Do you remember when you were a child, lying in bed at night and listening to a bedtime story? How did that make you feel? Did you feel loved, excited and starry eyed? Do you experience those feelings of wonder in your children when they ask for a bedtime story?
Storytelling is as old as the human race and transcends cultures, genders, ages and races. Everyone loves a good story, particularly when it means something to them, whether these are happy memories, yearnings or desires. So, in this new digital world where social media is all-encompassing, is there still a place for storytelling?
Mixing storytelling with social media
It’s likely that most of you already use social media to engage with your target audience and customers. If I can put it into words (pun intended) what digital storytelling is – it engages, attracts and (hopefully) interests your audience, but it goes much further and speaks not just to the head, but to the emotions of your followers.
Digital storytelling is still about your brand, products and services, but the underlying story is all about feelings and emotions. Simply telling your audience about your brand, its history and your vision can be a good story. It can be engaging and interesting, but is it enough to make people become loyal, lifelong customers?
Make your stories memorable
Most of us moan about the ads on TV. There’s too many ad breaks and too many ads in particular. Yet, there’s always the odd ad every now and again that catches our attention. That’s usually because it touches a spark or ignites an emotional response in us, whether we laugh, cry or shake our heads.
Some ads just have an impact on us and when they do, we often share – we tell everyone about this ad, because it touched something within us. It was memorable.
When you make something memorable in a good way, that’s when you start to really engage with your audience and build trust. In essence, you touch their heart, because your storytelling adds value to their lives. Stories that are shocking, yet heart-warming. Stories where we see people overcoming adversity. These stories are sometimes relatable, but always memorable.
Toyota did this exceptionally well in 2021 with their ad about Jessica Long, the Russian-American Paralympic swimmer. This ad tells her story but mentions hardly anything about Toyota. Does it work? You tell me ….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqWG5_7nwyk
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