Definition: Storytelling
With storytelling you can present information about your company, your product or your service within a narrative frame using dramaturgical means. So it’s about conveying perhaps rather dry information better through an emotional, exciting or funny story that ultimately leads to a message. Storytelling not only helps to convey a message, but can also be used as a means of communication to bind customers emotionally to your brand. No matter which company you run or which products you sell – every entrepreneur can use storytelling for their business.
Origin, function and goals
Storytelling in marketing works so well because we humans love to tell stories. Stories not only enable children to understand the world better, they can make complicated facts easier to understand for everyone. Even then, experiences were described through cave paintings in order to record and pass on their experiences for posterity. People sat around the campfire and told each other fairy tales, myths and legends in order to present information and social conditions in a simplified manner. We learn through stories and can remember statements better because we assign meanings to different information patterns. Especially when stories touch and inspire us.
Storytelling in marketing therefore pursues the following goals:
- to raise awareness
- Keeping information in mind for longer
- To convey messages in a more understandable way
- strengthen brand loyalty through emotions
- to bring about greater credibility
Storytelling im Marketing
Storytelling in marketing therefore aims at conveying advertising messages within a story that reach the potential customer on a personal and emotional level. For you and your company, it not only offers the advantage that your message is received much more easily, but also that the information is stored for a longer period of time. If you tell a story that your target audience is enthusiastic about, they will remember the story longer. And so you as a company remain anchored in the minds of the target group. Storytelling is particularly effective for companies and startups that are not really well known and want to make a name for themselves.
Crucial questions are: How and where can I use storytelling in marketing? What is a story worth and how do I construct it? Which channels do I use to communicate my story? And what do I do when I’ve come up with the perfect story? So that you now know exactly how to use storytelling correctly in marketing, these questions are answered below.
Areas of application of storytelling in marketing
As already mentioned, there are different areas of application for storytelling. Because in principle a good story can be developed for every issue. You can tell a story about your product, about your campaign and slogan, about your company or your founding story, but also about certain people. Because good stories need strong characters and that’s exactly what storytelling aims to do: Personalization. Do you have a unique founding history? Your team is made up of extraordinary people? Are the personal needs and wishes of the CEO behind your product? Try to give your company, your product or your campaign a face and a message.
Conception of the storyline
So for successful storytelling in marketing, you need a story that works well. That transports emotions, contains information and contains a very special and clearly recognizable message. This is exactly where you have to start when you start designing a storyline: with the Embassy. What do you actually want to convey? What do you want your target audience to take away from this story?
Basically, you should focus on the core elements of a good story. A story is usually told by at least one figure with which the target group should identify. You don’t have to go into too much detail here. It is enough if the figure has an attribute that many people would ascribe to themselves. So make sure you know who belongs to your target group and what the desires, needs and maybe also fears of these people are.
In most stories there is one problem that is resolved as the narrative progresses. Resolving this conflict can then be the common thread in your Plot that your story clings to. Whether drama, comedy or thriller – every genre is possible here and allows you to create emotions. Your story doesn’t have to be fictional. For example, if you want to tell an exciting founding story, then it’s all the more authentic when the real founders are in front of the camera.
Depending on the story you want to tell, these questions can help you create the storyline:
- What is my product used for?
- What is the decisive advantage of my service?
- Where is my unique selling point?
- What is my founding story?
- Why did I develop the product?
- Who is my product for?
- What does my company stand for?
Communication channels
Suitable communication channels are especially those that allow moving images. Of course, you can also publish storytelling in the written word and thus as text, but pictures work best. These attract significantly more attention and can convey emotions much better. Therefore, photo stories and small films or videos are suitable for commercials and social media channels such as YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. Social networks also offer the possibility that videos that users particularly like can go viral. Because social networks allow users to share, like and comment on the content, so that your content may be accessible to an even larger target group. Then when you publish your story, try to connect your channels and let the story shine through like a red thread everywhere. Uniform communication is particularly important here.
Storytelling in Marketing: Examples
So that you can imagine what successful storytelling looks like in marketing, we would like to present a few examples. On the one hand, these examples show you how good stories can be told. On the other hand, they should inspire you and illustrate how different stories can look.
Dove: Real Beauty Sketches
Since then, the American body care brand Dove has focused on natural, individual beauty and the love of one’s own body in all advertisements. To give this even more expression, the company developed a campaign about our own perception of the body. The film is about women describing their appearance to a phantom draftsman so that he can draw a portrait of them without seeing the women. Then the painter drew the same women again, but this time using the descriptions of strangers. The result: two different images. With this storytelling, the company wants to convey the message of recognizing your own beauty and less chasing after social ideals of beauty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN0AuIl40ZM
Red Bull: jump out of space
Red Bull launched a classic hero and action-packed campaign together with extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner. In search of ever bigger and more spectacular adventures, Felix Baumgartner wants to attempt a record: a jump out of space. To do this, he climbed into a capsule with a helium balloon, observed and accompanied by a team of experts, dozen cameras and the media, and climbed 39 kilometers into the air. After jumping out of the capsule, Felix set a world record with the highest free fall. With this unique story, Red Bull succeeded not only in generating the attention of millions of viewers, but also in reviving its own slogan: Red Bull gives you wings.
Edeka: #homecoming
One of the most famous and well-known storytelling examples is Edeka’s Christmas advertisement. It tells the story of an older man who spends Christmas alone and misses his family. The family is too busy to visit him for Christmas. The story changes when everyone receives news of the older man’s death and suddenly arrives from all over the world. Plagued by feelings of guilt, all family members arrive at the house where the elderly man is waiting at a set table and uttering the words: “How else could I have brought you all together?” Relieved, they all hug each other and spend a merry Christmas Eve together . With this story, Edeka not only conveyed pure emotions, but also the message to think about the really important things in life.
Conclusion: storytelling in marketing
In summary, storytelling can work in different ways. All that is needed is emotions, identifiable characters, a plot and a clear message. Whether completely crazy, sad, dramatic or funny – as soon as people are emotionally touched and addressed personally, the story, the brand and the company stay in their heads much more than a mere information transfer or crude advertising. Storytelling in marketing is what makes a brand really noticeable and real and can ensure that potential customers become real customers. And ultimately, real customers become fans.
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