What is Storytelling? Storytelling utilizes a mix of both emotional marketing and nostalgia marketing. Emotional marketing is a marketing strategy that invokes feelings of intense emotion in viewers, whether it be happiness, sadness, fear, or anger. The goals are for people to associate positive feelings with your brand and to convert negative emotions into calls for action.
On the other hand, Nostalgia marketing is more focused on feelings of longing and wistfulness for the past. Studies have shown that when we are reminded of memories from our earlier years, we also experience the emotions from that time.
Combine the two, and you’ve got a potent marketing tool! At Drive Traffic Media, we use both for our digital Agency in Santa Monica.
Why is Storytelling So Effective?
Storytelling works well because it transforms the traditional advertisement into something more attractive to the customer. Because let’s face it, people have grown tired of commercials they see everywhere that go right up to your face with their boring product catalogs, cheesy slogans, and celebrity endorsements. There’s a reason people would prefer watching shows online or recording shows and watching them later nowadays—it’s to avoid those pesky commercials!
It’s also practical because of its relatability, and it bridges the gap between the business and the customer by being customer-oriented. Ask anybody if they’ve ever related to McDonald’s as a multinational corporation, and they’d probably say no, but if you ask them if they pertain to saying, “Uhhhh,” when they’re ordering from a McDonald’s like in this commercial, then they’d probably say yes!
Lastly, storytelling is a great marketing strategy because it taps into people’s emotions and affects purchase decisions. After all, people want to purchase products that make them feel more than functional or suitable for their budget. It also makes you more memorable to your viewers and increases your loyal customer base.
How Can You Incorporate Storytelling into Your Strategy?
Keep in mind that storytelling marketing is a huge endeavor. A perfect and impactful strategy takes a lot of resources, like time, money, workforce, and skills, so it’s okay to start small and experiment when you feel comfortable. There are various ways of adding storytelling elements that aren’t too difficult or expensive to your content.
As a digital marketing company in Los Angeles, we’ve successfully used a couple of these strategies over the years. We hope you find them useful too!
Tackle Societal Issues
The world we live in can be crazy, and people want to know if you’re using your privilege as a brand to make the world a little bit better. Infomercials that tie in your product or service to a current societal or global issue make them more aware of these problems and let them know your brand can help fix them.
A great example is “Man on the Moon,” a 2016 Christmas advert released by department store John Lewis. They tell a story of a little girl who sees a lonely man on the moon and how she tries to communicate with him. Here, John Lewis addresses the problem of depression and loneliness among the aged population in the UK while seamlessly blending in their services as a department store.
Tackle Situations A Lot of People Have Gone Through
Another excellent storytelling technique incorporates events or milestones in a person’s lifetime. It makes you look more relatable and targets a large group of people who have gone through the same thing. You could mix in some calls to action if this is something prevalent that needs to change.
For instance, #LikeAGirl by Always was both a commercial and a lesson. It talks about how saying things like, “You hit like a girl,” or “You run like a girl,” was enough to plummet a young girl’s confidence, especially during puberty. Then, she always talks about wanting to change that, encouraging people to stop treating it as an insult and instead encouraging young girls to be their very best.
This was a hard-hitting advertisement that tackled an issue all females have gone through at least once while promoting a feminine hygiene product brand.
Tackle Everyday Situations
There’s beauty even in the most mundane of things. Your content doesn’t have to pack a severe punch all the time!
Take this Pepsi advert. Here, a lady asks for a Coke but gets hit with the classic line, “Is Pepsi okay?” Then, Steve Carrell, Cardi B, and Lil Jon all come out of nowhere to say that Pepsi is more than okay!
It’s short, sweet, and straightforward. Sometimes, that’s all you need.
References Old TV Shows and Movies, Play Old Songs
There are probably some songs, TV shows, and movies you grew up on and still love. Adding references to popular media back then can make a person’s day! For example, old and new generations of Star Trek fans were delighted when Audi released an ad featuring Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto. It was a playful comparison of two vehicles—Nimoy’s outdated car with minimal trunk space, slow speed, and lack of GPS, and Quinto’s Audi with plenty of trunk space and a state-of-the-art navigation system. You can watch the commercial here.
Conclusion
Everybody has heartstrings to tug on, meaning anybody towards anybody can use storytelling. Use this marketing strategy to invoke feelings and emotions in your viewers, driving them to interact with your brand. Nobody can resist a good story.
