Five great storytelling lessons for marketers and communicators

The concept of storytelling exploded on the marketing and communications stage in 2012 – it seems everybody who’s anybody in marketing, PR or communications circles has “discovered” the eternal power of stories. 

To paraphrase an old joke, storytelling is the overnight sensation that took eons to happen. At WordWrite, we’ve been employing storytelling to create success for our clients for several years. What have we learned from countless hours, weeks and months devoted to storytelling? And what have we seen in working with dozens of clients to infuse the concept of story into their marketing and communications? 

Here’s our list of five of the greatest storytelling lessons for marketers and communicators, drawn from the best blogs we’ve written on the subject. 

1)    Why stories matter in marketing and communications: If you’re going to say stories matter, you ought to be able to say why. Do you know the difference between a story and your capital “S” story? How about the five burning questions that are essential to a great story? 

2)    The three elements to a story worth telling: What it is about some stories that causes them to reside in our consciousness forever, while others simply fall by the wayside? Learn about the three elements that make the difference in a story worth sharing. 

3)    What Bruce Springsteen can teach us about storytelling authenticity: Yes, he’s a legendary singer and for sure, The Boss. But Bruce Springsteen is much more. Why is it that decades after Bruce Springsteen first hit the Jersey boardwalk with the E Street Band, he remains a powerful force in pop culture? He’s real in a very special way – find out why. 

4)    Authentic storytelling works, even in war-torn Afghanistan. Sadly, Afghanistan is hardly a tourist’s paradise, given the last decade of war that’s ripped the country. But what if you owned an airline and your mission was to fly to and from Afghanistan? How would you tell that story? If Safi Airlines can share an authentic story in the midst of war, how hard can it be for the rest of us to be authentic when selling products or services? 

5)    No topic is too boring for a well-told story – and this video proves it! In all of communications, the most serious and often the most boring specialty is investor relations. It’s about money, it’s about stock, it’s about the SEC and it’s about lawyers. Get the picture? Well, right, most of the time, there is no picture. Which is why the video experiment by the glassmaker Corning and its business-to-business ad agency, Doremus, is so remarkable. 

The most powerful tool in marketing and communications is the story – and we can prove it. Want to know more? We’ve just published a new eBook on the topic, Five Ways To Tell Whether Your Brand Is An Empty Suit. You can download it here.