How to connect better with my audience? - Power of storytelling

People’s attitudes around advertising have truly taken a turn in the last few years; they have become less susceptible to traditional, one-dimensional selling approaches as they search for more meaning, and a genuine sense of connection. 

Marketing is no longer exclusively about the products/services you offer, but more importantly the purpose and value in which you bring to the table. By incorporating genuine storytelling in your marketing strategies, you will be able to connect with your target audience on a deeper emotional level. Competitors can always replicate your products and services, but your story is what is unique to you. This is how you break through the plethora of noise found online today. 

We at T15 media have been focusing on this idea of storytelling and we want to share with you why this approach has been effective, as well as some key considerations we always have in mind when creating stories that resonate with our audience.

Why is storytelling so effective?

Storytelling helps to build a personality of a brand and transforms a corporate entity into a unique character in which audiences can relate to. Brands with personalities would come across as more authentic and approachable, encouraging audiences to actively take part in their mission, and feel as if they are a dynamic part of their narrative.

It is also important to mention the effectiveness of attributing a real face to the brand. Two examples of this is Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook; as well as Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX. They have incredible personal stories on their background, hardships they have faced and how they achieved their successes; which are widely known and thus inspires people to look up to them. Their personal success stories are so intrinsically captivating that it naturally attracts deep rooted attention to their ventures and their brands.

When your audience understands your context, where you’re from, the obstacles you’re facing, and the efforts you’re making to get to where you aspire to be, they develop empathy for your brand. When they develop empathy, they begin to care, and naturally will become more intrigued at your service or product.

How to effectively use storytelling in digital marketing?

1. Define your key messages before telling a story

You first need to clarify the core image/message you want to portray with your brand as this will be the foundation of all your marketing strategies. A good example is the famous slogan by Nike - “Just Do It”. Not only is it a simple yet meaningful phrase in which the brand uses within their marketing content, it is also at the core of the creative direction they use to drive each one of their campaigns.

Another important aspect to brand messaging is to gain a holistic understanding of your target audience. What this means is that you need to understand where your brand is positioned in the consumer’s mind, as well as where your ideal customers sit in order to differentiate yourself from your competitors. 

2. Know your target market

Once you have specified a group of people you want to target, it’s crucial to conduct in-depth market research to understand their needs and wants. You need to know what kinds of beliefs and values they hold as well as how they react to certain stimuli in order to determine a means which would relate with them best. With target markets, it’s extremely important to be as specific as possible. You want to create a profile on aspects like age, gender, demographics, income bracket, interests and personalities. This would help drive the tone of your storytelling, and the approach - whether it’s serious, humorous, light hearted or inspirational; it is the understanding of your audience which determines how successful you are in resonating with them.

3. Use different kinds of mediums to tell different stories

Storytelling is a flexible concept which can permeate many forms of digital content; including posts, blogs, articles, ebooks, videos and podcasts. The medium you choose will most likely depend on the nature of your story as well as the resources you have in hand.

Video storytelling which is at the core of our business is arguably the most effective medium to express a story and we believe that it is a medium that will dominate story-centric content of the near future (it’s already happening).

Story-telling can also take form in more traditional written ways such as blogs and articles and this may be the most direct way to express your messages. Spoken forms of media such as podcasts in particular are becoming an extremely popular medium for the consumer. When you create a podcast, not only can you attribute your brand to insightful content, you also open yourself to the networking opportunities of having guests appearances, further allowing consumers to join conversations that are relevant to your brand.

After all, it’s important to choose the medium that fits the nature of your story and your audience the most. 

T15 Media is all about storytelling and we use this concept to help businesses create stories that resonate with their audience and ultimately boost their brand’s visibility and impacts on people. We believe that in today’s world, a brand story is no longer a nice to have, rather a need in order to break through the clutter.