feel like they’re a part of your brand’s wider community.
Essentially, the use of storytelling in marketing can make your brand feel more human, and can also help simplify more complex concepts. If you’ve not tried using storytelling in your marketing campaigns before, it can be a good idea to learn more about the benefits of this approach. We’ve explored four of the main advantages below:
1. Make Your Brand More Human
It’s quite hard to resonate with a faceless corporation. People need something to relate to, and storytelling can be an effective way to connect with your audience. You can show your followers your brand personality, and let them get to know what your organisation is all about. For instance, you might share more about your team, as well as the company values and aspirations.
Creating a narrative furthermore moves away from a completely sales focused approach. All too often, people are bombarded with ‘buy now’ messages, which can be incredibly off putting. By using storytelling or possibly humour in your communications, you can make your sales pitch feel less like an advertisement, and more like a conversation.
2. Inspire Loyalty
It’s much easier to market to people who have already interacted with your brand, and have had a positive experience with the company. So inspiring loyalty in your current customer base can be an essential part of your customer retention strategy, as well as help increase your revenue. Storytelling is a fantastic way to inspire loyalty, as it makes people feel like you’re speaking to them personally, appealing to their likes and interests.
If you’re not sure how to go about cultivating loyal customers through storytelling, blogs are a great place to start. Blogs allow you to curate posts which will appeal directly to your audience, offering them support, advice, and informative content.
3. Connect With and Expand Your Audience
Using storytelling in your marketing can additionally mean drawing on deeper emotions, rather than just shock and urgency. If you’re able to weave a story, you’re creating the opportunity to truly engage with your audience. So ask yourself what values or topics appeal to your audience, and also align with your own business values. You can use these ideas to create content that will resonate with your followers, and make a lasting impression.
In terms of growing your audience, once you’ve inspired loyalty through storytelling, your audience should grow organically. Loyal customers can often become brand advocates too, as they feel connected to your brand, and believe in your product or service. Storytelling also means creating content that’s easy to share, which can result in even more referrals and business growth.
4. Stand Out From the Crowd
Generally speaking, we love a good story. Books, films and TV shows are popular for a reason – we like to invest time in stories that hold our interest, and often that we can relate to. Storytelling in marketing can therefore help generate more interest in your brand, as well as make your content feel exciting and innovative.
Basically, this method of marketing can help you stand out from the crowd, even if you’re following a familiar narrative. For example, if you were to base a piece of content on a fairy tale, people will know what to expect, and feel comforted by the knowledge that there won’t be any nasty surprises. Weaving your message into a classic tale can additionally make it easier to break down complex information, drawing parallels with familiar plot lines.
Using Storytelling in Marketing
If you’re looking to use storytelling in your marketing strategies, there are a few things that are worth bearing in mind. Firstly, it’s essential to get to know your audience, rather than making assumptions about them. If you’re unsure about what would appeal to your audience, but try to connect with them anyway, chances are you won’t be overly successful. You’ll therefore need to research the demographics you’re trying to reach, and then make sure that the content you produce will be relatable and personal to these individuals.
Another important consideration is not straying from your brand. Your brand should already have a tone of voice, whether it’s humorous, informative or perhaps quirky. Ensure that you keep to this tone of voice in your storytelling, and always aim to stay authentic. Even if something were to appeal to your audience, if it’s not something your business doesn’t genuinely believe in, don’t write about it.
The final thing to remember is that your stories should evoke emotion, as well as come from a place of emotion. That way, consumers will have something to relate to, and will invest more easily in your brand.