Telling Stories

If you think about it, storytelling is found in nearly every means of communication.  It’s hard to hold a conversation if you just spit out 1-2 word replies, or robotic statements.  Language used can be almost as important as the message. It needs to captivate, persuade, connect, and entertain all in a way that doesn’t fatigue the reader.
This is important if you want your stories to be memorable and standout from the sea of stimuli and information we encounter every day.  Superior stories get shared and retold, wouldn’t you like that to happen to your marketing strategy?

What makes a good story?

The reader needs someone they can identify with, a protagonist, preferably.  Never make your actual brand the physical hero or character of the story.  You will just be alienating the audience with another infomercial story that they’ve all seen before.  Instead, make the customer the hero, make them travel along with a story that is transformed by your brand!

Everybody loves a happy ending

Lead your protagonist into a situation that solves some sort of problem with your brand.  This is easy, marketing-101 stuff that you should already be doing.   The only difference is how you’ll craft a story out of your hero’s scenario and making it believable.  The best way to go about doing that is to insert visual and/or emotional roadblocks that are in the way from your character achieving their goal.
This can be where your story really begins to shine as you can do something silly akin to the Rabbit and the Hare race and how your product allows them to skip to the finish line.  This basic formula has been used time and time again for marketing, so try to mix things up and modernize the story.

Where to insert your business into the story

It can be hard to place your brand into the story if you’re telling stories that don’t have a good solid mentor or guide along the way. If the customer is searching to find a solution to their problem, it needs to be solved in a subtle way that doesn’t scream “buy this!” You’re the guy in the Matrix, Morpheus, whom merely presents an alternative or a solution, but it’s up to the customer to decide if they need it or not.  If you’ve done a good enough job explaining the problem, then the means to reach their goal should be an obvious choice.