Think about some of the most effective marketing campaigns you've ever seen.
They likely weren't the ones showing you quick images of a million different products and yelling at you to "Buy Now!" or to "take advantage of a LIMITED TIME OFFER!"
Instead, they were commercials, local advertisements, or print ad copy with a focus on storytelling.
You liked these ads because you felt an emotional connection to them. You related experiences from your own life back to what you were seeing. You liked the characters.
In short, you saw how a product or service could add value to your life because you felt like the company selling them understood you and shared your values.
Want to learn how to do that for your own brand?
Read on to learn how to master storytelling marketing.
Why did you create your company in the first place? In order to learn how to communicate with your market -- and create an emotional response in your customers -- you need to re-examine your own motivations.
About 82% of consumers say that feeling an emotional connection to a brand will encourage them to make a purchase. This means that getting the right tone can seriously boost your profits.
In order to pull it off, you'll have to get brutally honest with your market, reveal personal details, and show some vulnerability. Remember, the goal of the story you decide to tell is to make customers feel like your brand "gets" them and what they're going through.
It can be humorous or sad, but your story needs to be real.
Maybe you started your business coaching company because you struggled to even land job interviews in the past. Perhaps you founded your nonprofit after losing a sibling to drug addiction. Maybe you started your fishing company because the best memories of your childhood were fishing with your father.
Reading these ideas likely made you think of your own life. That's exactly how you want your market to feel.
You also need to choose the platform on which you're planning to release your storytelling campaign. This will likely depend on where the majority of your market spends most of their time, as well as the success of your past campaigns.
Of course, we understand that you often don't have the time -- let alone the skill set -- to develop, write, shoot, and deploy an effective ad campaign on your own.
We strongly suggest hiring advertising professionals to make the process much easier. They can also tweak the campaign while it's in progress, using feedback and analytics from the earlier parts of it.
Working with professionals who follow the Storybrand certified guide helps to ensure that you're able to remain objective when creating your ad.
It also means that you can create a campaign that combines your unique story with data-backed marketing strategies and a knowledge of what exactly your market is the most likely to respond to.
We love the idea of creating a "miniseries" -- three or four ads within the same campaign that tell a part of the story, one installment at a time. This works whether or not you're working off the same theme, or if you're using the same characters and plot each time.
For example, you can create several videos in the same campaign of "real customer stories," and have customers from different demographics talk about how your products have improved their life.
Or, if you're going with fictional characters and a longer narrative arc, release three 30-second ads that show that character at different parts of the story. Work with your in-house or freelance marketing team to help you come up with a good timeline for releases.
Another reason why storytelling marketing works?
It's perfect for a variety of platforms -- from social media and email marketing to physical mailings and print ads in magazines.
For example, let's say you're running a nonprofit, and the goal of your next storyboard email marketing campaign is to get donations.
Introduce your market to a character (a representation of the people you help) in your first email.
In the second email, talk about what's standing in the way of her achieving her dreams. In the third email, talk about how your nonprofit can help her. Ask your readers to get involved in her story by donating to your cause.
Your customers are your greatest resource here. So, start studying up on your analytics, engaging with your followers on social media, and even asking for direct feedback in a customer survey.
This will help you to learn about what they want to see in your next ad. You can also check some of the power of storytelling as below-
Looking for more marketing advice, especially when it comes to SEO and video marketing? Need tips on how to leverage the power of social media in your next campaign?
We've got you covered -- keep checking back with us to make sure you don't miss a thing.
They likely weren't the ones showing you quick images of a million different products and yelling at you to "Buy Now!" or to "take advantage of a LIMITED TIME OFFER!"
Instead, they were commercials, local advertisements, or print ad copy with a focus on storytelling.
In short, you saw how a product or service could add value to your life because you felt like the company selling them understood you and shared your values.
Want to learn how to do that for your own brand?
Read on to learn how to master storytelling marketing.
Develop a Brand Storytelling Strategy: The Basics
The most important question you need to ask yourself when you're developing your storytelling strategy?Why did you create your company in the first place? In order to learn how to communicate with your market -- and create an emotional response in your customers -- you need to re-examine your own motivations.
About 82% of consumers say that feeling an emotional connection to a brand will encourage them to make a purchase. This means that getting the right tone can seriously boost your profits.
It can be humorous or sad, but your story needs to be real.
Maybe you started your business coaching company because you struggled to even land job interviews in the past. Perhaps you founded your nonprofit after losing a sibling to drug addiction. Maybe you started your fishing company because the best memories of your childhood were fishing with your father.
Reading these ideas likely made you think of your own life. That's exactly how you want your market to feel.
The Next Steps
Next, it's time to actually draw up a storyboard, decide on filming or photography locations, and decide which segment of your market you'd like to gear your ad towards.You also need to choose the platform on which you're planning to release your storytelling campaign. This will likely depend on where the majority of your market spends most of their time, as well as the success of your past campaigns.
Of course, we understand that you often don't have the time -- let alone the skill set -- to develop, write, shoot, and deploy an effective ad campaign on your own.
We strongly suggest hiring advertising professionals to make the process much easier. They can also tweak the campaign while it's in progress, using feedback and analytics from the earlier parts of it.
Working with professionals who follow the Storybrand certified guide helps to ensure that you're able to remain objective when creating your ad.
It also means that you can create a campaign that combines your unique story with data-backed marketing strategies and a knowledge of what exactly your market is the most likely to respond to.
Top Storytelling Marketing Ideas
There are countless ways that you can create and put out storytelling marketing content.We love the idea of creating a "miniseries" -- three or four ads within the same campaign that tell a part of the story, one installment at a time. This works whether or not you're working off the same theme, or if you're using the same characters and plot each time.
For example, you can create several videos in the same campaign of "real customer stories," and have customers from different demographics talk about how your products have improved their life.
Another reason why storytelling marketing works?
It's perfect for a variety of platforms -- from social media and email marketing to physical mailings and print ads in magazines.
For example, let's say you're running a nonprofit, and the goal of your next storyboard email marketing campaign is to get donations.
Introduce your market to a character (a representation of the people you help) in your first email.
In the second email, talk about what's standing in the way of her achieving her dreams. In the third email, talk about how your nonprofit can help her. Ask your readers to get involved in her story by donating to your cause.
Storytelling: The Future of Marketing
Now that you know much more about how to make storytelling a part of your overall marketing strategy, it's time to start jotting down your own ideas.Your customers are your greatest resource here. So, start studying up on your analytics, engaging with your followers on social media, and even asking for direct feedback in a customer survey.
This will help you to learn about what they want to see in your next ad. You can also check some of the power of storytelling as below-
We've got you covered -- keep checking back with us to make sure you don't miss a thing.
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