The art of storytelling in marketing

“Stories are a communal currency of humanity.” ― Tahir Shah

The stories we tell quite literally make the world. They are a quintessential part of human culture.

We all love a good story. There’s a reason 'happily ever after' is the gold standard for almost every kind of media we consume.

Our brains are evolutionarily hard-wired to connect with narratives.

When it comes to marketing, good storytelling is a power move.

It’s like the Kamehameha of customer acquisition and retention.

Our founder, Stan, has always made storytelling central to his approach to business and has seen a great deal of success in doing so.

So I sat down with him to ask why embedding stories into your marketing strategy is absolutely essential. I also got his expert take on how to do this as effectively as possible.

But first, why storytelling?

Like I said, it’s an evolutionary thing. We’ve evolved to love stories because for millennia, we’ve had to share vital information through those stories.

Before we had the written word, we used them to pass down critical knowledge. As long as we’ve had somewhat of a language to tell them in, we’ve used them.

'Our brains are not hard-wired to remember facts and figures. They’re hard-wired to remember stories,' Stan explains.

As a brand, it’s hard enough to get someone to remember your name, let alone the thing you do.

Because let’s be fair, if I don’t know you from a bar of soap, why should I care?

I’m also likely to care even less if you try to explain your brand story to me as if you’re listing items off a checklist.

Not only does that suck. But also, it’s not how humans naturally tell a story.

Think about when you’re telling your friends about something that happened – you’re never going to be so rigid and linear with what you’re saying.

However, this is a common misconception about the way we tell stories. Stan explains that it’s also a common mistake that brands make in their marketing.

You often see businesses in the marketplace with their narrative of 'we did this, and then we did that, and then this happened, and now we’re here, doing this, and you should buy it off us.'

And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s just not that effective, or memorable.

Well, how do we be memorable then?

The storytelling that works well is the kind that revolves around a hero.

As humans, we always frame stories around a central protagonist.

Even if you’re just telling me about walking to the corner store to buy a packet of chips (or a pie, if you’re a Kiwi.) You’re telling a story in which you’re the protagonist. You’re the main guy and you’re taking me on this journey with you.

This kind of structure is commonly called the 'Hero's Journey,' and it’s a framework we’ve used forever to communicate stories to one another.

This familiar story format helps us repeat the story, too. The structure is literally embedded in our brains. So we can always recognise and memorize the pattern enough to retell and reshare the information delivered within.

The Hero's Journey is a powerful structure to use for your brand.

However, 'another misconception is that we often put our brand as the hero,' Stan explains, referencing Building a StoryBrand, by Donald Miller.

Instead of putting ourselves at the heart of the Hero's Journey, it’s important we place our customers there. Your brand, instead, plays the role of the mentor or guide.

The message is that you’re there to help them achieve their goals. This is how you develop very effective marketing communication.

Using storytelling to hijack your customers' brains is an approach you should be using in both social media and your general marketing strategy.

And while a linear, checklist style of storytelling is both boring and ineffective, we can often go too far with the contrary. Then, our messaging becomes lost in a convoluted mess.

This is where you need to know the difference between entropic and anti-entropic storytelling.

Stay with me now.

Stan's explanation for this concept? 'Entropy is chaos.'

And chaos is complex. So, when something is entropic, it has more disorder, more complexity.

When we build a narrative, we often feel like we have to add in every single detail or it won’t make sense. But the problem with this is, we end up adding a whole lot of sh*t that doesn’t actually contribute to the main narrative.

This ends up being quite hard to connect with, because the audience no longer knows the through-line.

You know those TV shows that go for literal decades? The storyline ends up so far from what it originally was. Eventually, you disengage because you can’t remember why you’re even watching it anymore.

Well, sometimes brands do this, too.

They keep iterating on their messaging, and their proposition, and their positioning until no one knows which way is up.

Stan reckons we see this with start-ups, especially. 'With so much growth and new potential, there’s this question of 'sh*t do we even still serve the same market anymore?"'

And that’s where the messaging gets too complex and confusing.

Obviously, this comes from a need to feel like you have to let your audience know all the things you have to offer. But if things are getting too complicated, you need to strip your messaging all the way back to basics.

And that’s what anti-entropic storytelling is.

All the best brands in the world have one thing they master. They then iterate on that one thing, but never stray too far, so their audience always knows what they’re there for.

Stan uses Coca-Cola as a prime example. Despite the iterations, who doesn’t know what the OG Coke is?

Another example is Apple. They famously turn all of their features into brands that are presented as benefits.

This manifests in their messaging.

Dell will tell you this 4K, 99-watt amp battery on their monitor has XYZ, using a bunch of terms you don’t know nor care to learn. Apple will tell you that you can watch X number of movies on their ‘Retina Display.’

And how much more do you suddenly give a sh*t?

That’s the power of anti-entropic storytelling.

'It's stripping back to the core thing you do to keep your through line really succinct, so your audience understands who you are.'

Stan believes brands should go through a regular cycle of revisiting their messaging as the business changes and evolves.

It’s like a rebirth. And it's a great way to clear any clutter that may be preventing customers from engaging with the narrative.

At the end of the day, storytelling is a craft.

Embedding this craft into your marketing approach can yield incredible results.

Its purpose is to hold attention. It keeps people engaged and helps them remember the message you’re conveying, and ultimately your business.

A story should act like a pulse. A good one will have highs and lows and evoke emotion throughout.

If your pulse is flat, your story is flat-lining.

As is your audience.

Be a smart marketer. Don’t kill your audience.

-Sophie, Writer

🎙️ Craving more? We explored how storytelling can make or break a brand’s marketing strategy on this week’s YAP Podcast. Dive deeper into the topic here.