One of the new trends that have emerged with greater force in recent times in marketing and advertising is Storytelling. This new way of understanding the evolution of content marketing refers to how we can use stories to generate emotions among our target audience. It doesn’t matter if they are fictional or real, but they should always allow us to connect emotionally with the public.
Before writing was invented, stories were already the perfect vehicle for transmitting knowledge within societies. In fact, in all cultures, there has always been the figure of storytellers (minstrels, storytellers …), who have known how to spread knowledge from one generation to another through stories. For humans, stories have always been a form of communication that we can take advantage of to get the public’s attention and spread our message more effectively. After all, folk tales have been useful for new generations to memorize social norms and values. For example, Isn’t the story of Little Red Riding Hood a fun way to teach children not to trust strangers? That is precisely the goal of Storytelling: that our audience remembers the “moral” of our story.
Steve Jobs and Storytelling
Everyone will remember Steve Jobs’ famous speech at Stanford University, but what few of you will have noticed is how he uses the storytelling technique to impact the public. To do this, he tells three stories that happened to him, each one with a shocking final moral, and all fulfil their objective: to inspire a new generation of graduates. In essence, this speech can teach us that the key to effective Storytelling is knowing our audience: if we know what it is like, we will learn how to reach it.
Storytelling applied to advertising
One of the main problems of advertising is the defensive attitude that the user usually takes towards it. When the ads on TV start, we change the channel, we block the pop-up windows in our browser every time they appear. We avoid people who offer us brochures on the street … We are always alert to any attempt to convince us, but this happens with advertising, not with a good story! We are always ready to hear an interesting tale… and even spread it! In this sense, social networks can be a perfect ally to multiply the effect of Storytelling.
Ikea and Storytelling
Ikea is one of the brands that is having the most success using Storytelling techniques. Under the name of ” Terrace ” and ” Start something new “, we can see two video stories that have been launched through television and YouTube, and that could be considered as two good examples of video marketing through stories.
Tips for developing a good Storytelling
- Knowing our audience will allow us to use a story that is true of interest to you.
- Determine what media we will use to transmit our story: text, images, video …
- Follow the phases of any good story: approach, middle and end.
- Capture the user’s attention from the beginning of the story, trying to connect emotionally.
- The brand, product or company must have a role within the story. If we don’t do this, we run the risk of creating very successful stories but that no one associates with what we want to advertise.
- We must be original. We cannot repeat the same schemes that other brands use: differentiation is the key to success.
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