Storytelling is an ancient art form that every culture across the world can relate to, from myths, legends and fairy tales to the simple daily act of reading a daily newspaper – everyone loves a good story.
The thread of commonality running through every story is of course structure and most classic tales have a ‘beginning, middle and an end’. After all, what would be the point of having Cinderella fitting in to the glass slipper if she couldn’t then go to the ball, fall in love and live happily ever after?
The same applies to content marketing; structuring your content will almost certainly contribute to a more successful engagement, giving your campaign its very own ‘happily ever after’.
Keep the art of storytelling at the core of your activity by pacing your content – build up excitement from the beginning, get your audience on side and whet their appetites for what’s coming next.
Give them a meaty middle they can really get stuck in to and top it off with the grand finale, subtly drawing them back to the objective or call to action you intended right from the very start.
The great thing about telling a story via content marketing is that you can draw out the story over a sustained period of time – while traditional marketing channels are restricted by word counts, page space and limited attention, content marketing can help a brand develop a strong long-term channel of communication with its audience, making it a no brainer for savvy marketers wishing to achieve an extended ROI.
Brand marketing has long since been about telling a story, and if done well ‘content marketing’ can be equally impactful.
Structuring content using the storytelling formula is important, but keeping it authentic is also key to remember – don’t be tempted to risk damaging your professional credibility or jeopardise your overall content strategy by using content marketing purely as a way to push your products or services.
Readers want content that will provide value and is of interest to them, not a cleverly disguised sales pitch. Although it may seem a good idea at the time, your audience will soon recognise that you’re not offering them ‘real’ content and will not thank you for it.
Content marketing affords practitioners with a great opportunity to develop a relationship with their target audience and over time build consumer trust. In much the same way that ‘traditional’ journalists are held to strict rules of conduct, brand journalism requires marketers to act with integrity.
This will inevitably require a significant time investment, but measures such as factual checks, balanced, well-investigated, timely and captivating material will only help to improve the long-term quality of content, helping to create a credible and authentic foundation from which brands can engage with their audiences time after time. If we let these standards slip it is bad for everyone.
In summary, storytelling is a skill that can and should be practised by content marketers. Whether just beginning a strategy or in the midst of a current campaign, by translating your brand’s messages in to a compelling story you’ll find you can break down barriers and build trust amongst your consumers in a subtle yet effective way… and on a much longer term basis than previously achieved.
