Advertising can be a powerful medium through which you can relay brand stories to consumer audiences. Stories resonate with people more than statistics and data do. That’s why you’ll find many great ads have a story in them. This story helps people connect the brand with the story, and people are also more likely to remember stories.
Stories have the ability to help people connect with each other. For brands, it helps them to build a brand that resonates with them. If you were looking for a way to generate interest in your brand, then doing so through storytelling can be an amazing idea. Also known as emotional brand building, this is a marketing strategy that, although more advanced, presents greater rewards.
Stories and advertising
An emotional connection has a large role to play when it comes to developing a consumer audience. Businesses and brands have used stories to create advertisements that resonate with people for decades.
Other than through traditional advertising, storytelling in this fashion has also found success on social media. This doesn’t come as a surprise since both emotional branding, as well as social media have at their core the same values. They strive to connect people to each other, as well as to inspire people that view the content.
The rise of social media has given businesses a great opportunity to advertise through such platforms. The key is to involve emotional storytelling in your social media branding as a way to ensure that people are connecting with the message you have to spread.
What are the different types of stories you can tell?
Storytelling can be an effective strategy for marketing when done right. There are six types of stories you can tell through advertising. They include:
1. Caring about similar issues
People who share similar values are more likely to connect with each other better. Should your brand be promoting a particular cause, such as animal rights, or humanitarian causes, you can include them in your marketing narrative. Create a story around the cause of your choice to spread awareness about your charitable causes and to show people that you care.
Through such forms of storytelling, you’ll more effectively be able to connect with people who share the same values. In turn, they are more likely to resonate with your brand, as well as more likely to be consumers.
2. Understanding your audience
People enjoy being understood, as well as being appreciated. If you can create advertisements that show people that you understand them, this can, in turn, enable them to better connect with your brand. You can also enable them to feel better by connecting with your brand.
An example of a brand that does this is Dove. They regularly focus their ads on the stories of regular women and talk about how their products improve the lives of users. They focus on positive body image for women, and as a result, have been able to develop a strong audience that resonates with them.
3. Making life better
Another effective storytelling idea for your brand is to show how your products or services can make life easier for the consumer. Create ads that showcase the benefits of your products or services.
4. Showing consumers you know what they are going through
People can be hard on themselves, which is why having understanding people around them is helpful. They can enable people to feel better and deal with any failures or obstacles that they’ve encountered. Create ads centered around common challenges and failures people face, as well as how your products or services can help them overcome them.
5. Aspirations and goals
Another effective way to tell stories is by showcasing goals and aspirations, as well as how your products and services can enable people to reach them. From completing graduation to winning in sporting events, if you can relate your products or services to people teaching their goals, you can connect with them better.
Brands often tell inspiring stories in an effort to motivate people and get them to connect reaching their goals to the brands.
6. Celebrating uniqueness
Some people can feel like the odd one out in their family or group of friends. They may have an odd hobby or an odd sense of fashion. They can also feel burdened by their differences. Creating ads dedicated to celebrating such uniqueness can help your brand to connect with such people better.
It can also enable your brand to inspire others to celebrate uniqueness as well.
Conclusion
Emotional storytelling is a great marketing tool, that when used right, can enable you to find great success. Develop a connection with your consumer audience by using these tips to create advertisements that make use of powerful narratives.
Tracy is the Design Manager here at Redwood Creative. She’s been designing amazing graphics and web layouts for large and small businesses for upwards of 7 years.
