We’re all guilty of bragging about our products’ cool, new features. After all, we dedicated our professional lives to making our products better. Ever wonder why you’re still having trouble getting the word out about your brand? It’s not that uncommon for businesses to focus solely on their services and forget to tell their story.
Ads that focus on your products’ sale offers or relative value, (the features you get for a discounted price) work best for larger corporations that can sell their services or products at a discounted rate. However, small or midsize businesses cannot offer the same kinds of discounts. Whether you’re a small, mid-size, or large brand, you shouldn’t pour all your resources into selling your products. Only business owners and a select few customers care about flashy product specs. Instead, commit yourself to telling your brand’s story to reach a wider audience.
Storytelling is The Best Marketing Strategy
Behind every business exterior, there is a story. As human beings, we are drawn to storytelling by nature, not revenue generation. At the end of it all, you are dealing with people daily who may or may not use your products. Your business should aim to solve customers’ problems and give them the tools they need to succeed in their journey. The money you make as a result is simply a side effect of providing excellent customer service by easing people’s frustrations.
One of the most successful brands today routinely uses storytelling to sell their products. Apple’s, “Get a Mac” campaign showed famous actor Justin Long who personified a Macbook. His opposite, played by John Hodgman, represented a PC by appearing old-fashioned and inept. While the ads compared Apple products with PCs, the use of a hip, young actor versus an old, clumsy man told a story about Apple that resonated with customers.
Promoting A Cause
Telling your company’s story doesn’t only revolve around your products and services. You can ‘go viral’ with your brand by promoting a cause your company cares about. One example of an ad that shared a cause is the Hear What You Want campaign, featuring Beats by Dr. Dre. The ad shows professional athlete Kevin Garnett tuning out disparaging remarks from rival fans’ and critics.
“Silence your worst bullies and critics; believe in your inner strength,” is the cause. With his Beats by Dre headphones, he can focus on himself and his goals, not the sounds of condemnation. Therefore, the product becomes the tool customers use to overcome their detractors, and it also highlights one of the products’ main features – noise cancellation.
Reactive Storytelling
Alright, let’s say you’re struggling to tell your company’s story. The best thing about storytelling in marketing is that you don’t necessarily need to share your story; reactive storytelling is capitalizing on other company’s content that’s related to your business or your customer avatars’ interests. For example, DiGiorno Pizza used reactive storytelling and tweeted this during a LIVE performance of The Sound of Music:
“#TheSoundOfMusicLive Can’t believe pizza isn’t one of her favorite things smh,” – @DiGiornoPizza tweeted. The company continued with tweets like this:
“CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN, FORD EVERY STREAM, FOLLOW EVERY RAINBOW, UNTIL YOU FIND A SUPREME (PIZZA FROM DIGIORNOOOOOO) #The SoundOfMusicLive,” -@DiGiornoPizza
Stay On Top
When you focus on promoting only your product without using storytelling, you risk competing with other brands based solely on price. Many small companies cannot afford to do that. MGE DIGITAL is a digital marketing agency that will help you understand your company’s unique story so you can sell better and stay on top of your game. Stay tuned for more marketing tips and tricks.
