March 19, 2024

Content Marketing - StorytellingContent Marketing & Storytelling

One of my credos or beliefs is that the human mind is designed to listen to and remember stories. Our minds have not yet fully evolved to remember facts, numbers and statistics. Perhaps we are evolving into being better at remembering facts and statistics but for now I believe that we remember stories better.

What does this mean for your content marketing?

You Need to Use Stories in Your Content Marketing to Maximize its Effectiveness.

Stories predate our written language. As children we begged for them. As adults we still love a good story. On Sunday football fans all over the country watch Sunday NFL Countdown. This is a multi-hour show that gives viewers the back story for the games that will be played that day. It makes the product (the actual viewing of the game) more interesting – more enjoyable – more engaging. A good story has elements that we can all relate to. A good story teaches, entertains and engages.

I teach a public speaking program and one item that I stress, when advising people on the composition of their speech, is to find their own stories to illustrate the main point of their speech. A speech can be even better if the entire speech is a story.

I often use is a speech by Marie Curie as an example of this. In 1921 she spoke at Vassar College on the discovery of Radium. Marie Curie was somewhat shy, and she was not a practiced public speaker. Her speech kept the attention of the audience because she tells the story of the discovery of Radium. Her opening line is wonderful and engaging – “Radium is no more a baby.” I imagine that the people in the hall at Vassar in 1921 were mesmerized immediately with this opening.

Marie Curie made Radium into something no one would have expected. Radium grew up. Radium was human-like. Radium perhaps could go on adventures. The discovery of Radium could be a very difficult topic but she immediately made it interesting and engaging. She goes on, in the speech, to let the audience know that what she discovered was not what she had expected. This hint of “surprise” is another excellent story-telling device. It kept the story interesting. She tells the audience about the “beauty of science” and that “the scientific history of Radium is beautiful”. We get the sense that she is taken aback by the beauty of science. It is personal to her. It is beautiful to her. This personal touch is engaging.

Can we tell stories like Marie Curie on topics related to our business, products, or services? We need to think about this. A good story can go a long way when you use content marketing to attract and engage people. Add some emotion. Add your insights. Add an element of surprise or entertainment.

Mesh your story with your product features and benefits. Chances are that people will then remember the product features and benefits better.

Content Marketing Using Stories

Stories can be an effective form of communication. You can use a story even if your topic is complex such as what Marie Curie did with her speech. If you use stories for certain content marketing pieces then you materials will be more memorable and also more effective.

Your product or services has features and benefits. You may even have detailed specification for your products. Do you have stories as well? Can you create a presentation for your solution that is a success story and share it with your target audience? Does your blog have stories that your readers find informative and entertaining? If you publish a newsletter does it have a story or two to engage your readers?

Create stories for your business and this can be a strong foundation of your content marketing.

A good story is great content marketing!

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