Once upon a time… I have your attention now, don’t I? Well of course I do, we all love stories. We’ve been telling them for ages. No one knows for sure when the first story was told. Perhaps our prehistoric ancestors started the tradition when they sat around the fire in a dark cave recounting their experiences of the day’s hunting.
The point is, many historians and psychologists believe that storytelling is one of the many things that defines and binds us as humans. Cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner stated that stories are retained up to 22 times better than mere facts. Humans are hardwired for stories, which is why great content might grab a reader’s attention, but a great story will keep it.
Distribute your content
Stories are all around us. We turn just about everything we experience into a story, sometimes adjusting or omitting facts to make it fit for each listener. How a story is laid out is an important consideration.
Step into the Pixar world for a minute and think of the successful animated movie, Finding Nemo. Initially, story artists placed the part about Marlin losing his entire family at the end of the movie. When the studio showed the movie to a test audience before its general release, it wasn’t well-received because the viewers didn’t like Marlin. They didn’t understand his motives and saw him as an overbearing father. Once the studio placed this scene in the beginning, test audiences immediately identified with Marlin.
You never know how a story will be received, so that’s why it’s important to review what your audience likes and keep making more of it. You’re not going to know until you put your content out there.
Let me tell you a story
Your content is your voice in the digital landscape. Content allows your potential customers to connect with your brand. An inspiring story can do wonders for brand awareness. But don’t forget your ultimate goal: to convince your customers to buy your product or service. An expert wordsmith knows how to pull this off without making the content feel forced or clumsy to the reader. I’ve been selling storytelling to you from the beginning of this blog. Did you notice?
How we pull this off
We use personalisation to get the message across. We have a good understanding of our audience and the correct arrangement of words to use that will leave them wanting more. Personalisation enhances the message and makes it memorable. Let me demonstrate. Here’s a video we did for our client, Avis Fleet:
This story presents a sequence of events that could happen to anyone. It allows viewers to put themselves in the role of the person experiencing these events. We all have a sense of self and what a story does is to essentially hitch a ride on it.
Let’s uncover your story
Telling your story is an incremental part of building your brand. You possess the power to shape how people view your company. Done correctly, these narratives will create a foundation for your brand to thrive now and in the future.
Storytellers at League Digital work on getting to know your business and its personality. We then work out how to sound just like you. And lastly, we craft stories and use the techniques of “storyselling” to bring your products or services to life and make people want to buy them.
