Since ages storytelling has been the voice of people used for conveying ideas, thoughts, and emotions. Imagine yourself narrating an incident to someone with just facts, free from any grilling emotion to glue human attention. It will be regarded as a dull piece of information which failed to arouse the interests of the audience.
The same piece of facts when wrapped in some drastic events and emotion resonate better with people. Storytelling in content marketing is an art which comes with a lot of practice and requires skill, creativity, and vision. Stories have the power to move and to compel you to not just read but connect with the character and can relate to the theme to an extent that you want to come back to it again and again.
Storytelling in Content Marketing
The space of content marketing has adopted storytelling as the primary tool for connecting with the readers. This has completely uprooted the traditional mode of advertising.
Brands are now keen to tell their customers about their own stories for building a relationship with the potential customers. This is being increasingly adopted by brands for both B2B and B2C marketing. Digital storytelling ideas are giving shape to a new form of brand campaigns which will find meaning in every culture and society. Great stories are created with immense fine-tuning of facts and narrative that it tickles the imagination of the readers.
It has been widely accepted by businesses that storytelling in content marketing has bridged the void between the producer and the consumer. The stories which relate to everyday lives, can draw strong emotional connections and has an even dose of facts will be remembered by the audience, as they somehow are a reflection of their own struggles which have been given life by your writing.
The stories do not indulge in direct selling but generate reason why should the customer be buying your product and how will it be able to make a difference in their lives.
Why Storytelling is Important in Business?
Every story has a reason and a message which is the part that stays with the reader.
- Make Complex Messaging Easy: Every time a new idea takes birth, it takes time for everyone to absorb based on mere facts and figures. Stories provide a welcome respite from that noise and successfully helps to tide over the complexities with a compelling narrative. E.g. Apple has been able to make use of storytelling and explained their products to customers with real-life stories.
- Promotes togetherness: Stories know no boundary and speak a universal language. All people irrespective of where they come from are moved by emotions of hope, anger, fear, despair, etc. Everyone can relate to a story of a superhero, or a romance which resulted in heartbreak. Stories can thus instill a sense of commonality, a feeling of togetherness among people. It is the message, the feeling and the response which binds people from different communities.
- Promotes Brand Loyalty: When marketers are able to weave a strong narrative around your brand or product, it gives it a human shape which helps people connect with it at a deeper level. Such narratives dig deep into the minds of the customers and help them relate with them.
Ingredients of Effective Storytelling Content
There are many components in a story which cannot be compromised in order to make a great story-telling experience. These are non-negotiable.
- Universal: Good stories appeal to all the readers and are able to strike a chord with their emotional being. They know no boundaries or discrimination.
- Entertaining: Every reader should be able to engage with the story. It should create a pull that one wants to come back to it.
- Organized: Coherence in your narrative is essential to bring out all the elements well. It is also important to bring out the correct message and set the right tone.
- Memorable: Stories which are able to generate an emotional appeal like anger, fear, elation, victory, etc. are easy to recall.
- Educative: This may sound out of context but forms a vital part of a story. Good stories should leave you with more knowledge and should be able to generate curiosity.
Conclusion
Storytelling in content marketing has taken the marketing world with a storm. There is no looking back as it has found wide acceptance with the audience. It is an art which takes time to learn especially as the content professionals have long been trying to impress algorithms stuffing pages with repetitive keywords.
They now have to work on their creative sides and give shape to revolutionary yet humane narratives which speak and engage the audience.
The story should have a proper amount of entertainment, educative value and be universal in appeal. They should also be technically correct in terms of grammar, organization of information and chronology of events that take place. You can have a peek at this tool to check the grammar of your story content.
Brands have successfully delivered product-messaging wrapped in wonderful stories.
It is not the product but the value addition that it will make to the lives of the audience which creates the pull.
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