Why you need storytelling in your marketing
Everyone loves a good story they can relate to…
Storytelling in your marketing makes it far easier for people to relate to you and your business. It helps connect you with your audience and improves your credibility on a subject.
According to Psychology Today, most people believe that the choices we end up making are based on the research we make. As consumers, we look at what else is available and make a choice accordingly. In reality, though it is our emotions that influence and determine our final decisions.
The influential role of emotion in consumer behaviour is well documented:
* Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that when evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions (personal feelings and experiences), rather than information (brand attributes, features, and facts).
* Advertising research reveals that the consumer’s emotional response to an ad has a far greater influence on their reported intent to buy a product than does the ad’s content — by a factor of 3-to-1 for television commercials and 2-to-1 for print ads.
* Research conducted by the Advertising Research Foundation concluded that “likeability” is the measure most predictive of whether an advertisement will increase a brand’s sales.
Studies show that positive emotions toward a brand have a far greater influence on consumer loyalty than trust and other judgments, which are based on a brand’s attributes.
Businesses must use emotions
Emotions from our previous experiences create preferences and lead to our decisions. Our emotions are the number one reason that we as consumers choose brand name products over no-name alternatives.
Think about Nike “Just do it” and their level of international marketing that aims to call on the emotions of people to just do it!
You don’t have to have the marketing budget of Nike to deliver your message.
Now it may be easy to convey your story through a print or video but you can show your story with emotion and personality in many ways. Never think that you are limited with your marketing as there are so many ways to get a message across.
- Consumers perceive characteristics in brands as they do in people – What personality does your business show?
- Just like we are attracted to certain people we are also attracted to certain businesses. This attraction is emotion-based and not rational at all.
- Your brand’s personality is shown in its – name, colours, packaging, website, social media, content, conversation and stories.
- Use your stories to communicate who you are and so that your ideal clients can connect emotionally to you.
- This connection can now be used to drive the potential client through to doing business with you.
- With emotion consumers are driven to buy or not to buy.
Storytelling will set you apart from your competition
There is any number of studies to prove that our brains prefer to read/hear a story over just plain and boring data. Does your business tell a story or just share data?
When we read data our brains light up only in the language area to decipher the meaning in the words. However, when a story is read the language area joins up with the other parts of the brain that would be activated if you were actually experiencing the story. What this means is that we can connect far easier and with more emotion if we are part of a story.
Telling a story affects the brain
Fear is an easy one and one that insurance companies use to sell you their products. By having their insurance you never have to worry again when something bad happens – simple but effective.
The feel-good business gives back with every purchase you make so that you feel like you are doing something for the world. Shoes for poor, wells for water, sanitation for hygiene and more. This story is easy to sell.
Neural coupling – A story activates parts of the brain that allows the listener/reader to turn the story into their own ideas and experience.
Mirroring – Listeners/readers will experience similar brain activity to each other.
Dopamine – The brain releases dopamine into the system when it experiences an emotionally charged event. This makes it far easier to remember and with greater accuracy.
Cortex Activity – When processing facts, two areas are activated, Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas. A well-told story will engage many areas including the motor cortex, sensory cortex and frontal cortex.
Storytelling connects you with your ideal clients and compels them to buy. What emotions can you trigger with your stories to ensure people want to do business with you?
Now what
Know who you are – What do you stand for and what problems do you solve? Your Why!
What sets you apart – How are you different or better than any other business offering the same thing?
Know your ideal clients – What do they want and how can you connect to their emotions?
Keep it true – Ensure that your story is true and believable – If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. Consumers are savvy!
Tailor your story – Ensure that your story meets your ideal clients and can be conveyed to the platforms that you need to share it on.
Use images – Images are a great way to tell a story
Leave them wanting more – strike with the emotion that leaves your ideal clients wanting to know more about your business.
Conclusion
Small Business are all in the business of telling a story – If you can improve how you do this, be mindful when you produce your content and don’t get too personal, your ideal clients will be able to relate. When I say don’t get too personal this is going to depend on your business. For example, fitness professionals often do much better when they share their personal story and other personal stories of fitness or weight loss. If however, your personal story does not relate to your why – why are you sharing it?
At My Sassy Business, we continue to offer small business advice and digital marketing that makes a difference to your small business. Make sure to get in touch if you are interested to find out how we can help you.
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