Marketing Storytelling for 2020: Woo Customers With Age Old and Cutting Edge Techniques

Last Updated: December 16, 2021

Storytelling in marketing works because it engages your audience, evokes an emotional response, and guides them through their buyer’s journey. In this article, we share a few ideas to combine classic storytelling techniques with modern marketing to win over your audience in 2020.

Content is published at an unprecedented rate now, and attention is the most precious resource, while it gets harder and harder to trust brands. So, in the age of an information overload and short attention spans, how do you attract eyeballs and cultivate trust?

The answer is by telling stories.

I remember my first guitar lesson, in 2008, where my tutor taught me a simple phrase to remember string names – EADGBe, in the right order. The phrase was, “Every Amateur Does Get Better eventually.

Storytelling devices such as analogies, anecdotes, riddles, limericks, and mnemonics are compelling and memorable because they appeal to our senses. Facts supported by an opinion or story are more potent than standalone facts because stories demand our emotional investment.

Storytelling in marketing is not an entirely novel concept. Marketers have been using marketing storytelling to stand out from the vast sea of content.

In this article, we look at how you can combine old-school storytelling techniques with the new-age technology to take your marketing to the next level. 

3 Classic Storytelling Techniques on New-Age Marketing

Boris Guffond, (Communication Director, Mazarine) shared his thoughts on marketing storytelling exclusively with MarTech Advisor,

The idea to oppose classic storytelling and new-age sounds artificial: A catchy plot will be more effective today if linked to new-age tech.

It sounds like depending on the generation of consumers, new-age could work better for millennials and classic techniques for Gen X. The storytelling challenge today is to develop specific stories for each brand, to emerge in the mass of communication, and build brand value in the long term.

Here are three classic storytelling techniques reimagined for modern marketing:

1. The Hero’s Journey
 

The hero’s journey or monomyth is the story of an underdog – the one who emerges victorious despite the odds stacked against him. The hero sets out on a journey full of trials and tribulations and uncertainty to gain enlightenment. It is what Luke Skywalker did in Star Wars.

Brands can use the monomyth in the following two ways:

A. Make the brand the Sensei: Sensei is a Japanese word for teacher. Marketers can create content that inspires action by sharing their experiences and learnings. The content could be in the form of words, a podcast, or a video to help customers resolve their pain areas, make better decisions, or gain a new perspective. Ryan Robinson, a renowned blogger, shares the strategies he used to earn through his blog in his monthly income reportOpens a new window .

B. Make the Audience the Hero: Let your customers tell their story. Let them show how your products helped them improve their lives. Testimonials enable brands to do that.

Here is an example of HootSuite using social proof to explain how their social media certification program helped Wiley streamline social media processes at the organization.
 

                                                     HootSuite Showcasing Wiley in Their Testimonial Video

 

Learn More: 5 Storytelling Ideas for the Age of Interactive MarketingOpens a new window

2. Sparklines
 

While the monomyth is an effective technique to inspire people, using sparklines (visual representation of data) can help you persuade them. This storytelling technique shuttles between hope and reality, where you/your brand promises to bridge the gap between the ideal and present states.

Sparklines Are an Effective Storytelling Technique to Persuade People

Image source: SparkolOpens a new window

Sparklines Are an Effective Storytelling Technique to Persuade People

Nancy Duarte, in her 2010 book, Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences analyzes how powerful presentations such as Steve Jobs’ 2007 iPhone launch presentationOpens a new window use this technique to spellbind the audience.

How can marketers use this technique to influence the buying decision? Here are two simple ways:

A.Use compelling action verbs on call-to-action (CTA) buttons to inspire intended behavior. Netflix’s Start 30 Days Free CTA is more effective than a simple Sign Up button.

Netflix’s Primary CTA That States a Clear Benefit to Drive the Intended Result

Netflix’s Primary CTA That States a Clear Benefit to Drive the Intended Result

B. While designing landing pages or product demo presentations, focus on the selling benefits, not features. Show users what’s in it for them!

3. Converging Ideas
 

This storytelling structure sheds light on how different thoughts or people came together to inspire a product, idea, or movement. An example of converging ideas is the way Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. inspired one of the most significant civil rights movements in history or how some of the biggest Silicon Valley tech companies are the brainchildren of the PayPal Mafia.

Marketers can use this technique to develop their brand story.

Two other techniques along the similar lines of converging ideas are nested loops and the petal structure.

In nested loops, there are multiple narratives, where each narrative fuels the next one to reach the core message. On the contrary, the petal structure consists of multiple stories pointing to the main message. Marketers can use these two techniques to address different audience segments or portray multiple features or use cases for the same products.

Learn More:

What Is Content Marketing? Definition, Types, Best Practices, Benefits, and ExamplesOpens a new window

3 Emotional Storytelling Tips and Techniques for 2020

When asked how B2B marketers can use storytelling to evoke emotions, Boris Guffond opined,

To build meaningful storytelling, B2B marketers have to avoid all gadget tools that are not true to the DNA of the company.

No need to test all new tech, as the flow of new tool is constant. The best way to emerge in the crowd of the market is to communicate and be true to the distinctive value you can bring to your clients, your identity.

So there’s no general tips or techniques. The TakeOver exhibition in Paris by Mazarine is a good illustration. Mazarine has always been linked to art and culture world and exhibited art every year for the FIAC edition in October, as it’s in the DNA of the agency. But this time, Mazarine stepped aside, as the idea was to connect art and technology, using only emotional experiences through interactivity to make the difference and a real statement of our convictions of the future of tech in the luxury business.

 

Learn More: 

Top 20 Content Marketing Strategies For Your 2020 PlanOpens a new window

Here are three emotional storytelling techniques to use in your marketing:

1. Create Ephemeral Content
 

Social media platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram allow users to post tiny bits of content that disappear after 24 hours. Brands can utilize ephemeral content to engage audiences with a short attention span. Besides this, the fleeting nature of the content creates a sense of urgency in the audience.

2. Create Contradictions
 

To involve your audience in your story from the get-go, create contractions. Say something that contradicts the context or challenges their beliefs. The contradicting statement shouldn’t be abrasive, but something that’ll make them say, “Okay, I’m all ears.”

Contradictions intrigue people. So, how can marketers create contradictions or conflicts that draw people’s attention? One example is Eric Bischoff, one of the most hated characters in pro-wrestling, downplaying the audience, a classic heel/bad guy tactic, in a TEDx Talk to get the audience involved.

Learn More: 

Top 15 Digital Marketing Strategies for 2020Opens a new window

Watch Eric Bischoff Get the Audiences’ Attention by Downplaying Them

3. Create a S.T.A.R. Moment
 

My guitar tutor taught me the mnemonic to remember string names in 2008. I’ve managed to remember it to this day because it was a lightbulb moment.

To make yourself memorable, you need to deliver something awe-inspiring or enlightening related to your product/service. Your content should have a hook that your audience will latch on to and associate with your brand. It should be Something They’ll Always Remember (S.T.A.R.). DuarteOpens a new window has identified five types of S.T.A.R. moments that you can use:

  1. Memorable dramatization
  2. Repeatable sound bites
  3. Evocative visuals
  4. Emotive storytelling
  5. Shocking statistics
     

Learn More: Content Experience Strategy: Creation, Key Transformations and InsightsOpens a new window

The Audience Is Listening

Marketing and storytelling go together like peanut butter and jelly. Benjamin Franklin said, “Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.

Storytelling in marketing works because it makes people a part of the narrative and appeals to both, the emotional and rational sides of our brains.

How do you plan to implement these storytelling tips and techniques in your marketing? Let us know on LinkedInOpens a new window , FacebookOpens a new window , or TwitterOpens a new window .

Indrajeet Deshpande
Indrajeet Deshpande

Contributor, Ziff Davis B2B

Indrajeet is a Marketing professional with 6+ years of experience in managing different facets of Digital Marketing. After working with SpiderG - a Pune based SaaS startup, he is now ready to work as a freelance marketer with different SaaS startups helping them with marketing strategy, plan and execution. His love for old-school hard rock and metal music culminated in taking up guitar and starting www.guitargabble.com. He’s studying Stoic philosophy, experimenting with productive habits and documenting the progress. Get in touch if you’re keen to know how you can implement pro-wrestling tactics in your marketing, community building and storytelling.
Take me to Community
Do you still have questions? Head over to the Spiceworks Community to find answers.