The Importance of Storytelling in Marketing

I came across an online article that explains the importance of storytelling when it comes to strengthening your brand. The author stated that “Storytelling could bring your brand to life and strengthen your marketing impact”. 

The Kickstarter campaign started out asking only for $10 to make potato salad but then ended up making over $55,000. This showed us that the true power of storytelling in phenomenal. People contribute to a company not only from desire but simply because they could relate to the story that was being presented. 

This article gives examples of different marketing brands that used a good story that brought in a lot of consumers. Last year it was seen that the Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke campaign was very successful. This campaign made people feel as if they were obligated to buy a bottle for their friend because it had their name printed on the bottle. One thing that stuck out in this article was that this campaign wasn’t about telling the public a story, it was about giving the public the ability to tell their own wonderful story, to where they could relate. 

It was stated that storytelling can be used as a marketing strategy by businesses and entities of all sizes because all it requires imagination and creativity, not just money. 

You can uses multiple sources to start your own story, a multitude of businesses have developed them to help you such as The Story Telling and Brand Story Online.  

A brand’s story is no longer limited to or controlled by the media outlets and advertising that it uses. The media now runs stories based on how much traction they’ve gained elsewhere.

Storytelling is so compelling and powerful because most people won’t remember the name of the individual in a commercial but they will remember the story behind them. Often as consumers and the audience we only pay attention to logic and numbers, believing that those factors are something that can’t be ignored. We as consumers do forget that emotional gut felling we have that guides so many of our decisions. 

Remember, that if a story spreads its a story worth remembering. The mission of businesses using storytelling as a marketing tool should be to help customers connect the stories they tell to benefit their product. When developing your own story you need to identify how your product helps your customers. What problems it solve? What benefits, not features, does it offer? What makes your solution different from the competitors?

This article was very informal, it gave information on a topic that I didn’t necessarily look at. It showed us the power of storytelling in the media and also in your own company, Just take your time and make a story that people can relate  to. 

For more information on the article click here. 

by Erica Montgomery