Why Storytelling Makes for Better Marketing
And consumer stories make for even better marketing.
Brand storytelling can be extremely effective when it’s authentic. I’m also a big proponent of keeping brand storytelling honest, simple and clear.
A research study at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, which focused on German automaker BMW and Japanese Suruga Bank, sought to explore how storytelling in digital marketing affected consumer purchase decisions. The study’s authors discovered that stories do have a big impact, especially if they are consumer stories.
There are clear benefits to consumer stories shared with other consumers:
- Trust
- Social proof
- Simple storytelling
- Clear consumer value
- Little to no marketing jargon
The key for me is the ability to show clear consumer value by either addressing potential objections or demonstrating how your product or service makes customers’ lives easier or better (or both).
How can you incorporate customer stories into your brand storytelling? Is it about testimonials, product reviews or practical use features? Is there something simpler that you’re missing about how to allow consumers to discover how your existing customers use your product or service?
Interested in brand storytelling? Check out my Why Storytelling Series on Medium.
