How does Storytelling play a significant role in marketing and advertising?

Today I got a question from somewhere how does storytelling play a role in marketing and advertising?

Before diving deep into the article, let’s first understand what storytelling is particularly in marketing and advertising.

Storytelling is a technique to present your products and services that connect with a storyline that resonates with your target audience and potential customers.

It’s particularly describing your product or a service that can help your customers with problems and issues they are facing.

Note: You might have an excellent product or service, but if it doesn’t connect well with your audience, you will lose potential customers.

The following are some of the key concepts that must be addressed during storytelling, particularly in marketing and advertising.

Personalization is the key

You know I am mentioning this point in the first place because customers are buying your product or service after researching on the internet or reading reviews and also chit-chatting with other people who used your product or service this is particularly for the case where your brand is not famous and has not reached a point where people trust it by it’s name or logo.

Let’s take an example Mike and Tom are two brothers and both have bought a pair of sneakers: Mike has bought Nike and Tom has bought a new brand.

Now I will take here two events to explain how it can turn around the things magically.

Case 1: Mike is the winner of a local marathon event. Now Nike is not aware of it because it was a small event at a local level. Now Nike may miss out on that opportunity that how their sneakers have made Mike comfortable during the race.

Case 2: Tom is the winner of a local marathon event. Now, the new brand has an amazing opportunity if they offer Tom some perks and share his interview about how his pair of sneakers were awesome and gave him a comfortable level so that he won the race. Also, that new brand can create an advertisement mentioning Tom and others and how comfortable their sneakers are.

In this way, it can boost their brand reach and ultimately sales in that particular region, and who knows their sales might even beat Nike in that region, creating awareness among other companies selling sneakers, thus creating healthy competition.

Note: The core of marketing and sales is not only dependent on the great product but also distribution.

Now you wonder where is storytelling, people like Tom can tell their success stories and brands can utilize them and put them in the form of a video describing Tom’s and others’ stories and their experiences.

How it solves an issue or a problem

You might have been selling a product or a service that solves an issue or a customer’s problem. As time moves forward we are always having something new sort of issue or a problem and that is where your product or service comes.

We cannot compare the 1960s to the decade of 2020 when technologies have evolved and upgraded a lot. If your storytelling connects with your potential customers and gives solutions, it works. You can use explainer videos describing how your product or service resolves this issue or problem.

Note: You can use both animation and your video explaining how it resonates with the user base that you are targeting.

Let’s say a family just came to visit a city and they require housing, food, transportation, and many other services. In this Internet age, they can try it over the Internet, and if your storyline connects well you might have a customer at the right time.

Storytelling in marketing and advertising is a powerful technique that assists brands in making a connection with their audience on a deeper, emotional level. Here are some key aspects of storytelling in this context:

1. Emotional Connection

Storytelling allows brands to create an emotional bond with their audience. Your potential customers are your audience, and if you can connect emotionally with your story, your sales increase.

2. Brand Authenticity

A well-crafted story can enhance a brand’s authenticity. Try to take feedback about your product and ask your users to have feedback that will give you a rough idea of how your products and services are performing.

Strong brands constantly look out for user experience, even in the case of DigiPro Marketers we try to take feedback in the form of ratings and a few questionnaires.

3. Differentiation

In a crowded market, storytelling can make your product or service shine. Not every brand connects with a huge user base, some are satisfied to target a specific user base but that also needs some real-time experience of your users to share with you.

You cannot launch a product and give it to a celebrity or an influencer and say your product stands out because most companies follow this.

4. Engagement

Stories are inherently engaging. It grabs users’ attention and keeps the audience motivated and engaged with content. Make a storytelling video so your user base instantly connects with it. In that way, your user base might share it with his family or friends, who knows you got a customer out of these.

5. Information Retention

Think! why do people remember movies that have a good story? People are likelier to engage and retain information about your product or service presented in a story format.

People do not like to consume content that is not interesting and out of context. Storytelling in the form of a video has the highest information retention rate because ” Whatever we see is remembered more as compared to other forms of content”

Examples of Storytelling in Marketing and Advertising

• Nike: One of the great examples of storytelling in Marketing and advertising is Nike which often uses content in the form of a story to highlight the personal journeys of athletes, emphasizing themes of perseverance and triumph.
• Coca-Cola: Brands like Coca-Cola, and Pepsi frequently focus on moments of happiness and togetherness, creating a positive emotional association with the brand.
• Airbnb: Airbnb shares stories of hosts and guests, showcasing unique experiences and fostering a sense of community.

How to Utilise Storytelling in Marketing and Advertising

1. Identify Your Core Message: Determine the key message you want to convey.
2. Know Your Audience: Understand your audience and what resonates with them.
3. Create a Narrative: Develop a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
4. Use Multiple Formats: Utilize various formats like videos, blogs, social media posts, and more to tell your story.
5. You have to Be Authentic: Ensure your story is genuine and aligns with your brand values.

Featured image credit: Pixabay