Over the years, humanity has evolved in various aspects of their lives. There are some activities that were practiced by most people decades ago but have now become redundant or obsolete altogether. However, some of these activities remain today, as they always find a way to evolve alongside humanity — one of which is Storytelling.
Storytelling has been in existence for as long as humanity, and with the look of things, it doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere anytime soon. Storytelling started as a mere activity meant to entertain the people when there was barely any form of civilization in the early days of humanity. Over time, it became an important aspect through which myths and legends were passed down from one generation to the next.
One thing that doubles as a pro and con of storytelling is that the legitimacy of the story might be in doubt, but when the story is crafted perfectly, most people will find it easily believable. This is why, today, storytelling has a significant impact on Content Marketing as we know it. A well-told story always finds a way to remain in the minds of the audience. Hence, it remains the best approach when you want your product and services to linger in the minds of your audience until they perform the intended call-to-action.
What Is Storytelling in Content Marketing?
In order to completely grasp the idea of storytelling in content marketing, it is essential first to understand the key elements that make storytelling effective. Before any story can be said to be well-crafted or incredibly written, it must have at least one of the following elements embedded in it.
Clear and engaging plot
A clear plot fortifies a story with the structure and direction it needs to make it easy for readers to understand. It takes readers on a journey right from the beginning to the middle and all the way to the end. While different authors may approach the plot of their stories in different ways, there are some basic elements that are required for them to put in place if they don’t want the audience to be lost or confused while reading.
This element is equally important when using storytelling in content marketing because the audience needs to understand the essence of the message intended for them in the story. It is essential to use clear and concise words that will easily take the audience from the beginning to the end, mostly where the call-to-action comes in.
Compelling characters
Employing the development of compelling characters also significantly boosts the overall delivery of the story, as the readers will become more interested in the story when they are attached to the characters. This goal can be achieved when the readers read through how the character develops with distinct personalities, motivations, and flaws. As such, the character and the story altogether will have more depth and be more relatable to the readers.
When using storytelling in content marketing, the brands and businesses are mostly the characters. Therefore, it would help if emphasis are laid on the development of the brand’s personality and identity. This process will create a connection between the brand and the audience, making the brand more relatable and memorable.
Originality
As stated earlier in this article, storytelling has been in existence for as long as humanity itself, and as such, there are barely stories that haven’t been told before. Therefore, to achieve uniqueness, a story must be enriched with originality. Offering fresh perspectives or exploring unconventional ideas can significantly improve the creativity of a story, even if the inspiration is drawn from existing ideas. Adding a distinct creative twist makes it more appealing to the audience.
Likewise, in a saturated digital market, originality in storytelling helps brands to stand out. Unique and innovative content captures attention, distinguishing the brand from competitors and leaving an impressive mark in the minds of the target audience.
Emotional Appeal
One of the core elements of storytelling is the ability to appeal to the emotions of readers, and the easiest way to achieve this is to use descriptive language and sensory details to evoke the feelings of readers. This process will create a strong bond between the readers and the characters of the story, which makes it easier for the audience to resonate with the experience and feelings of the characters.
Similarly, storytelling in content marketing evokes a response from the audience, fostering a deeper connection with the brand. By tapping into emotions, using storytelling in content marketing can create a lasting impact and also influence consumer perceptions and decisions.
Closure
Most good stories provide a satisfying resolution that ties up the main storylines and addresses the key questions and conflicts that readers may have. Closure doesn’t necessarily mean that everything gets perfectly resolved in the end. It’s just an attempt at giving readers a sense of fulfillment, which makes them reflect on the journey of the characters.
When employing the use of storytelling in content marketing, closure helps to guide the audience toward a desired conclusion or action. Whether making a purchase, subscribing, or sharing content, compelling storytelling provides a clear call-to-action and brings closure to the audience’s journey with the brand.
Without any of these elements, the story might find it difficult to resonate with the readers, and this defeats the entire purpose of telling the story in the first place. These elements also apply when using storytelling in content creation. When the right factors are adequately infused in content marketing, the audience will find it easy to connect with whatever product or services the marketing intends to deliver or offer.
How to Use Storytelling in Content Marketing
After getting a grasp of what storytelling in content marketing is, the following step is to incorporate the idea. This is where a lot of people get it all wrong because they mostly fail to realize that there are techniques required to craft a compelling narrative in content marketing. Understanding the guide on how to use storytelling to aid in content marketing is almost as important as the whole strategy itself, some of which includes:
- Understanding Your Audience
Before most authors proceed to write a book, they consider who exactly will be interested in the book, and they most likely tailor the events in the book around what this set audience might be expecting to read. That way, the bond between the book, author, and reader becomes more seamless and inevitable.
This logic also applies when using storytelling in content marketing. The most essential thing in this process is to figure out who the target audience are and what they most likely will love to read. Consequently, this makes the writing process even easier because the whole idea will be mapped out as soon as the audience has been determined.
There are several ways to figure out who the target audience are, which include doing research on stats and statistics, scrolling through social media to see who likes what, and taking surveys. However, storytelling in content writing can still be efficient without knowing the target audience. Still, the likelihood of it being successful is significantly higher when the audience is figured out beforehand.
- Crafting Compelling Narratives
This step requires having adequate knowledge of what the brand represents and the history of some significant things the brand has achieved over time. Some of these include the main reason the brand was created, who its services or products are meant to cater to, the day it was founded, the products or services the brand offers, and some significant milestones that have been attained. It’s essential to put the storytelling elements into perspective, taking the readers from the beginning to wherever the brand stands currently and where they intend to be in years to come.
After figuring out all these details, it will be significantly easier to choose the best narrative to suit the already determined target audience and how best to resonate with their emotions. Once all these steps are followed judiciously, appealing to these readers through the stories will appear more organic. As such, the primary purpose of the approach, which is achieving call-to-action, will be more seamless rather than forced.
- Create Relatable Characters and Start Strong
These are two vital things that should not be overlooked if efficiency wants to be achieved while using storytelling in content writing. Relatable characters can be created by simply humanizing the brand. This could be done by telling the story from the perspective of team members and satisfied customers or building a fictional character that embodies the brand’s core values. These characters can then be easily used to drive the narrative.
However, what attracts most readers to a story is the beginning of the story. Unlike many other things, stories are not supposed to save the best for last because many people don’t have a strong attention span, and this could cause them not to read beyond the first few lines if the story doesn’t appear to be enjoyable from the beginning.
Therefore, it is crucial to grasp and lock down their interest by starting strong with a captivating hook. It could be an intriguing question, a relatable scenario, or a powerful statement. As long as the beginning is a thought-provoking question or something similar to what they have experienced, the target audience will most likely wait to see how the story plays out.
- Evoke emotions and Call to Action
Evoking emotions and call-to-action is the primary purpose of storytelling in content marketing, and it can be attained by telling stories that make the readers understand how the brand relates to their lives and how it can help improve their lives to a great extent. The more the audience learns that a brand is aware of their day-to-day activities and wants to help make it better for them, the easier it is for them to trust the brand.
Also, when they come across some of these problems that the brands promise to help with in real-time, the first thing that would probably pop into their minds would be, “Oh, this problem can be solved quickly if I use this particular brand I read about the other time.” This happens because the story resonated with the readers and remained in their subconscious. As such, whenever they are faced with any of the issues the brand promises to help solve, the brand will most likely be their go-to.
Directly or indirectly, call-to-action is achieved when this audience finally gets to patronize the brand, albeit after a long time. However, some of these readers may already be facing the stated issues and will be quick to trigger their call-to-action if they find the story exciting and trustworthy enough. Either way, the primary purpose of using storytelling in content writing will be achieved.
In Conclusion
Content creation and marketing is a saturated space and can be likened to the wild, where only the fittest survive. Hence, it is crucial to find a way to remain relevant, else it will be hard to compete in the market. One of the best ways to ensure that relevance is achieved consistently is using unique approaches like storytelling in content marketing. However, it is not enough to use just storytelling; it has to be a story with a well-crafted and compelling narrative.
Core factors of storytelling must be adequately incorporated in order to resonate with the audience and evoke emotions that will drive them to trigger call-to-action. Every step of this process must be followed so that the strategy can be efficient. If done correctly, storytelling in content marketing can significantly increase results for brands.