Storytelling isn’t just for marketers from big companies or for organizations that are out to change and improve the world.  In fact, storytelling isn’t just a great marketing tool; it’s a basic form of communication.  See what happens to your response when take your marketing from reporting to storytelling.

Once Upon A Time

What’s the first thing you think of when we say “storytelling marketing?” Do you picture an emaciated child and a campaign to help feed him? Do you picture an abused dog, rescued from devastating conditions but on the road to recovery? If you do, you’re not alone. Charities and non-profits have been successfully telling the stories of their beneficiaries for years. But if you think storytelling marketing is just for campaigns that address basic human or animal needs and conditions, you’re wrong.

Consider the Super Bowl. Although you will catch the occasional commercial for a non-profit on the day of the Big Game, you’ll primarily see commercials for everyday, non-essential products and services. And most of them get your attention and spur you to act by telling you a story.

Arguably one of the best at commercial storytelling? Budweiser.

You could research a list of the “best Super Bowl commercials of all time,” and no matter which list you look at, you will undoubtedly find at least one Budweiser commercial on it. Why? Budweiser’s marketing folks are master storytellers. Whether they try to touch your heart or tickle your funny bone, their commercials feature likeable, even lovable, characters in heart-wrenching or extremely humorous situations. Who doesn’t remember the donkey who wanted to be a Clydesdale? Or the puppy who befriended the Clydesdales? Or the Budweiser frogs? Or the irritatingly catchy “Wassup”?

No matter what type of marketing you do--television, radio, direct mail, or social media--you can use the art of storytelling to reach your audience and move them to act.

Why Storytelling in Marketing Works

Yes, Budwesier makes clever commercials, but they’re valuable not only because they create an emotional reaction, but also because people remember them. Showing your customers or donors or members about an aspect of your business through a story instead of telling them with statistics makes a bigger impression. People remember stories better than facts.

Delivering memorable marketing is key to creating brand awareness.  In his July 29, 2014, entrepreneur.com article, “Marketing 101: The Art of Storytelling,” Al Lautenslager says, “Stories create buzz. The more buzz about a product or service, obviously the more awareness there is about that brand. And the more awareness there is, the higher the probability of being in that top-of-mind position.”

Sound like good fiction? Not according to science. Psychologist Peter Noel Murray says, in his February 26, 2013, Psychology Today blog posting, “How Emotions Influence What We Buy,” that functional MRI neuro-imagery shows that consumers primarily use emotions --their personal feelings and experiences--rather than information when evaluating brands.

“A brand is nothing more than a mental representation of a product in the consumer’s mind,” Dr. Murray says. “If the representation consists only of the product’s attributes, features, and other information, there are no emotional links to influence consumer preference and action. The richer the emotional content of a brand’s mental representation, the more likely the consumer will be a loyal user.”

How to Tell Stories in Marketing

According to Lautenslager, it takes a “dose of the human element, emotions, and branded thinking” to create a memorable message. “When you engage listeners in a powerful, entertaining, and informative story,” he says, “they remember it, and many times they ask for more.”

So how do you create story marketing? For starters, you have to know your target audience. We mean really know them. Not just what they buy and when, but why they buy. Why they chose you. What’s important to them. What they care about.Then, you have to think like a storyteller.

You need

• a protagonist:  a hero/main character; someone your audience will empathize with and cheer for
• an antagonist: an obstacle or problem; an opposing force to your hero
• conflict: your protagonist and your antagonist must come to odds
• plot: your story has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end
• action: your hero overcomes the battle in dramatic fashion
• an overarching message or moral: the major message of your organization that you want consumers to remember and that you will echo in other marketing efforts

Where do you find your subject matter?  Your best subjects for your marketing stories come from your market itself.  Keep your eyes and ears open to interesting dilemmas your clients encounter or particular successes your donation recipients have experienced because of your organization’s involvement.  Ask other departments to listen and watch for client success stories, too.  Talk to your clients directly.  Get their permission to tell their story, and get them involved.  Stories come from inside your office, too.  You’ll find heroes in the cubicles and offices around you and in the problems you’re solving.  The moral?  The more relatable the story is to your target audience, the more effective it will be.

Should you skip facts and statistics altogether?  By no means.  According to Brianne Carlon Rush, author of the August 28, 2014, The Guardian article, “Science of Storytelling: Why and How to Use it in Your Marketing,” when you use both data and story in marketing, you move your audience both emotionally and intellectually.  You win their hearts and their minds.  And that combination makes for a very happy ending for all.

It All Starts with a Story

Want to tell a story instead of just sharing facts but don’t know where to begin? Consider these brainstorming story-starters to get you going:

• The best experience I ever had with this company…
• Our journey begins…
• You know a company is listening when…
• We can’t believe the results…
• It kills us to see…

Very truly yours,

Milt