Storytelling is a powerful marketing technique, which simply consists in telling a story. And everyone loves a story, right? Whether it’s the story you read to a child, the one you tell your friends at a party or the pitch for the latest Netflix series, stories are at the heart of our lives.
Brands have understood this and more and more of them are adopting this communication technique, especially for their digital marketing strategy. But then, concretely, how to do a storytelling? Where to start to become a real storytelling pro?
In this article, we decipher storytelling and give you some tips to get you started. We will also look at the most inspiring brands in storytelling, with several storytelling examples.
Storytelling def: what is storytelling?
According to the Larousse, the definition of storytelling is the following: “a communication technique that consists in promoting an idea, a product, a brand, etc., through the story that is told about it, in order to arouse attention, seduce and convince through emotion rather than through argumentation.”
In other words, storytelling is about having an emotional approach rather than a rational and descriptive one. Whether it’s a product sheet or an About Us page, it’s about engaging the visitor in a story that will create a lasting impact and develop their connection to the brand.
Here’s an example of storytelling: the Innocent brand, which tells its story as follows:
“We make delicious, 100% natural drinks. We also try to make jokes (53.99% success rate). It all started in 1999 at a music festival. 3 boys with windy hair, freshly graduated, buy 100 kg of fresh fruit. They made their first smoothies with a sign: “Should we quit our jobs to start healthy drinks?
What is the effect? We want to know the rest of the story. Innocent could have said “we are a beverage brand created in 1999, etc.”. But no, the brand chooses to stand out with a storytelling that embarks the reader.
If more and more major brands are choosing storytelling, it’s also because their products are widely known by consumers and they don’t really need to explain their characteristics. So, to arouse preference, they tell inspiring stories that sometimes move the lines, like Always and its “Run like a girl” campaign, or Gillette, whose committed video clips question masculinity and its clichés.
But sometimes, it’s simply about conveying positive emotions, like McDonald’s whose ads invite you to have a good time with its slogan “Come as you are”.
How to do a storytelling?
So, how to do a storytelling, or better: how to do a good storytelling? There is a fundamental principle: respect the characteristics of the story. Indeed, all stories have in common: a starting point, a hero or main character, adventures or different stages and finally an ending.
Storytelling often uses copywriting methods. The AIDA method for example – Attention, Interest, Desire, Action – is quite similar to the construction of fairy tales and other Disney stories!
Don’t know which end to take in your storytelling? Here’s a storytelling technique: think of a story around your product in real life. In what context or situation is your product used? What emotions does this situation create in people? Can you create a story around that? To help you think about this, you can use fictitious characters or personas – this is already the beginning of storytelling!
To go further, we recommend Andrew Stanton’s master class during a TED Talk on what makes a good story.
Storytelling: the different formats
Storytelling offers a lot of freedom. It can indeed take several forms:
A text published on a website or on social networks – on LinkedIn for example, the posts that are successful often use storytelling like those of Grégoire Gambatto from Germinal ;
An illustration, with thumbnails a bit like a comic book to tell a story in a visual way;
An infographic, an excellent digital storytelling format to explain complex concepts. If you’re wondering how to make an infographic, we recommend Canva to make an infographic for free;
A video, with an animated film or motion design. In fact, video storytelling is one of the most effective ways to tell a story;
A podcast, to share stories in audio format. What used to be reserved for professionals has become accessible to everyone thanks to free and easy-to-use audio editing software;
An ebook, i.e. a digital book, a way to get back to the basics of storytelling in a way! Creating an ebook can be a good format for storytelling. We will devote an article soon to how to create an ebook.