For millennia, humankind has been telling stories. Every culture, throughout history, has been – and is still – defined by the stories that are told and passed down from generation to generation. Stories give us context and meaning, they place us in time, connect us to the past, and link us to the future.
Storytelling is also a crucial component of any marketing initiative. It’s what makes strategies and tactics memorable, or as I like to say, “sticky.”
At Avocet, we ground our clients’ marketing campaigns in storytelling. Whether it’s social, PR, blog writing, or creative, everything we produce for our clients is structured around a messaging framework designed to elicit the same kind of connection, engagement, and impressions that a good story does. Good storytelling as the foundation of an integrated marketing strategy is evocative. It inspires, it makes the audience FEEL. We tell stories not just with words but also with images – the look and the feel – of our creative.
There is an art and a craft to weaving a storytelling-based message throughout an entire campaign. We have to balance the need to impart information – about the features of the product or the service, for instance – with the emotion we want to convey. Every initiative we deploy needs to be supported by a foundation of research, facts, and data. But, we are also always keenly aware that while vitally important and persuasive, statistics do not inspire. A narrative that is personal does.
More to the point, a powerful narrative will break through the noise and be a message your customers will want to interact with.
Your brand’s story should:
- Have clarity of vision. It’s YOUR story, no one else’s.
- Humanize your brand.
- Have your values are woven throughout.
- Be authentic, genuine, and consistent across all of your efforts.
Because it comes down to this: your brand is NOT the product or the service you bring to the marketplace. Your brand is the SOLUTION you provide; that solution is the WHY you’re in the marketplace. In order to convey that in a powerful way – and in a way to drives revenue and grows your business – you have to connect to your customers by RELATING to them within a narrative that speaks to their lives and the culture they live in.
Not long ago I interviewed Kae Peller Howell, creative director at Green Chef, on Integrate & Ignite. If you want to hear more about storytelling-driving marketing initiatives, tune in to this podcast!
