The Role of Storytelling in Marketing
By Karen Barr
The role of storytelling in marketing is to build brand identity and customer engagement. Weaving a compelling story helps differentiate your brand from your competition and creates a human connection with your audience.
Not sure how to get started? Read on!
Types of Stories in Marketing
There are many types of stories in marketing. Here are some examples.
- Brand Story is all about how your brand started, your mission, and your company.
- Product Stories invite customers into the narrative, highlighting how each fits into the customer’s life, while offering solutions.
- Customer Stories show real-life examples of the benefits your brand and products have provided to your customers
Why Storytelling Works in Content Marketing
When crafting blog posts, email marketing campaigns, or social media posts, consider some of the ways that storytelling works in marketing.
Stories Are Memorable
Our brains are wired for storytelling, so people have told stories for thousands of years. Presenting too many facts can bore the reader. However, if given in a story format, we retain more data.
Research from Stanford shows that people remember stories 22 times more than facts alone. This is how you can make your brand and products memorable!
Stories Create Compelling Visuals
Take time when developing your marketing content. Show, don’t tell. When crafted right, stories draw the reader inward. Once there, they can imagine not only using your products but also how these products will fit into their lives.
Storytelling Triggers Emotion
There is a marketing theory that says people don’t buy products but buy feelings. How will your brand, product, or customer stories make your readers feel?
Will it offer relief from a problem they have been dealing with? Will it offer a sense of belonging to a particular lifestyle? Will your product be a source of joy for the giver or receiver?
Storytelling Builds Trust
Crafting a compelling story gives your brand a human touch. This is how you build relationships with customers. Through continually developing new content, your brand becomes a trusted friend, advisor, and problem solver to the reader.
Storytelling Guides the Customer Journey
Think back to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The main character, Alice, follows the White Rabbit on what ultimately is a thrill of a lifetime.
Think back to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The main character, Alice, follows the White Rabbit on what ultimately is a thrill of a lifetime.
In the role of storytelling for marketing, your customer is Alice, and you and your brand are The White Rabbit. The focus must remain on the main character and remain customer-centric.
Let’s break this down to see how this applies to a customer journey. Alice had a problem (boredom). She became “curiouser and curiouser” about The White Rabbit (her guide/your brand/your product), who pointed her in the right direction (down the rabbit hole/reading your blog posts/signing up for your email/shopping for your products). The White Rabbit helped Alice embark on a grand adventure (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/a solution to problems), ultimately transforming her life.
In Conclusion
The role of storytelling in marketing is complex and well worth the effort. It will help set your brand apart.
Let your brand become The White Rabbit. Soon, you’ll find a loyal base of customers who will follow you and your brand anywhere.
Use Storytelling in Your Content Marketing
As a journalist and content marketing strategist, I am an expert storyteller. Find out how I can help you build your brand and sell more products.
