The Art & Science Of Telling A Tale To Make A Sale

No matter where you work, or what your industry or role is, the one question people want to ask you is, who are you? Answer that, and— where are you from? What do you do? Which department? Why here? Are you stupid?

Now, let’s say your company has 5 departments. Every day, during your first 5 days, you go to each department to answer the above questions (let’s exclude that last one). The thing is, you won’t need to go that far because word spreads fast. They already know that a certain newbie from a certain place who has a certain style of hair and smells like something certain has joined the sales department.?

Some random guy walks up to you in the middle of your lunch break. He introduces himself to you, saying he heard that you were from a certain place that he visited long ago with his friends. You link up due to that place. You sit and chat over your lunch boxes. You share more insights. You make a friend.?

While it is not an ideal scenario, it is something that has definitely happened to a lot of us. The simple question to ask here is: why??

Probably 10 years ago, if we were talking about storytelling as a marketing tool, it would have been like bathing in a subway train. But that has become a widespread trend. Everyone wants to tell their story. And while competitive, it remains the most stand out, successful campaign for any Brand that existed. Ever.?

Relatability: People Resonate With Your Voice/Story

Stories are powerful for several reasons:

1: They grab your attention

2: They stay with you

3: They move you

About 4 years ago, I ordered a Pizza close to where I live in India. The box was a regular one— with several messages for designs. The place I ordered from is Cloud Kitchen. It owns a subsidiary of 10+ Cloud Kitchens and is known for its variety of food. Each subsidiary CK sells a different cuisine/style of meals.?

But what stood out to me was the packaging, the branding, and the purpose they stood for: Save the environment.?

Tell A Tale, Make A Sale.

That ONE piece of copy is enough insight into the brand’s story to realize and connect with their motto, without it being researched.?I was moved to buy from a business that supported my favorite cause.

Effective Storytelling: The Art & Science Mingle

If you sit and ramble about the place you are from, the guy from the other department who came up to you to talk about the place is going to lose interest in you. The thing about marketing and storytelling getting married comes with the premature condition of creating stories that consume less time to read.?

What it means is that unlike 10 years ago, people do not have even another second to wait and read for you. If you walk down a market, there are several pieces of copies around you. You see them. You barely read them. You walk by and they are gone. But there are a few that stick with you. A catchy tagline, a simple motto written cleverly. And some stories.?

If your son were to ask you 20 years down the line, hey, so what is the story behind the iPod? And if you tell him, oh nothing, it was just a device that helped us have 1000 songs in our pocket at once, he’d laugh. While that piece of copy remains infamous, it has to do with studying its time, the timing of the narrative, the idea of the narrative, the product’s timing & story, and the brand’s identity.?

The idea I am getting at here is to be specific. Every story:?

— has a specific amount of time to narrate it

— can resonate with a specific audience

— is set in a specific timeframe?

— comes from a specific place

— & has a specific identity

The major reason people find it difficult to be specific is that they aren’t into finding their niche. You cannot lead your brand and product with the simple idea that your product is The Best.?

The Best product has to have something of Distinct Value that it brings to me for me to “buy” your story of it being the best. Why must I listen to you??

You see, the art here remains to do with keeping up with the pace of the science. Science is the changing trends— understanding what happens when and how to react to it, is art disguised as a copy.?

Once upon a time, if I stood on a podium on the side of traffic, holding a microphone to my lips and telling what happened to me a while ago, people would want to stand and listen. Because that was a completely different time. Today, people do not have time to walk. Everybody runs. Nobody looks up enough to realize, “Hey, I’ve created this product. Do you need it?”?

Now, art & science have a long history when it comes to storytelling in various forms. Especially when it comes to understanding and exploring the human psychological aspects. Again, this is where I broke it into two halves to understand simply— understanding & exploring.?

Exploring has more to do with writing about the psyche of human beings, an undying hunger of looking into the ‘hows’ and the ‘whys’ of reactions. Understanding on the other hand for me, has a rather more external approach. Understanding psychological human aspects means knowing what makes a reader read. It has to do with knowing the WHY of a customer/client/reader and playing with their understanding, triggering a response for them to ‘buy’ your value.?

Facts can tell. Stories can sell.?

Because writing a copy has to do a lot with understanding human psychology. Every successful copywriter I know has a list of “psychologically triggering words.” I have one too. It doesn’t matter.?

The art of telling your tale to make a sale is to understand and shape your story or your copy into the trending psyches of human beings. After all, they are what your brand needs more than anything. While telling a story is good, it isn’t enough. In fact, it is useless to narrate your copy if you are not keeping up with the science of it.?

I would love to hear from you as well. What do you think makes a great story to sell your brand? Let me know in the comments below ???

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