Before we had the written word, we had stories. Passed down orally, these narratives served to entertain and teach in a memorable way.
Nowadays, we live in a digital age, where the written word rules. For business advertising, though, stories still have a critical role to play.
Stories today may not look like oral traditions passed down around a campfire. However, they still have the power to entertain and educate, which makes them perfect for business advertising.
Stories make business advertising memorable.
Which would you remember the longest: Facts and figures about childhood hunger in the United States, or an in-depth look at a school-aged boy whose only meal many days is the lunch he receives at school?
Almost everyone will pick the story as the most memorable approach. This is why stories were the chosen way to pass down information before the written word: Stories have always been easy to remember.
The human brain is wired to remember stories. When you use a compelling story in your business advertising, you make it easier for people to remember your brand and your message.
Stories encourage emotional connection with your brand.
How do facts and figures make you feel about childhood hunger in this nation? They might surprise or concern you, but chances are you can move on with your life quickly after hearing them.
How would a story about a child going hungry impact you? Chances are, you would forge an emotional connection to that child. You might envision yourself feeding that child. You might give your own children a little extra on their plates at dinner time. You would have feelings about that story that would stay with you.
This type of emotional connection is possible in business advertising. When you tell a story, you stir the emotions of the people reading or hearing it. That is one reason that stories are more memorable than statistics when it comes to advertising.
When you use your business advertising to connect those emotions to your brand, it becomes easier for people to feel connected to your company. The emotions from your story become part of their experience of your brand (for better or for worse, so make sure your story is eliciting the reaction you want).
Stories make your business stand out.
One of the primary goals of business advertising is to set your business apart from the competition. One of the best ways to do so is through the telling of stories.
Stories give your business a unique flavor because stories are specific. Your competitor and you may both sell Fair Trade clothing, but your business is the only one offering stories about the people who are benefiting from customers' purchases.
The more specific and compelling you can make your story, the more likely it is that your business will stand out from the competition in the minds of your target audience. You stop being a faceless entity and become a living, breathing organization with specific events and people associated with it.
Stories encourage people to act.
Which would make you more likely to support a bill expanding the school lunch program in your state? The statistics or the story? Chances are, it would be the story that would drive your opinion about the bill.
Say the story was a video on the website of a non-profit organization whose mission was to donate backpacks of food to needy children during school breaks. Chances are that story would elicit action from you, even if that action was as simple as exploring the organization's mission a little more deeply.
Because stories forge strong emotional connections with customers when they appear in business advertising, they are effective in stirring listeners to action.
Your story about growing up with a gardening father in whose memory you created your florist shop makes people feel like they are participating in your story when they buy flowers from your shop. Hearing about the five generations who have built up your local hardware store makes people feel good about supporting your family business instead of the big box store.
If you want to stir people to action with your business advertising (which you do) try incorporating stories.
Stories have the ability to strengthen your business advertising. They make you more memorable, help you forge an emotional connection, make your business stand out, and encourage people to act.
Start incorporating stories into your business advertising and see what happens. And let us here at Distinct Web Design help you tell your unique story in a compelling and memorable way.
