{"id":7632,"date":"2016-06-19T10:04:48","date_gmt":"2016-06-19T10:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3doordigital.com\/?p=7632"},"modified":"2016-06-19T10:04:48","modified_gmt":"2016-06-19T10:04:48","slug":"6-tips-using-emotional-storytelling-marketing-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.angoramedia.com\/blog\/6-tips-using-emotional-storytelling-marketing-strategy","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways to Use Emotional Storytelling as a Marketing Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"
Our life is a collection of stories. Our stories reveal who we were in the past, who we are today and who we aspire to be in the future. They reflect our beliefs, our values and the way we see ourselves and the world. They make us connect emotionally with other people, whether we’re on a first date or getting to know a new friend.<\/p>\n
In the same way, stories can also aid brands in connecting with their audience on an emotional level. Stories create interest in the brand, foster its relationship with\u00a0its audience and help it gain trust from its customers. Emotional branding – by way of storytelling – is an advanced marketing strategy which can help both in sales and in customer retention.<\/p>\n
Telling stories to sell products has always been a major part of\u00a0advertising; but in recent years it has steadily been replacing\u00a0direct marketing. Today, more than ever, people are interested in the story behind the brand and develop strong preferences for certain brands depending on the stories they’re telling.<\/p>\n
Andy Maslen, author of Persuasive Copywriting: Using Psychology to Engage, Influence and Sell<\/a>, ties this phenomenon to globalization. According to him, “\u201cThe best ad campaigns have always led with stories, but the rise of globalization has led to increasingly abstract, conceptual or image-driven advertising where the idea is paramount, and the brand… is pushed firmly into the background.\u201d<\/p>\n The following infographic from Play Network<\/a>, illustrates this point:<\/p>\n <\/a>Evidence shows that emotion plays a large part in consumers’ purchasing behavior. In an article published in Psychology Today<\/a> in 2013 by Peter Noel Murray, Ph.D., he mentions several findings from research done on the subject:<\/p>\n One place where emotional branding by storytelling has been hugely successful is on social media. This makes sense as both emotional branding and social media emphasize connecting people, strengthening relationships and giving inspiration to others. On social media, brands become our friends, just like people do. By following a brand on social media we’ll receive constant reminders of its existence (a heartwarming video, a funny post, etc.). The more positive these interactions are, the better relationship the brand will build with us.<\/p>\n The explosion in the number of social networks in the past few years and the rise in their popularity make for excellent opportunities of\u00a0storytelling. People on social media use their profiles to create a certain image and share content which fosters this image and aligns with their values. Thus, a brand which is telling a emotional story on social media, which illustrates certain values, is doing the right thing; people who have been moved by this story and share its values will like it, share it or comment on it (sometimes all three). This is how posts by brands can go viral.<\/p>\n In 2013, GoPro (the famed action cameras manufacturer) posted a video on social media showing a fireman saving a kitten from a burning building. Within a week, GoPro’s video had reached nearly 63,000 shares. It was so powerful that even when another Facebook page, World’s Best GoPro Videos<\/a>, re-posted it in 2015, it got 1745 likes and 1320 shares:<\/p>\n\n
Storytelling is highly effective in social media marketing<\/h2>\n