There is no doubt that telling a story appropriately has proven to be a powerful tool to conquer audiences. Brands that develop a well-constructed storytelling concept achieve a better market positioning by connecting emotionality with stakeholders, achieving a better-defined positioning and stay on top of mind with audiences.
Storytelling has been present throughout the history of humanity with storytellers from ancient Greek narrators to minstrels in the Middle Ages have been part of its evolution. The elders and shamans entertained the tribe with their stories by the fire at nighttime. The poetic stories in ancient Greece were accompanied by lyres to produce special effects for their heroic narratives. Such concepts provided the basis for today’s commercials or other formats for cinema, TV or internet platforms such as YouTube, TikTok or LinkedIn.
Generating trust and connecting with audiences through storytelling
Storytelling is an integral part of communication strategies and marketing plans, since it opens the opportunity to create a story around a brand and is a unique tool to generate an emotional bond with the audience while transporting important values and messaging of the brand and organization. Among the advantages of implementing storytelling, we see that stories help generate trust around a company. Having a narrative based on a theme and characters it “humanizes” an organization and created a connection with the target groups. In addition, an entertaining story enhances the user’s engagement with the brand. This is especially important in today’s era of social networks. If the strategy and storytelling are well-developed, the results of the communications and marketing have proven to be very positive.
Take a moment to think – how many stories can be told by your company?
Defining target audiences and utilizing different storytelling formats
For a successful implementation, you must define the type of audience you are going to target. This is a fundamental step of any marketing or communications strategy. It will allow you to profile the stories so that that target audience can identify itself with the narrative. With an established audience and communications objectives, you can work on the plot line. Of course, a PR and marketing communications agency can support you in finding suitable story angles and formats for your target audiences.
Within the story, the key messages of your brand and company need to be clearly visible. The story itself can be transported though different content formats and for different key target audiences, many of which can be measured one way or the other.
Based on the maxim “a picture is worth a thousand words” we need to keep in mind that stories are not only told through written language. There are many formats that can be utilized to transport a story and your key messaging – from photos and graphics to video formats or animated infographics.
Storytelling for multiple channels in PR and marketing
Your story can be translated into multiple formats and used for many different channels to ensure the content achieved maximum exposure for your brand. This way the content becomes a strategic asset. From developing one story and a master set of content you can utilize it on many channels and platforms – from classical media relations to Social Media channels, partner communications and your own websites to support Search Engine Optimization (SEO/SEM) and content marketing.
So how can you get started?
There is no one way to tell a story. It is important however that your story is based on key values and key messaging that define your brand and sets you apart from competitors. It should also be authentic. Often stores contain personal experiences, they can be humorous, emotional, and educational.
Our team has supported numerous companies and brands in developing their narrative and content that can be utilized throughout their PR ad marketing activities – from technology B2B companies that use trade media and Social Media platforms for peer-to-peer communications with their partners and customers, to organizations using it for HR communication and attracting talent, to consumer brands that establish a story with a wide end-consumer audience in consumer media and online platforms.
Depending on the industry and target audience the approach, the story angle and the formats can differ a lot. But with the right approach and support storytelling can become a very efficient key element of your PR and marketing communication strategy.
This blog post was developed in cooperation with our colleagues of PR LATAM network