The Importance of Storytelling

Let's say you've got a great idea, product or experience and you're wanting to promote it to an audience. Of course you want them to come to your store, website or event, you want them to actively engage with your product or service, and you want them to have an enjoyable, valuable experience that has them talking about it to their friends and leaves them wanting to come back for more in the future.

How do you accomplish this?

By telling a good story.

All marketing is essentially storytelling... but the quality of that story in the mind of the audience is what determines its effectiveness. So how do you tell a good story? There are three basic components to consider:

The Who

A good story starts with some important questions about your audience. Who am I telling this story to and what do they want? It's not enough to think "Everyone loves ice cream! All we have to do is let them know we're here and we're good." There's a huge difference, for example, between a group of neighborhood kids playing stickball hearing the familiar jingle of an ice cream truck and a stressed adult indulging in a guilty treat to feel better after an emotionally challenging day.

When you understand your audience, you can look for the needs and desires that drive their behavior and craft your story in order to connect with them where they are.

The What

The next piece of the story is a deep understanding of your product or service. Of course you think it's great but what exactly is it that makes it appealing and how can you connect that to your chosen audience?

Price, quality, appearance, location... if your product or service is a good fit for your audience you don't really have to tell them the explicit details... but knowing how to show it in a way that will resonate with them gets us through the arch of the story and guides us in to the finish.

The Why

The final step of your story is to capture the emotional impact that connects the who with the what and calls your audience to action. Let's say you've identified your audience as suburban parents of the millennial generation and your product is a suite of colorful, fruit-based frozen treats that offer healthy refreshment at a reasonable price point. The best way to stand out in this crowded field would be to tell a story that connects your product to the customer's desire through emotional impact.

Using our ice cream truck example; imagine a commercial that presents a 1980s suburban scene of a group of hot, dirty kids playing in the street together and their delight upon hearing the memorable jingle of a neighborhood ice cream truck, then cut to a modern home with the millennial parent and kids sitting in the living room on their phones and tablets. The parent looks around the room wistfully for a moment, then the music plays that familiar ice cream truck jingle as the parent reveals your product from the freezer... healthy and colorful frozen fruit snacks in the shapes and styles of those ice cream truck treats of their childhood. Insert a few product shots and some voiceover about the healthy ingredients then cut to the kids on the back patio together enjoying their dripping treats and a bit of sunshine as the parent experiences a pleasant moment of nostalgia for the past and hope for the future.

Putting it All Together

Many consumer products are not sold for the intrinsic value of the product itself but rather for the feeling or experience they create in the consumer. Understanding your audience and your product and crafting a powerful story that brings them together to fulfill your audience's wants, needs or desires can elevate your product or service from a mere item or event to an important element of the customer's life.

Whether it's as nuanced as passing on the values of an entire generation or as simple as just getting the kids to go outside, the story you tell is how you meet your audience where they are... all you need is some storytelling skill and to trust that they're waiting for you there.