In college I majored in Marketing so I could find a job after graduation and minored in English because I loved it. But something strange happened in these years – my English courses actually prepared me for my career just as much as my Marketing courses. The reason for this is simple – being a successful marketer requires being an effective storyteller.
Sure, there are plenty of firm data-driven components to marketing, but the hardest part of marketing is actually the softer message-based component of marketing. With the rise of content marketing, being able to weave a narrative is more important than ever before. You can’t just write for the search engines, you also need to write for real people – being able to do both and still make it compelling is a feat that you’ll only be able to achieve as a great storyteller.
So how do you get your storytelling on? There are a few key rules to follow:
Sure, there are plenty of firm data-driven components to marketing, but the hardest part of marketing is actually the softer message-based component of marketing. With the rise of content marketing, being able to weave a narrative is more important than ever before. You can’t just write for the search engines, you also need to write for real people – being able to do both and still make it compelling is a feat that you’ll only be able to achieve as a great storyteller.
So how do you get your storytelling on? There are a few key rules to follow:
Don’t Tell – Show through Description
Showing is the most important thing you can do when telling a story because it engages your audience. Consider the difference between these two messages:
vs.
Using visual aids like infographics or detailed images helps you to show the true benefits of your products or services and is a great trick that marketers can use when words aren’t their strength.
Set the Scene
Giving the backstory is a classic technique in storytelling because it provides details that are relevant to understanding the picture at large. Since every product or service solves a problem, focusing on eliminating that problem is vital to understanding the greater context. Consider our example from earlier and try to imagine how you can integrate its problem-solving capabilities:
Evoke Emotion
Emotion is absolutely vital to marketing because it provides the lure you need to draw people in and pique their interest. Emotion is engaging and drives people to take action. It’s important to use relatable emotions, but not every relatable emotion is appropriate to use in your marketing. Positive emotions like excitement, approval, acceptance, and anticipation almost always perform better than negative emotions like fear, distrust, shame, and anger. Don’t believe me? Consider these versions and decide which appeals more to you:
vs.
Go Somewhere
My High School band director used to say “In music, you’re never staying in the same place – you’re always going somewhere or coming from somewhere!” I was terrible at playing an instrument, so this didn’t help me much, but everyone else who had some skill took her advice and you could really tell the difference! The same is true of marketing – you need to be going somewhere. Simply telling your audience something doesn’t mean much if you don’t use a call-to-action to direct them to take the next step. For instance,
Obviously this was just an example of how to write a short product pitch using storytelling principles, but the same techniques can work for all of the content across your website and your marketing channel communications. Need your content re-written? We provide custom copywriting services – contact us now!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
Showing is the most important thing you can do when telling a story because it engages your audience. Consider the difference between these two messages:
- “Our software makes your job easier!”
vs.
- “With real-time data, robust analytics, and customizable reporting, our software will have you home by 5:00!”
Using visual aids like infographics or detailed images helps you to show the true benefits of your products or services and is a great trick that marketers can use when words aren’t their strength.
Set the Scene
Giving the backstory is a classic technique in storytelling because it provides details that are relevant to understanding the picture at large. Since every product or service solves a problem, focusing on eliminating that problem is vital to understanding the greater context. Consider our example from earlier and try to imagine how you can integrate its problem-solving capabilities:
- “Tired of spending late nights in the office updating and compiling data for budget meetings? With real-time data, robust analytics, and customizable reporting, our software will have you home by 5:00!”
Evoke Emotion
Emotion is absolutely vital to marketing because it provides the lure you need to draw people in and pique their interest. Emotion is engaging and drives people to take action. It’s important to use relatable emotions, but not every relatable emotion is appropriate to use in your marketing. Positive emotions like excitement, approval, acceptance, and anticipation almost always perform better than negative emotions like fear, distrust, shame, and anger. Don’t believe me? Consider these versions and decide which appeals more to you:
- “Tired of spending long hours in the office updating and compiling data for budget meetings? With real-time data, robust analytics, and customizable reporting, our software will have you home by 5:00! What will you do with your evenings?” or perhaps “Tired of spending late nights in the office updating and compiling data for budget meetings? With real-time data, robust analytics, and customizable reporting, our software lets you keep your 5:00 reservation!”
vs.
- “Tired of getting nagged for all those late nights? With real-time data, robust analytics, and customizable reporting, our software will have you home by 5:00!” or perhaps “Worried about the accuracy of your numbers at budget meetings? With real-time data, robust analytics, and customizable reporting, our software will let you sleep well at night!”
Go Somewhere
My High School band director used to say “In music, you’re never staying in the same place – you’re always going somewhere or coming from somewhere!” I was terrible at playing an instrument, so this didn’t help me much, but everyone else who had some skill took her advice and you could really tell the difference! The same is true of marketing – you need to be going somewhere. Simply telling your audience something doesn’t mean much if you don’t use a call-to-action to direct them to take the next step. For instance,
- “Tired of spending long hours in the office updating and compiling data for budget meetings? With real-time data, robust analytics, and customizable reporting, our software will have you home by 5:00! Sign up for a free trial now and find out what you can do with your evenings!”
Obviously this was just an example of how to write a short product pitch using storytelling principles, but the same techniques can work for all of the content across your website and your marketing channel communications. Need your content re-written? We provide custom copywriting services – contact us now!
Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!
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