Storytelling – storytelling has power
24.07.2024
Maciej Pobocha, Content Coordinator
Recall your grandmother’s story that moved you the most as a child.
Moments later, my uncle recalled a toddler’s trip to Bulgaria for the 16th time, where watermelons were cheaper than potatoes. Isn’t it true that such stories are memorable? What if they could be used in marketing? This is what storytelling is all about
I’m a waiter at a restaurant on the market in Poznań,” says 21-year-old Piotr. Zosia works at an ice cream shop in Kielce, and Julka helped in the kitchen at a colony center. Young people took their first professional steps during the vacations….
This is how we once started an article prepared for our client in the financial industry. The theme was holiday work, and the goal was to encourage young people to open their first account with a specific bank.
We could have created a classic text based solely on market reports and the merits of the product, but we decided to reach for the stories of three people. The reason was simple. Properly spun stories attract, are remembered, and ultimately build connections and relationships, which, after all, is what marketing is all about!
Storytelling – what is it anyway?
The answer to the question “what is storytelling” or “what is storytelling” is not difficult – it is storytelling, a kind of art of storytelling. They have the advantage of engaging audiences much more than dry facts – even if they are interesting on their own. The use of narrative makes the reader, listener or viewer (depending on the type of content used) more focused, and the message is more memorable if storytelling is its basis. The definition is simple, but what does the matter look like in practice?
Storytelling in marketing
Using spinning stories to sell is nothing new. They have been successfully used by many brands (thanks to the agencies that support them, among others), who build context and a story around their services or products. They are thus more interesting to the audience, arousing their emotions, influencing their perception and helping them make choices.
They know that each of us is drawn into a narrative on a certain topic, because that’s what we – as humans – have the property to do. They use words to do this, but also visual storytelling, i.e. creating a story using graphics, photos or materials – after all, our brains assimilate images much faster than written content. And this is where digital storytelling comes in – weaving stories in the digital world – social media, websites, blogs, mobile apps. It usually combines the mentioned formats, skillfully juggling text, graphics, interactive elements or audio and video materials.
Storytelling – examples
Storytelling in advertising comes in many forms, such as the brand storytelling performed by Allegro with the brand’s 2016 Christmas ad. Entitled “English for Beginners. Its main character – a middle-aged man – learns vocabulary words and phrases after ordering from an English textbook service. He eventually travels to London to visit his grandson, whom he hasn’t seen in a long time, and be able to tell him in his native language, “Hi, I’m your grandfather.” Allegro also made a name for itself with Legends of Poland, which included short films (Dragon, Twardowsky, Twardowsky 2.0, Operation Basilisk and Jaga), music videos (a series of covers of Polish songs), an audiobook and ebooks.
The digital campaign “Next Close” prepared by Artegence for PKO Bank Polski can also serve as an example of storytelling. In it, we told about the bank’s new technologies in three stories full of warmth, freedom and happiness. During the campaign, sales of promoted accounts increased by 14 and 18 percent. (compared to the same period before it), and the “selfie” account opening function recorded sales increases of 170 and 177 percent. The campaign’s main spot was viewed 28 million times on TV, the spots for digital recorded more than 2 million impressions and the displays 71 million.
Storytelling is also sometimes accomplished with images alone. This is how the creators of #wombstories approached telling difficult, emotionally charged stories.
Storytelling marketing, however, is not just story-built video ads, radio ads or texts published in traditional and digital media.
These are also brand stories. One that shows, among other things:
What is the brand
Through the prism of its past, its plans, its evolution,
Where she is and why she is in it
as a result of pursuing a goal, overcoming adversity, striving to deliver a product that best meets customers’ needs, with people who have helped her through passion and commitment,
What the brand vision looks like
in whose head and under what circumstances it came into being, what goal the author (or authors) had in mind, how it is being implemented step by step, as a noble goal that is realized through the product.
Speeches using storytelling are also becoming common. It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that Stories are told by the heroes of TED conferences. Steve Jobs ‘ famous 2005 speech is also a great example. At Stanford University. In three stories, he explained to the graduates the importance of, in his opinion, believing in premonition, destiny, life or karma; being fully satisfied with one’s work by doing it well, which is possible by doing what one considers to be a great occupation; not wasting time living the lives of others; and following one’s heart and intuition. In doing so, he used examples from his life – calligraphy classes that, despite not graduating, resulted in Mac font patterns; being laid off from Apple and founding NeXT and Pixar), as well as asking himself, “If today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m going to do today?” This kind of message can certainly be considered inspirational storytelling.
Storytelling – how to get started
If you are wondering how to write storytelling because you plan to create content that uses storytelling, you can use the following techniques.
Recall some stories that are memorable to you.
Arguably, they had a main character. Use a similar treatment in your material. Create a character whose behavior or actions will be the basis for conveying the information you care about to your audience.
The more credible the story you tell, the better.
Writing about Annie, who has no name, age, profession, family and interests, but bought a product and is happy, is unlikely to bring you success. Present your protagonist as accurately as possible, with his flaws and advantages, with doubts and dilemmas.
Show what challenge your protagonist faced (or is facing), what is difficult for him and how he copes with it.
After all, we all want good to triumph over evil – like in a decent fairy tale.
Remember the structure of the story.
It must have a beginning, development and conclusion. Are you reminded of Polish essays? That’s a good thing! Sometimes simple, proven solutions are best.
When weaving into a story a product or service you probably care about showcasing, remember that sometimes less is more.
Don’t epitomize account capabilities, app features or insurance coverage. Send the reader to the website for details, where he or she will learn about the product or service, tempted by the story you tell.
If you care about conveying an idea, convincing someone of a certain lifestyle or pointing out the most important features of your brand, don’t hesitate to talk about it.
The message must ring out clearly.
