Until some time ago, most online businesses focused primarily on sales and performance when it came to digital marketing, rather than on storytelling. This meant that the promotion strategy was centered around PPC campaigns (especially Facebook Ads and Google Ads). This approach worked well for a long time and still yields results, but over the past 2 years, consumer preferences have shifted more towards the brand itself.
So today, it’s no longer enough to have well-thought-out PPC campaigns; you need to communicate effectively with your audience.
How do you do this? Through branding and content marketing. Now it’s important to build a strong brand and sell experiences, not just products.
Interest in online storytelling from brands has increased significantly, and people are looking to identify with the created identity. You can take examples from major brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Dove, LIDL, or from local ones like Tazz, EMAG, Fashion Days. You just need to read/hear their names to know how they position themselves, what they communicate, and what they sell.
We have identified this need in many businesses, so we thought about discussing this topic in an article.
How to sell experiences in Social Media?
The PPC component and brand communication must complement each other in the marketing strategy so that when a potential customer sees your ad, they immediately associate it with the company’s image.
Additionally, it’s good to know that if you open a business today, you’ll find a lot of competitors regardless of the niche. What sets you apart from the hundreds of brands offering the same product or service is how remarkable you can be.
Drawing from Simon Sinek’s theory in the Golden Circle: „People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” let’s talk a little about how to sell experiences, not products.
The primary way to do this is through storytelling. There’s no better way to connect with your audience than by telling them a story.
Shape an online image of your brand so that the story is as relevant as possible to your audience. A study by Harvard Business Review revealed that, although you can attract enough new customers to achieve your goals, emotionally connected customers to your brand are twice as valuable. Why? Because they are more likely to come back for repeat purchases. Because they’ll recommend your brand and talk about it whenever they have the opportunity. They’ll become advocates for your brand.
About storytelling and how to build a story in online
Storytelling has been an important component in brand promotion for a long time, but it has never been exploited as much as it is now. Smaller businesses, just starting out, are the ones that neglect this aspect the most.
Why should you include storytelling in your strategy? Think about one simple thing: people like stories, whether it’s about someone’s life story or a legend. We tend to feel closer to someone who tells us about themselves than someone who doesn’t communicate much. Because it inspires credibility and authenticity. Because it allows us to get to know them and find ourselves in common situations.
Well, the same thing happens with a brand and online users, as well as offline. However, keep in mind that storytelling in social media should be an emotional/moral bridge between you, as a brand, and your customer. Don’t just tell stories in an attempt to sell your products or services because they will be seen as aggressive and annoying.
The stories you create should be interactive and emotional; it’s not just about writing long texts. If you think about the classic way of talking about the mission and objectives of the business, you should know that it’s not as relevant to your audience if they don’t have a beautiful ‘story’ behind them.
Here are the most important aspects when it comes to social media storytelling:
- The most important step is for you to know your brand very well so that you can then shape it in front of others. You need to define what your brand offers, how it differentiates itself from competitors, and what considerations led to its creation.
- The target audience is the reason why you need a strong branding. To know what to convey and how to position yourself, you need to know who you’re communicating with. Audience analysis is a step that shouldn’t be skipped.
- Stories online are not only told through articles or posts with explicit texts. Storytelling can also be done through videos, images, or gifs. Moreover, it should be adapted according to the platform used.
- Your brand needs a human face. Most appreciated stories online are those that are based on a person. Topics related to the team, customers, or what the brand represents beyond what is visible are a suitable choice.
Structures for composing a storytelling
Because every story is based on a structure and a narrative thread, we’re going to present you with five different storytelling concepts.
- Freytag’s Pyramid or 5-Act Structure: Start with background information, but choose some that are important enough. Give some context for what you’re about to tell. Add a climax to the story. It continues the story and then ends with a resolution/solution to the identified problem.
-
Before – After – Bridge
Describe the problem – Challenge readers to think about what it would be like to have a solution to this problem – Give the way to benefit from the solution.
-
Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle Theory
Say why your business was born – Say how you fulfill the reasons for which it was created – Say what you do.
-
Star – Chain – Hook
Captează atenția – Enumeră beneficii, oferte, informații importante – Adaugă un CTA puternic.
-
Problem – Agitate – Solution
Grab attention – List benefits, offers, important information – Add a strong CTA.
Examples of successful brand storytelling
It never hurts a little inspiration, of course, as long as it only stays at the inspiration level and doesn’t turn into copycat. That is exactly why, we have prepared for you some successful examples of social media storytelling.
-
Dove, Women Get Told campaign
Photo source: https://www.dove.com/ro/stories/campaigns/women-get-told.html
Dove is one of the brands that has gained sympathy due to the messages it conveys. At its core, Dove sells soaps and personal hygiene products, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a strong story.
The brand focuses on people and their stories, on the importance of self-love and accepting others as they are. As you probably know, one of their most powerful messages is related to the beauty of every woman, regardless of age, appearance, or color.
The Women Get Told campaign tells the story of women who are often categorized according to certain stereotypes.
-
Fashion Days, Dress For Progress campaign
The Dress For Progress campaign addresses prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination. It explores how people are sometimes judged based on how they dress, their occupation, or their own sense of normalcy.
The latest spot features Simona Păun, one of the pilots of the TAROM airline, who has faced prejudices over time. It highlights how society often associates this job with men and lacks confidence that a woman can be equally professional.
-
Always, #LikeAGirl campaign
-
LIDL, Big On Quality, Lidl on Price campaign
Everyone knows that at Lidl you can find low prices on a wide range of products, and that this is one of the reasons why the brand has been so successful. The company is aware of this aspect and uses it as an advantage to highlight what they are „big” on, namely quality.
The Big On Quality, Lidl on Price campaign emphasizes the low price of products, but also their quality. Essentially, two things at which the brand excels are highlighted.
What is interesting to note is how they promote this, because they not only say they have low prices and quality products, but they make a connection between everyday life and the importance of small things, but at which they excel.
It’s nice to see such campaigns, isn’t it? It’s like feeling seen, understood, and close to the brand that communicates. Even if these are examples from renowned brands, we believe that such communication also helps small businesses at the beginning of their journey. Because besides the quality services or products you offer, you always need that something to attract.