Is Storytelling Changing the Marketing Narrative?

The Power of Wow and Wonder is in Powerful Storytelling!

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I love stories because they take me on an adventure. From grandma tales to eccentric wonder books, stories simply have a way of arousing imagination.

While we may not admit it yet, storytelling is almost in everything that we do. We just either don’t tell them or are not keen to read them out for ourselves.

With the advent of content marketing, there was need to bring together sales and marketing teams. No doubt that’s a disaster right there, but it had to happen anyway.

Brands like Coca-Cola have hit a serious headway with native advertising, yet all that stemmed from an initial casting of great storytelling. We only are seeing the outburst of this conversation decades if not a century later.

Read: Effective Ways To Pitch Your Brand And Dominate Your Industry

So why do content marketers think that storytelling may be the disruptive way of marketing that wins at the end of the day?

Being a content marketer, my response to that question would be – because storytelling is emotional.

Let’s start with my simple theory – “Tell, don’t Sell!”

I think people are keen to listen when they are not sure what is coming next. That is the thrill with stories. While we may anticipate, we know that narratives can take either direction.

A good story will grip you tight and leave you at the edge of your chair, craving for the next scene. You don’t have the facts yet, and so you are listening in to unravel them as they come.

Yet still, people love what they can relate to – experiences, sometimes it’s the murky waters of dirty laundry (not an advocate at all), love stories, name it.

There’s just an allure that comes with stories  and yes, people love them! 

But what’s the alternative?

The selling!

Think with me here. We mostly sell facts, but sadly, all too often, they come to us before anyone even needs to sell them to us.

So what happens when someone attempts to sell that which you already know or at least have some knowledge about?

There is not as much curiosity; there is no hanging at the edge of your seat. But that is what advertising and most marketing techniques live for.

With the information flood in our media waves, people know what to pick or brush past as soon as it is flagged at them.

You bet me that promotional stuff barely stands chance at most scenes, except it carries with it traces if not chunks of sexual innuendo.

So why do I think that storytelling is changing the marketing narrative?

Well, because people love stories, and they sit in longing to hear their end. So you package it right, and you’ll have the ears to yourself.

But it is definitely not that obvious.

Content marketing is a new way of fusing ‘selling’ and ‘marketing’ without punching the other.

Sales teams barely buy into the strategies that marketing teams bring on the table, and vice versa. You can’t blame them. They all have professional stamps to support why they do it how they do it.

But with content marketing, it is possible to bring all principles to the table and get powerful results. One of this ways is storytelling!

In the next conversation, I will share my thoughts on how storytelling is working in scoring results for many brands world over and how it can work for you.

Meanwhile, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the same in the comments section below. You can invite your friends to join in the conversation by sharing the post with them.

Thanks for reading. Cheers!

Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash