The Importance of Storytelling in Content Marketing

Stories, we hear them, tell them, love them. They give us important life lessons, inspire us to be better, and connect better with each other. Indeed, they bring unique joy and deep connections to our lives.

And storytelling is as old as the origin of life in this world. With time, it evolved and changed forms, transitioning from folklore to today’s ever-evolving digital space. But its significance in our lives remains unchanged.

In this age and time, storytelling has become an incredibly powerful driving force for different mediums. It’s been a while since we keep hearing this buzzword, especially in content marketing, and how it works wonders if done right. And, no, it’s not a part of some trend that will fade away, it’s here to stay and reign for long.

In this blog, we will discuss the potent role of storytelling, how it gives an edge to businesses in today’s super-competitive environment, and in what ways you can incorporate the art of storytelling into your content marketing strategy. So, let’s begin.

What is Storytelling?

Storytelling is the fascinating description of the sequence of events, unique experiences, and different narratives through wide-ranging mediums. It can be written, spoken, visual, or interactive in any other form you know. Storytelling contains the sorcery to build new worlds in the imaginations of people and makes them simply spellbound.

Over the course of centuries, the art of storytelling has been used to share knowledge, educate, entertain, engage, and enlighten. They’ve always been the driving force to encourage people to take certain actions, initiate great movements, and create historical moments. Storytelling has a major role in shaping cultures, creating a sense of community, preserving history, inspiring imagination, and bringing people together in every part of the world.

What is Storytelling in Content Marketing?

In the realm of content marketing, storytelling involves conveying brand stories that resonate with the target audience to foster deeper and more meaningful relationships. It focuses on identifying the wants and needs of the consumers and building a personal connection with them.

The art of storytelling in content marketing combines narrative journalism, a brand’s marketing strategy, and classic storytelling techniques. To evoke an emotional response from people, storytelling marketing is mostly focused on being authentic rather than being promotional or informational.

How storytelling can help your Brand stand out

In today’s technologically advanced landscapes, businesses face fierce and relentless competition. With the attention span getting shorter, it has become harder to capture attention and get noticed in the large scheme of things.

But harnessing the power of stories proves to be a real game changer for brands and businesses around the world. Not only does it make a brand identity appear authentic to people, but as a matter of fact, people remember stories 22x more as compared to other forms of information. (Source – Stanford University)

And why wouldn’t it be, a story leaves an impact, and we remember them for a long time. So, they work the same way for businesses by bringing a humane element to them. As a matter of fact, storytelling gives a face to any brand, highlights the products or services, and brings forth the brand values in a different light. This largely helps in establishing a personalized and emotional connection between the brand and the consumer base. Also, it has the power to transform conversion rates st a faster rate.

So, using the power of storytelling in the content marketing paradigm is common. It has existed for quite a while now and is here to stay. Marketers around the world use the storytelling element in a range of campaigns. Whether it’s for brand awareness, supporting an important cause, or communicating a message, the presence of a story matters and works wonders in getting more than the targetted traction. And, isn’t that the prime goal for every single brand?

Benefits of Storytelling in Content Marketing

Storytelling has the power to:

• Allow brands to tell their story, experiences, and lessons in a captivating manner.
• add a human element to brand marketing
• develop deeper, more meaningful, stronger relationships with the audience
• help the brand appear authentic and credible
• create a connection between the sequence of content

Offering unavoidable advantages, storytelling has become a content marketing essential. Both B2B and B2C businesses get the most out of it. They enlighten about the brand, engage with the target audience and build meaningful relationships. And there are so many ways a brand can tell a story. TV and Digital ads, blogs, socials, podcasts, live streaming, etc.  And we keep getting new mediums as more time passes.

• Examples of companies that have successfully used storytelling

There are a plethora of brands around the world that incorporate storytelling in their marketing strategy to leverage wow results. Let’s have a look at the storytelling tactics of some popular brands that mostly everyone knows.

–      Apple

Let’s dive into the incredible world of Apple Advertising first. When it comes to fascinating and captivating storytelling through content marketing, nothing comes close to the behemoth tech company. They’re pioneers who introduced the concept of building a narrative, stating unique ideas, and making the audience relate.

What makes them still stand out is their approach to introducing new innovations and technological features to the audience. Instead of focusing on communicating, they make use of vivid imagery to convey what people think about technology and how it can change lives.

If we explore the brand’s advertising history, its 1984 ad is still one of the most iconic ads ever produced. It showcases the idea of how Apple Macintosh computers are different from all the blatantly same computers in the world. Embodying the familiar concept from the famous 1984 novel, the short ad shows a woman running carrying a mallet and she smashes the big screen showing the dominating character. Fun fact, there is not even a glimpse of any computer in the entire ad, how ironic is that!

Then in 1990, Apple launched the think-forward campaign where they promoted the idea of thought leadership. The classic ad focuses on the legendary personalities and history makers of the world.

A couple of years back when the whole world shut down, we get to see this funny and close-to-reality skit. In which characters try to maintain a work-life balance and Apple gadgets help them remain productive amid chaotic situations at home.

If you have a look at Apple’s YouTube channel, you’ll find high-end, relatable product stories, short skits, and other compelling content.

–      Coca-Cola

Next, we have Coca-Cola. One of the largest consumer brands, Coca-Cola has always outperformed its competitors with its exceptional content marketing techniques. Whether it’s online or offline, they’ve successfully incorporated the elements of storytelling in different aspects of its branding.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, we get to see this inspiring video highlighting the heroes of humanity and their utterly important role. The ad story was a huge shout to the frontline workers and presented them as the runners of the human race. The brand appreciated the amazing workforce in different fields that worked day in and day out to save humanity. That was truly something heart-touching.

–      General Electric (GE)

Being one of the major names in the industrial sector, General Electric has always been about industrial and technological development and novel solutions. The leading brand found the perfect way to focus on its new findings and inventions.

They have a dedicated platform — GE Reports, which sheds the spotlight on the different inspiring stories. These tales highlight how GE inventions are changing the lives of customers and making a difference. Along with that, they also fixate on thought leadership pieces.

As the world’s leading technology powerhouse, they have combined storytelling with its marketing in a different and unique way.

It’s great that you have many mediums today to tell your story. But where and how do you start if you want to create a story and build a narrative around your products or service that make a difference in end-users’ lives.

Wait, allow us to explain.

How can you incorporate Storytelling into your Content Strategy

So, we come down to a most important question, how you can build your very own compelling story?

Well, you need to bring out your creative side. You need to create a narrative around your brand, how it came into being, its values and mission, how is it making a difference, and where you want to take it in the future. It’s all about your brand story and its different dimensions.

• Let your brand story roll: Decide what your brand believes in. Is it compassion, empathy, strength, or development? Pick your focus and look out for different perspectives and narratives around it.
• Be your real self: Stay genuine and real while telling your story, people will connect to you on a deeper level.
• Give Structure to your content: your storytelling content should have the proper structure. Characters face some challenges, overcome them, and find a solution. Long-form content, trending pieces, and profiles of some thought leaders should also follow a narrative structure.
• Make it unique: Your story should make a difference, leave an impact, and touch lives. Give it a unique personal touch.
• Craft an editorial calendar: In order to tell a broader brand story, you need to create a calendar. This will help you brainstorm new story ideas, combine different content pieces, and figure out which stories need to go together for a cohesive brand narrative.
• Use multi-channel marketing: showcase your storytelling content through every channel and talk about it on every platform you own. You’re telling a story, it should reach everywhere and everyone.

The Hero’s Journey

One of the proven methods to tell your story is by The Heroes Journey. It’s a classic framework on which myriad groundbreaking stories were built from the ground up. And you can do the same.

When you use this method, you create a new Hero’s Journey for your customers. You give them a new track to explore and let them fix the problem, which can be one of the best ways to earn engagement.

The basic Hero’s Journey comprises these three stages:

Departure: Our main character – the hero – leaves their comfort zone behind and enters the new world. They’re facing some problems and are in need of a solution.

Initiation: the protagonist makes their way into the new world, overcomes challenges, and finally figures out the solution too. (Yay, our hero!)

Return: After enjoying the gleaming triumph, the hero returns to their familiar world.

So you got the idea, right? Apart from building your story on the above structure, you also need these necessary elements, such as character, challenge, opportunity, battle, and success.

Think of it like this, Customer is the hero and your product is the magical stuff that will help them solve problems and overcome challenges.

For instance, Dove. The brand defines its customers as heroes by promoting body positivity and self-acceptance. They challenge beauty stereotypes and encourage self-love in individuals by embracing their own unique beauty.

Or how Coca-Cola sees its customers as heroes because they share the joy by sharing the Coke. Their campaigns are focused on spreading happiness, positivity, and creating connections between the same and different people.

AIDA

Another old-school but proven framework, AIDA, works incredibly fine when it comes to storytelling in content marketing. It gives us the four-step method to lead customers to take the desired action. And it begins by captivating the attention of your target audience.

Attention – the attention span of your audience has gotten shorter with time. You only have a few seconds before they switch to the next thing that interests them. So, prioritize capturing their attention first of all things. Your goal here is to draw the focus and attention toward your offered product or service.

For that, you can start with an unusual opening line, an interesting fact, or some eye-catching humor. Whatever you think will work and get your audience hooked.

Interest – Now, after you’ve got your audience’s attention, how to keep a hold of it for a longer period? Provide intriguing and compelling information about your product and keep your audience engaged and curious to learn more.

Choose to build their interest in different ways, for e.g., by describing a familiar situation, creating a level of relevancy, explaining the pain points, and building up on your story that keeps them hooked.  ‘

Desire – So you’ve got your customers hooked, now it’s time to ignite that desire in your audience. At this stage, you better emphasize how your offered services can bring the coveted transformation in their lives, solve existing problems, and fulfill their wants. You can utilize persuasive techniques and couple them with some social proof too. Highlight in what ways the product is gonna make the customers’ lives easier.

Action – Okay, the final stage, involves leading users to take action. It could be about scoring that precious signup, selling a product, starting a trial, or anything else. At this part, you can create a sense of urgency and provide a clear call to action. This will guide the user to the intended conversion smoothly.

Conclusion

Our minds are wired for stories, we relate to them, and that’s the reason we remember them. Nothing comes close to the power of a good story. And marketers in leading businesses around the world acknowledge the fact that content marketing is driven by great storytelling.

So, make 2023 a year when you tell your brand story to the world. We’ll love to hear it.