Storytelling will Change the Way you Think About Marketing

“Once upon a time there was a Digital Agency called Platform81 which was on a mission to help YOU market your brand…”

People have been telling stories since the beginning of history as a way to share information and connect with one another. When you think about it, marketing and storytelling have a lot in common. After all, in its simplest form, marketing is just a way of sharing information about your brand and connecting with your audience. All the things that make a good story are the same things that make a good marketing strategy so why not try using the following in your next campaign?

Trust in the Teller

The way an audience feels about the teller has an impact on their experience of the story. For example, online retailer Amazon has had a terrible history of underpaying and mistreating its workers. If it rolled out a campaign focusing on testimonials from employees saying how much they loved working there would that change your opinion? Or would you simply roll your eyes and think “yeah sure”? Brands need to be honest and ethical from the get-go otherwise their marketing comes across as hollow and insincere.

Drama

It can be tempting to ignore every negative detail about your brand when you’re trying to build a good reputation but doing so could actually alienate you from your audience. Brands that appear too perfect and polished lose their humanity and just because you’re ignoring the negatives doesn’t mean your audience isn’t aware of them. Instead take a leaf out of McDonald’s “Good to Know” campaign – which you can read more about in our World Kindness Day blog – and address negative brand perception head on.

Relatability

The more people identify with a story, the more likely they are to remember it. The same is true of your brand. Make campaigns more relatable by appealing to your audience’s wider interests or causes they care about. Did you know that consumers are 85% more likely to buy a product that is associated with a charity? Get to know your customers and make their culture a part of your culture. Innocent Smoothies appeals to its British target audience on Twitter through pop culture references, making them instantly relatable through Tweets about the colour of Paul Hollywood’s Eyes and Monopoly references.

Simplicity

The simplest solution is most often correct. Over complicated stories can become confusing and this makes them difficult to remember. By the same token, if your brand’s marketing strategy is too complex for consumers to follow, they’re likely to lose interest and move on to something more memorable. One of history’s most famous marketing campaigns was so simple that it boiled down to two words: Got Milk?

Looking for a way to tell your brand’s story that’s both simple and relatable? Our Digital Marketing team are storytelling experts with a flair for engagement and the ability to build trust in your brand. Let us put your brand on the map, get in touch here.