The Re-emergence of Storytelling in Content Marketing

As with any new channel, when the online world first appeared businesses rushed to get something, anything online. They saw it as just an extra platform to get their name on, and did so without any coherent content strategy.

But over just a few short years the online world has grown in significance for all and as users have got more advanced, content has had to get cleverer.
Over the last two years we have seen clear, coherent content strategies grow and begin to form the forefront of most brands’ online presence as they have begun to harness the power of storytelling.

The age old practice of storytelling has been a defining feature of the human experience for millennia and with the emergence of psychodynamic theory and the rise of the “individual” in marketing, storytelling pretty much defined 21st century marketing.

The incorporation of this practice into content marketing strategies still relies on the same basic principles that you may recognise as part of your own strategy.

• At the heart of all a brand’s content, is their brand story, which is based on one of the seven story archetypes (The Voyage, The Quest, Rebirth etc.)
• The story itself relies on detailed research and understanding of the consumer bases’ story, with an idea of the stage that they’re at in their story along with the role that the brand can play
• The story still needs to be convincing, or as Kirk Cheyfitz put it “In a digital world where anyone can ignore anything, advertising must be as valuable as a good book, movie or news story”

Past masters in this art include Edward Bernays, who utilising storytelling became the first cigarette marketer to tap into the previously unattainable female market in America. He achieved this through making cigarettes a symbol of the suffragette movement, a part of the quest for equal rights.

Cigarettes became “Torches of Freedom” signalling a woman’s defiance and her equal worth. Here Bernays used the power of storytelling to form a deep emotional relationship with his customer base.

Digital age pioneers include Facebook, who understanding that customers provide the richest form of content has created the new “Facebook Stories” feature. Users generate their own Facebook stories and submit them to the site letting Facebook then choose the best to share with the world.

Here Facebook uses real stories as part of its storytelling content campaign – and what could be more convincing than that.

So, whether you use storytelling to create an engaging brand story that develops with your audience or whether you’re starting with their story, this is nothing new. You’re part of an age old tradition that has stood the test of time. Make sure your storytelling continues to pay homage to this tradition and its heroes and your content marketing won’t go far wrong.