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The best marketing relies on the best storytelling. People like a good story; it gives them much-needed insight into the person or company that they are dealing with. People dislike heading into unfamiliar territory; one of our primal fears is the fear of the unknown for good ranger. By knowing the path ahead we can prepare ourselves for what lies ahead, and thus have more efficient reactions; we are not merely reacting to the situation but actually interacting with it. A good story helps to create expectations of the experience, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. For those worried that they cannot create a great story for their company or product, someone such as Yalantis can help create that perfect story.
Advantages to the Client
People are justifiably nervous at the beginning of any new experience; with no idea of what to expect, we have no idea what dangers to expect from the situation. With some sort of story in place, we can draw from that story to determine which dangers to be aware of and so prepare for them ahead of time. Also, a story allows us to better relate to the people to whom we wish to relate; the story gives us insight into the people we are dealing with and we can use that insight in our dealings with the person or company. In short, a good story helps to create a bridge.
Advantages to The Company
Having an established story makes selling that much easier, both your company as well as its products and services. Again, people can relate to a story, and that makes anyone with a story relatable as well. Conversely, a company or product without a story is seen as generic, and therefore easily ignored; there is just nothing important to it, so it is easily ignored. As such, it is important to create some sort of story for your company or product if you want people to take them seriously.
What is Storytelling?
Everyone has a story; it is just a matter of telling that story. Storytelling, when it comes to marketing, is finding an easy to encapsulate everything that matters to the product in question and describe it to potential customers. By creating such a story and disseminating it, the company is able to create a mythology about the product, and as the mythology spreads so, in theory, does its popularity, leading to greater sales.
The Key Principles
At its essence, storytelling for marketing needs to cover some pretty simple basics: origin, importance, call to action. The story needs to tell where the company or product comes from; people love to know an item’s history, and if you can include where the idea for it came from all the better. The story needs to establish why the product is important to the person, be it improving performance, more freedom, or even just makes them feel good. Lastly, for the story to be successful, it has to include a call of action so that the person is motivated to actually buy it.
How To Create A Great Story
While there is a lot of great advice on how to create a story, the bottom line is that you need to fashion something that works for your brand. You need to make the story personal so that everyone can relate to it. This is why you see so many commercials using regular people and humor; those are easy to relate to for almost everyone. Even if you use major mythological figures such as Zeus or Odin, you still need to make them relate back to regular people on some level, and thus humor is used to bring them down to the level of Everyday Joes.
Also, keep in mind that the three-act structure works for a reason. The basic idea is to introduce a problem, show how the problem complicates life, and then solve that problem, preferably as quickly as possible. While this may not seem to work well for some products, keep in mind that the problem does not need to be some concrete problem such as a problem spot, a problem pet, or even a problem house, but can be abstract as well. Showing that a person may be chained down and the product gives them freedom is popular, as is showing that the person may have relationship issues and the product helps solve them. The three-act structure can help a lot to create a story.
Lastly, do not be afraid to expand on the story as needed. This obviously applies when you add new products and services, but you can expand the story at any time. Over time this should help you to create a mythology of sorts, and that mythology actually makes you even easier to relate to, provided it does not get too sprawling. Again, the goal is to create something people can relate to, and having a legend about your product actually helps; it gives your product roots and makes it seem that much more solid, and people like to relate to things that are well-rooted.
Some Issues to Keep in Mind
While creating a story can be great for your brand, remember to not go too crazy with the story. One of the biggest mistakes some companies make is that they add too much depth to their products; they go far too much into the story of the product, and so create a mythology that is far deeper than the product deserves. The easiest way to handle that is to just reboot the mythology and start somewhat fresh. However, that may not work for some products; you may want to just keep releasing new products every so often so as to have a legitimate excuse of sorts to expand the story.
If you do choose to do a reboot, there are three options to keep in mind: make it loud, allude to the former story, and just go forth. Some companies experience some sort of radical change in a short period, such as a lot of their higher management being replaced, a shift in focus, or some sort of scandal that needs to be dealt with; in these cases, the new story needs to replace the old one, and it needs to be done as loudly as possible. Other companies just want to modernize their branding, so alluding to the former story as the new one rolls out works. In some cases, you may just want to scrap the old story and go forth with the new one; this is great if the old one just did not work.
In short, your company and products need a story to help them sell. People just relate to a story better, and it is an opportunity to show why your product is important to them. Have some fun with the story, and create a new mythology that works for your company and its products. Obviously, don’t get too crazy and create deep mythology that requires books to tell, but do have some fun with it. Create something that you can be proud of, that relates to your customers, and that makes some sort of sense, and your story should help drive sales.
About the Author
Eisele Candace has 5 years of experience as a freelance technical writer, specializing in content related to IT technologies (medical, e-prescription software, real estate apps, and so on) and web design. Holder of a Master’s degree in Journalism and Public Relations. She also completed programming courses in “UI / UX design”, iOS and Python in Mansfield, OH.
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