Dose 18: Storytelling and 3 Ways It Impacts Marketing

Have you ever wondered why brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi are so well-loved across the world? Or why watching a small Nike ad can motivate us to become athletically stronger??

Humans are social creatures, and being social creatures, we use a lot of different ways to connect with each other, one of them being through stories. Since ancient times, storytelling has played a huge part for tribes to connect with one another and tell each other about their many hunting adventures, as discovered by anthropologists studying historic cave drawings.?

Not only history, but even psychology describes storytelling as a source of influencing emotions and opinions. Studies on fMRI brain scans, done on storytellers as well as their listeners, have shown that certain areas active in the storyteller’s brain also become active in the listener’s brain as they pay attention to the story. In another study by Paul Zak on the effect of neurochemical changes show that during tense moments, our brains produce cortisol, keeping our attention intact while during moments of kindness, oxytocin is produced by our brain that increases our empathy.?

All of these are evidence of how much a human brain is influenced through the small act of storytelling. And none of this has gone unnoticed by marketers. This is the reason why the brands I’ve mentioned above are so popular among the masses, not just for their products, but also for the ways those products are marketed. In today’s newsletter, I’m going to highlight 3 of the biggest ways storytelling impacts marketing.?

Connectivity

The biggest impact storytelling creates is forming a deep connection between a brand and its audience. It’s a fundamental concept that drives emotions and unites people. By using this, brands can easily highlight how they fit into their audience’s lives through stories that are relatable and encourage building an emotional connection, which will lead to them interacting with the brand more often.?

Simplification

As a brand, you may focus on ROI and driving data and leads from the audience, but they don’t need to be aware of each and every aspect of your campaigns. Hence, you shape your campaign in a way that your complex business mindset is shaped to be easily understood by the people you want to attract. In more ways than one, storytelling simplifies a brand’s messages to cater to an audience’s understanding, resulting in evoking emotional responses, satisfying the audience, and achieving huge business goals.?

Break from the Clutter?

With marketing accessibility expanded in the last decade, the number of brands on social platforms have also increased in huge numbers, creating a clutter. With this clutter comes the risk of saturation in the market that can overwhelm audiences, due to which brands can lose their attention quicker than one would want. But when brands use enticing stories, not only do they capture the audience’s attention, they also get the chance to break away from the clutter and do something newer than what their competitors are doing. Hence, a brand’s story should always focus on making people stop and listen to what message they’re conveying.?

In today’s world, human connection is all about being honest and building an emotional bond, and storytelling allows you to do just that. It gives you a way to make your brand transparent without telling too much, and yet making an impact at the same time. You just need to find the right stories that stick with your brand’s message and audience alike.?

This article is part of my weekly newsletter?Dose of Digital?where I share tips, tricks and growth strategies.?Subscribe & share!