Storytelling

Why and How to use Storytelling in Marketing?

For many companies, storytelling is a very effective way of marketing and a way to improve the positive image of their brand . But why does the storytelling work so well? And how can it be used at its fullest extent? 

With storytelling the company often tries to influence to the customer behaviour through emotions. Studies show that, when evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions rather than information. This is why the emotional response to an ad has far greater influence on a consumer’s reported intent to buy a product than does the ad’s content. Another thing is that positive emotions toward a brand have far greater influence on consumer loyalty than trust and other judgements, which are based on a brand's attributes. (Rush 2014.)

If the marketers continue using neutral words and phrases that lack narrative, the minds of the buyers will continue to simply process and forget them. Stories stimulate the mind; with stories the company can provide the solution that solve the problems they customers have. By this, hopefully, they manage to create action and a positive brand image among the customers. (Rush 2014.)

The action is exactly what marketers work so hard to achieve. According to Brianne Carlon Rush, to write narrative content, there can be found six tips that will help you incorporate sophisticated storytelling:

1. Develop a true understanding of your target audience.

2. Indentify emotional drivers your buyers experience.

3. Prioritise authenticity as mush as possible. Highlight stories from employees, customers and other industry folk.

4. In different marketing channels, use the strengths of your channel to tell your story appropriately.

5. Give your stories creditability. 

6. Encourage user-generated content to share different perspectives of your overarching story. For example, try hosting a contest, managing a has tag or interviewing industry leaders. (Rush 2014.)

How to Define your Target Audience?

When creating a story for your company the main goal, as in any other marketing strategies, is to reach your target audience. Sure, it is good to have a story that is effective to other customers outside your target audience as well but to keep the preferable image and to reach the desired goal the story needs to be created to your target audience especially. So to make sure to have a good story you need to know: Who are your target audience? What kind of things they like? What kind of things they do? What kind of things are important for them? What kind of things will affect on their emotions?

According to Porta (2010), when defining your target audience you need to consider factors such as: 

• Age
• Location
• Gender
• Income level
• Education level
• Marital or family status
• Occupation and,
• Ethnic background

Porta (2010) says that another thing to consider are the psychographics of your target audience. Personal characteristics are more difficult to define but they are very important when trying to influence to the customer behaviour trough emotions. Such personal characteristics are:

• Personality
• Attitudes
• Values
• Interests/hobbies
• Lifestyles and,
• Behaviour

What makes an effective story and why?

With business stories companies try to customer behaviour to change. The reason behind storytelling is that humans tend to make decisions emotionally. However, using effective stories to provoke emotion is only part of equation. Stories are also easy to remember. People will repeat stories to other and, by this,  pass on the message. (Bruzzese 2012.)

To find a good effective story a company can; define customer service success and failure stories; inspire innovation; and empower others. Company can also think about past experiences that might generate a good story. Or, the company can always tuck away stories that other people tell and get a idea from there. (Bruzzese 2012.)

According to Bruzzese (2012), once there is an idea of a story, the next step is to use the following key elements to make it effective

• keep it real
• create a great beginning
• keep it simple
• generate the right emotion
• use analogies and metaphors
• stick the ending 

Examples of good storytelling

Coco: Inside Chanel - by Chanel

According to Skau (2014), this video pays homage to legendary Coco Chanel with black and white theme to pay tribute to her legacy. The video is all about figure ground and clever animation with dynamic wipes and transitions.

I think that this video is effective because it is telling the foundation story of Chanel. Even though Chanel today is known as a high luxury product the story brings it to its humble rooths. On my opinion it kind of shows how the image Chanel has today is something that was earned and worked hard for. It is also a success story: a girl from bad background managed to create something so big. The video also shows how something new was created. How Coco really created a new kind of understanding in fashion by breaking walls. I think the video really brings emotion as a respect towards Coco and so to the whole brand. Like it has earned it's place of being one of the most popular fashion brands in the world and also respecting the name of Coco Chanel.

Designed by Apple - by Apple

Skau (2014) argues that, Apple has an equally iconic presence in design history, preset and future. This video does a fantastic job of explaining what Apple is about with a limited black and white palette and simple geometry. Despite such a limited toolset, the video manages to visually communicate a number of abstract concepts. 

I think this video really brings the company closer to the customer. It is both trying to relate to them and also showing that their main goal is to create something that their customers really value. They actually presenting their intention on the video and the feelings they are trying to reach on their customer: delight, surprise, love, connection. They want to make it perfect. If their intention is not reached they will start the planning all over again. It might take a lot of time and effort but nothing is more important for them than creating something that is perfect for their customers. Only when it is perfect they will sign it. I think this states a very strong care for their customer and this is how Apple can gain customer loyalty and create their so called Apple family.

Sources:

Science of storytelling: why and how to use it in your marketing. Brianne Carlon Rush 2014. URL : http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/aug/28/science-storytelling-digital-marketing. Visited: 25.01.2015

Tips for Effective Storytelling at Work. Anita Bruzzese. 2012. URL: http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2012/12/10/tips-for-effective-storytelling-at-work/. Visited: 27.01.2015

The 20 most Powerful Storytelling Videos of 2013. Drew Skau. 2014. URL: http://blog.visual.ly/the-20-most-powerful-storytelling-videos-of-2013/. Visited: 27.01.2015. 

How to Define Your Target Market. Mandy Porta. 2010. URL: http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/06/defining-your-target-market.html. Visited: 27.01.2015