In an age where everyone is a content creator, it’s not enough to simply put your product out there. Competition is high, attention spans are low, and brands are vanished at the swipe of a finger. Not only must you break through noise across platforms, you’re also increasingly competing against more than one device. Let’s face it, we’ve all been guilty of ‘watching’ TV and scrolling our phones, while simultaneously having our laptops open (cue palm face emoji).
In this tough media environment, brands can no longer afford to be impersonal or faceless. To cut through the noise, they need a creative narrative that connects with their audience on a deeper level. This is where brand storytelling comes into play.
With companies competing for attention at every click, brand storytelling is integral to capturing customers’ attention. According to Facebook, the average attention span for video content on a desktop is 2.5 seconds, dropping to just 1.7 seconds on mobile. When faced with that kind of pressure, it’s easy to fall into the trap of sacrificing storytelling for instant cut-through.
Too often, brands are opting for speed over substance – punchy straplines, flash in the pan imagery and ‘out there’ statistics. However, it’s one thing getting customers’ attention and another thing keeping it. When you find yourself immersed in a good book, everything else is just white noise –that’s what a great brand story can do.
Storytelling is emotive. A good story will strike a connection between consumer and product, driving engagement and increasing brand recall. According to cognitive psychologist, Jerome Bruner, the human brain is 22 times more likely to remember facts if they are presented as part of a story. Brands that use emotional storytelling are more likely to be remembered and shared. The better the story, the greater the talkability around it – online, offline and still, importantly, via word of mouth.
To go one step further, storytelling has even been proven to influence on a physiological level. A study cited by Harvard Business review revealed that humans are naturally attuned to storytelling, with stories having the ability to trigger the release of oxytocin – a hormone tied to social bonding and the promotion of trust, something that’s fundamental to building brand loyalty.
Brand storytelling is the difference between vying for attention and retaining it. When customers feel connected to a brand, more than half (57%) will increase their spending with that brand. What’s more, 76% will purchase from them over a competitor (Social Sprout).
As humans, we are emotionally led, and these emotions have the power to influence and drive purchasing decisions. Brand storytelling is no longer a nice to have. With the capacity to emotionally engage an audience, build trust, increase brand loyalty and drive conversion, it’s a vital component of any marketing strategy.
So, let’s all start telling a great tale.
