For many years humans have been telling stories in a way to convey a message to others for entertainment, to feel connected or to raise awareness of important events. We’ve been telling stories for so many years that it has become a part of our everyday conversations – almost embedded in our brains consciously and subconsciously. We tell stories to explain a problem, to justify a decision and to create our own personalities and traits. Story telling exists in every culture.
The art of storytelling is about being able to engage the listener/reader, almost as if they are reliving the events happening or can paint a picture in their minds of the story; building some sort of synchronicity with the author. This helps stimulate passion and an emotional connection amongst a community which is powerful in turning the art of storytelling into a successful sale. No matter the heritage, language, hometown and so forth, everyone can understand a story.
Overtime, numbers have overpowered the value of what people actually want. The statistics based on trends and other outside controversies seem to be more important than viewing individuals who just want a good story telling they can lose themselves in. Not to say that quantitative data isn’t useful, it can enhance the art of storytelling whilst considering the customers actual needs from a marketing perspective.
Firstly it’s important to understand that the consumer is the hero of their own story. Despite the shambles of the current government driven by Boris and the unclear Covid 19 rules, plus the poor Brexit negotiation antics, we might be looking on the outside thinking Boris seems to get blonder everyday but to him, he is the pioneer and hero of his own story, he is leading and taking us forward in his mind. Fortunately, we are not marketing to the politicians but people, as individuals. Once we understand that the consumer makes decisions that align with the story we can successfully say that the art of storytelling has been achieved not only through a marketing perspective but with an individual unbiased mind. The closest you’ll get to mind reading!
To put this in simpler terms, the consumer never purchases a story for the author but for themselves. An example could be a purchase of Alan Sugars book series. They haven’t bought this book because they want to please him; they’ve made the purchase so they can better themselves in business or be motivated in some way. This reasoning for a sale is usually overlooked.
Now that we’ve established how a consumer should be viewed. Let’s look at how to tell a story that will attract readers.
Make the story less about you and more about them
To add on to the above, the reader needs to be able to make a connection with the story. So, you need to figure out what is really going on in their mind, which will make them want to enter your powerful world of storytelling. Remember telling a story to a farmer and a millennial are two very different things. Thus creating the right character/situation the reader can bond with is essential in the art of storytelling.
Create a problem and a happily ever after
Most books have a villain or a problem that needs to be defeated. Real life villains can be: bullies, paying tax/bills, losing weight, poor technology and so much more. As a marketer its necessary we give our audience the essentials they require to fight this battle. It’s the only way they can step into the shoes of that character and conquer their problems. Through storytelling the journey of the character needs to be made clear, how they got to the point of struggle and what the experience was like to finding the solution also known as the happily ever after. It’s when the individual can truly see that what they have been reading has benefitted them in some way and they have triumphed. This can be done using persuasive and gripping words, but yet believable.
The art of storytelling takes time and development and it is not just about the polls but knowing and really diving into the brain cells of your reader to create desire and a sense of escape. It is an art not a process which can take quite a number of trial and errors to master.