Words Tell, Stories Sell: How to Use Storytelling in Your Marketing
There's no question that storytelling is a powerful marketing tool. When done well, it can engage and inspire your audience, motivating them to act. But why is storytelling so effective? And what are the best ways to use it in your marketing strategy?
Having the level of understanding that allows you to answer these questions empowers you to use storytelling in your marketing to its greatest advantage, so let’s dive into the details.
Why Storytelling Works
There are three main reasons why storytelling is so effective:
- Storytelling engages people's imaginations. Storytelling allows you to engage your audience on an emotional level, tapping into their imaginations and creating an experience that they can relate to. When you tell a story about your product or service, people can visualize themselves using it, which makes them more likely to buy.
- Storytelling builds credibility. Not only does storytelling make people more emotionally engaged with you and your brand, it increases their trust in you. Sharing stories gives the impression that you're not just another faceless company trying to sell something. Instead, it shows that there are real people behind your business who care about what they do. Because of this human element, other customers and prospects are more likely to trust you.
- Storytelling keeps them coming back for more. [quotesright]One of the biggest benefits of storytelling is that it makes your content more memorable. [/quotesright] If you tell a compelling story about your brand or business, people will be able to visualize it in their mind's eye, which means they'll find it easier to recall down the line.
Your customers will associate your company with positive memories between interactions, making them far more likely to choose you over a competitor next time they need something similar. Use these three principles as the basis for all your marketing efforts and watch as your success rate increases.
The Best Ways to Use Storytelling in Your Marketing
Now you know why storytelling is so important for marketing success. But how exactly can you use it in your efforts? Here are a few creative examples of storytelling in action:
Company culture. You can create videos, blog posts, customer success stories, and other content that shows people what your company is like. How do employees bond with one another? What makes your business different from others like it? How do things change when someone buys your products or services? By answering these questions and more, you'll be able to inspire readers, which will make them more likely to work with you.
Customer success stories. There's nothing better than hearing the success stories of real customers who have used your product or service. Because these stories come straight from the horse's mouth, they're a highly credible source of information, which makes them perfect for PR and marketing.
[quotes]Here is the best tip you’ll ever get for writing a compelling story…[/quotes] Start in the middle. Pick the most dramatic element and stage it but leave the outcome in doubt. It’s an open loop that will draw people into your story to find out how the person got there and what the outcome was. Don’t believe it? Pick any fictional story on TV or a best-selling book, it never starts with “In the beginning….“
Inviting feedback. If you make the effort to reach out to current customers (or future customers!) and ask for their opinions about your brand or business, you'll be able to create content that is truly unique. Customers who are asked for their input are naturally more invested in your brand, simply because they feel like you care about what they think. Make sure to show that you’re listening by following up on any feedback that you receive.
Start engaging the imagination today
By keeping these strategies in mind as you develop new pieces of content, it's easy to see why storytelling is such an essential part of your marketing strategy. By engaging people's imaginations with stories about your business, you'll be able to create content that truly stands out.
