20/07/2018
In 2009, a brave man named Rob Walker dared to prove that content marketing is magical... (This will take about 3 minutes of your time to read) he purchased 200 items on Ebay for a total value of $129. He then spoke with 200 copy editors and writers and asked them to write a story about each of the objects he had bought on the internet. A journalist for the New York Times himself, Rob believed in story having the ability to transcend physical barriers. Rob and his team placed the 200 items back on Ebay with their individual stories and sold all 200 items for just under $8000! This is the experiment: http://significantobjects.com/
Story is the reason you stopped to read this post - let's be honest, we've been enchanted by the fight between good and evil since we were getting bedtime stories and we just liked the pun that not only in marketing is the pen mightier than that sword...
Storytelling Propels to Take Action
Stories provide us with the knowledge and inspiration to act. So says psychologist Gary Klein in Made To Stick, written by Chip and Dan Heath, which presents why certain ideas live and others die.
The three types of plot, which the authors highlight for their ability to inspire us to act, are 1) Challenge, 2) Connection and 3) Creative plots – tools that can also be leveraged for storytelling purposes in marketing. Whether it is about 1) removing consumers’ commonly shared obstacles, 2) creating connections with other communities, or 3) finding fresh ways to solve problems, content can appeal to specific needs the audience may have, while better targeting their business motivations.
Encouraging action is sometimes as simple as writing effective calls-to-action – necessary gateways for readers becoming more involved with the brand and making those storytelling efforts count in the purchase funnel.
Long Content Works Well
Short content can really grab the audience’s attention and garner that retweet pretty fast. However, it’s a lot easier to appear to be an expert on something through a couple of sentences than through an ebook or a full case study. Longer content also gathers more social engagement, comparisons between the benefits of short- and long-form content reveal.
Obviously, length does not equal quality. But quality does equal better chances of making a positive impact and relaying a more thorough understanding of what it is a brand does. It also signals that the brand is actually investing in its content and what it shares to its audience.
It’s Emotional Marketing at its Finest
Stories are excellent building blocks for emotional connections with consumers. They allow for the reader to establish an emotional connection to them, having long-lasting effects. Imagine reading a story about who came up with a brand’s name vs. a story on what led up to that discovery.
Ads with stories allow brands to take on a whole new set of positive associations. Take Volkswagen’s Super Bowl commercial for Passat in 2011. The one with the little Darth Vader: https://youtu.be/XrBTxqNjM6M
It's designed to appeal to the aww emotion (it's definitely a thing). This is not a misplaced motivation; the most shared ads from 2017 include cute animals and encouraging good deeds. But mere click-baiting is different from building a real connection with the reader.
It Increases Authenticity
Stories reveal a great deal about a company’s values, their motivations and what they stand for. These 5 cases of brand transparency reveal how it can be done. Sometimes it’s as simple as setting facts straight (McDonald’s). Sometimes brands allow consumers to tell their own stories by testing the products (Canadian Tire).
Employee Advocacy is also an excellent way to allow employees tell the story of their brand.
Consumers expect authenticity from brands to build their trust. It’s also the path to creating strong connections; people can relate to brands if they can relate to what the brands truthfully represent.
Telling Your Own Story
Establishing lasting connections with audiences is no easy feat. While the success of content marketing is more reliant on targeting and measuring than ever before, marketing messages are and will always be received by humans. The more powerfully you are able convey the things taking place behind a brand and boost interest in things yet to come, the better your chances of truly reaching your customers are. Start with encouraging your employees to produce and share content, and you're on your way towards a more humanized brand.
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