Storytelling – The most important in a nutshell |
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Storytelling is a huge topic in marketing. Whether in product development, commercials or on Facebook, Instagram & Co, experts everywhere recommend relying on the power of stories. But what exactly is behind the term, what examples of success are there and how can you implement it yourself?
Wikipedia says: “Storytelling describes the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment.”.
In the marketing and business world, this involves putting one’s own content into stories. The reason for this is that stories sell better and the human brain processes stories better than simple information.
A story is always a combination of three things:
The result can then be as long as the Lord of the Rings series or as short as a well-known advertising slogan: “Every 11 seconds a single falls in love via Parship”; more on this below.
Basically, it makes sense to think in terms of stories already during product development – because if the product has emerged from the story, it is much more catchy than if you build this story after development. The example of Amazon shows how this can work in concrete terms. If someone there develops a new product and it is presented in an imaginary “press release from the future”.
The core elements of this press release are:
The product that is created in this way is thought of from the result – at Amazon this is called “working backwards”. As a result, product and story merge into a convincing unit.
38 percent of Parship users who ended their membership in 2013 said they had found the great love. Didn’t you know? Then how about “Every 11 seconds a single falls in love via Parship” – because that’s the story the company built from it.
Why is this version so much more catchy? Because it creates an image: a lonely (predicament) person (figure) and the singles exchange as liberation. In our minds, such a person closes the laptop and sets off on a date – every 11 seconds. How wonderful – whoosh, another one.
Classic advertising is of course predestined for storytelling. Especially in the commercials that inspire during the Christmas season. A good example is Thomann Christmas fairy tale of 2021: People all over the world associate a warm feeling with the Christmas season. Playing an instrument again conveys an equally overwhelming feeling. The story picks up on this, so grandfather and grandson rediscover their love of music.
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Social media is also changing the type of storytelling. Two important aspects of this are memes and stories.
Storytelling makes ideas more catchy and successful. That’s why storytelling should be considered in many marketing areas – from product development to classic advertising to social media. A good story makes people talk. The right content that fits the brand and appeals to the target group is important.
Since artificial intelligences can also write texts, the world of storytelling has changed. Now it is possible to let programs like Chat GPT do the storytelling for you. Still, of course, the AIs need to be given the right instructions to deliver good results. Here are valuable tips on how to improve your storytelling with the help of ChatGPT.
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