Storytelling that Sells

Stories are intriguing, facts are boring. Facts are of course important, but stories evoke emotions, and when we connect emotionally, we respond.

Storytelling is central to humans. We have created and shared stories for as long as we’ve been communicating. If done well, and with emotional appeal, this leads to conversations as people share stories, and frequently change or add to them.

Marketing teams deal with communication and customer relationships on a daily basis. They need to create content that is interesting and entertaining, and inspires their target groups to show an interest in the brand, buy the company′s products and ideally speak positively about the brand and products. This has always been the case and colleagues who succeeded in touching people instead of merely reducing their advertising to a rational product promise were the most successful

New is the wide range of media and communication channels between which customers can choose. Good marketing people and communicators know how to use them and best involve the customers in their brand stories.

The question today is: how can you reach and engage with my audiences in a communication environment that is saturated with media of all thinkable forms, and where people have the easy option to tune out of messages?  

Here are 6 tips, that help to develop good and successful storytelling:

1. Good stories are based on a company and brand strategy

Before you start to tell your story, define which objective you want to achieve and which key messages should be part of the story as well as tone of voice and style of your storytelling. Showing your logo in the middle of the story is not enough to successfully connect your brand to a story.

Storytelling should be part of its content strategy. Developing the big picture and defining the result you want to achieve is the basis for successful storytelling.

A brand story is made up of all that you are and all that you do. Telling stories that are not connected to your brand or unique offer will entertain, but won't offer value or sell your product.

One positive example is the stunt  ?The Epic Split“ featuring Volvo Trucks with Jean-Claude Van Damme with 85 Mill. Views on Youtube. The video won a lot of creative awards in 2014 and is part of the Gunn-Report list with the best ads of the 21st century. The product, the brand and the company are in the center of the story and helped the company to increase their business results.

2. Understand your target customer

It is equally important to understand your target customer Talk to them, understand their language and appeal to them in an emotional way is key to success. If you don′t understand the needs and psychology of your customers it is not easy to tell stories that resonate with them.

One of my favorite examples is Dove. Unilever puplished a study called ?The Real Truth about Beauty” in 2004. The study showed that globally only 2 % of all women believe they are beautiful. Based on the findings Dove created a very successful campaign and turned the communication from a product-benefit to a storytelling campaign about Beauty promoting the brand. The idea: advertise average-looking women as the norm and tell their stories to counter the negative self image of women all over the world.

Modern and digital communication always puts the customer into the center of the story. Moreover, the customer wants to have the opportunity to participate and respond to the story told.

One of the brands that understood this early on is Old Spice from Proctor and Gamble. The marketing team launched a Youtube video featuring a Superbowl player one week before the event in 2010 in order to revamp the brand. The team could not afford a Superbowl ad (around $4.5million for a 30-second slot)  as their budget was limited. Therefore they opted for Social Media Channels and believed in the spreadability of the story. Already in week one the video had 40 mill. Views. The next step was a Social Media response campaign of the protagonist reacting to Tweets and questions of their audience. This is not only a good example of good storytelling but also involvement of customers and achievement of very good results with a limited budget. Budget is not always a success driver but the idea and strength of a story.

3. Good stories sell

Products have become interchangeable and consumers are critical. Today neither blunt statements or pure facts are good enough in marketing. An authentic image, captivating stories and memorable information are the way out of the sea of sameness.

One good example where a campaign is build around a sponsorship engagement is “Thank you Mom” by Proctor & Gamble. The campaign recognizes and celebrates the moms behind the athletes and is a part of P&G’s worldwide partnership with the International Olympic Committee. Instead of just using their logo in connection with the Olympic games P&G created a whole story around thanking moms which they started before the games in London and also leverages during Sochi and Rio. P&G has estimated that its “Thank You Mom” campaign for the 2012 summer Olympics in London resulted in a $500 million sales lift.

The purpose of content marketing and storytelling must ultimately be to sell profitably.

Storytelling has a positive effect on your company in various ways. You save media money as good stories spread and people begin to talk about the story. If the products fit into the story in an authentic and understandable way, the sales figures are also increasing. For Old Spice, e.g. the YouTube campaign triggered a wave of enthusiasm, which had a significant and long-term effect on the brand's sales figures, not just for the product shown in the video, but for the entire portfolio.

4. Create a positive emotional connection

Our brains are wired to respond to emotional impulses. Storytelling is the most natural source to trigger emotions. Our brain often experiences the story as if it were happening to us. In part, our body even pours out the corresponding hormones and we show, for example, fear when we look at a horror film.

The role of emotions in consumer behavior is sufficiently documented. Advertising research shows that the emotional response to advertising has a far greater impact on a consumer's intention to buy a product than the content of the ad - by a factor of 3 to 1 for television advertising and 2 to 1 for print ads.

There are also studies showing that evoking positive emotions has a far better effect on your brand and business than creating fear, uncertainty and doubt. For example in the insurance industry we often scare people with disaster that might happen.

In 2015 an insurance company took a very emotional route for their TV spot during the Supr Bowl. The ad featured a cute boy who talks about all the life achievements - learning to ride a bike, getting married and traveling world - he will miss out because he died from an accident. Within seconds after the ad went on air people globally had taken to social media to express their disgust. People were furious over the ad. The company got a lot of attention and PR, the question is, if this help the brand, let alone helped to sell their insurances.

In my view, it is important to create a positive emotional connection already in the beginning of the story to get the viewer′s attention. In addition, it is essential that the evoked emotions are related not only to the person or object of the story, such as a sweet puppy or kitten, but to the brand and ideally even the product. There is a danger that people only remember the cute kitten, but not the animal food, that needs selling. In that case the story told has completely missed the objectives of the company.

5. Good stories live long(er)

All the examples already mentioned were not only designed for a short period of time, but for several years. Good ideas and stories live longer and gain through new executional ideas or input from the outside.

Red Bull Strato is a good example of this. Felix Baumgartner's kick-off in October 2012 was prepared for five years, and communication was intensified two years earlier. The leap from the stratosphere lasted just ten minutes, the storytelling around it more than 5 years. 8 million users saw the jump from 39 kilometers altitude on Youtube, About 200 television stations and networks reported live from the event. The project homepage showed a Livestream and the communications team prepared background information, which could easily be shared via social media. In January 2014 the video "Red Bull Stratos - The Full Story" was published with currently 18 million calls.

This example shows that companies with a unique and, in this case, very brave, marketing and content strategy can achieve great success lasting a longer period of time.

6. Measure, improve and engage with your audience

Studies show that companies driven by a strong purpose, particularly a good brand story, grow their revenue four faster, create more jobs, and significantly increase their stock prices.

Measure the success of your storytelling and be sure you connect the measurement criteria to your strategy and the question of what you wanted to achieve.

Planning, implementation and consistent learning are important factors for the improvement of defined targets.

In the age of digital communication, it is equally essential to react to customer responses. When planning a campaign, it is therefore important to consider exactly how to respond to customer input and develop the story together in a timely manner. Old Spice is a good example and with very short reaction times.

Summary

Storytelling is more than just a trend. It is rather the possibility to raise marketing to a whole new level, stand out against competition and connect customers to the brand in the long term with their trust and emotions. Good stories once told - and linked to the brand - have a long-term effect, also on the success of the company .

 Strong brands have long recognized the power of storytelling to build trust and loyal brand advocates.

Through storytelling, businesses can appear more human and can connect with consumers in a deeper, more meaningful way that directly impacts customer acquisition and retention.

Writing good stories is an art. In advertising, the story must have relevance for the people, it must fit to the brand, and the product or product promise is ideally part of the story. Tell a good story, and you’ll leave an emotional imprint on someone that’s hard to shake.

Want to read more about storytelling, here an interesting link:

Transmedia Branding: Engage Your Audience, Kindle Edition by Burghardt Tenderich (Author), Jerried Williams (Author)

https://www.amazon.com/Transmedia-Branding-Engage-Your-Audience-ebook/dp/B011VV64RE

This book, released in digital format from the Annenberg Press, offers great examples of campaigns which adopted new approaches to reaching consumers, grabbing their interest, and building their loyalty.