Nothing is more boring than an advertisement without context. And if, as a marketing specialist, you don’t put enough effort into creating a story behind your marketing strategy, your brand is doomed to fail.
Storytelling can work miracles in terms of promoting a product. Just take a look at Adweek’s investigation into this issue: a simple bottle of wine with a mundane description is something every buyer has already seen. But when the simple description is replaced by the winemaker’s story about this wine, customers were 5% more interested in buying this wine and were willing to pay 6% more for it.
There’s no need in denying these facts, as they speak for themselves. Customers are interested in a story and it helps them remember the brand better. Storytelling completes any marketing strategy with the following four essential components:
- Component of engagement: a good story can engage the readers/listeners from the very first words;
- Component of emotionality: stories awake certain emotions, creating memories that are associated with the product;
- Component of empathy: a good story can build trust towards a certain brand;
- Component of education: a story should not only be engaging but bring something valuable and educational as well.
Using storytelling as the foundation of your marketing strategy is a great move to help your brand stand out. Using a story for promoting a product is a good way to help your brand go viral, which is every marketer’s dream.
Using video storytelling is probably the most efficient move for your marketing strategy. But how can you approach it and make sure that you don’t make any mistakes?
Here’s how.
1. Context is Everything
Using context to convey the major goal of your marketing campaign is what your marketing video should be targeted at. Use a basic journalist principle of answering the questions of “who, what, why, where, when and how” about the product you’re planning to promote. This will be the foundation of a story in your marketing video.
Content should fully represent the values of your brand. That’s what Volvo did to market their new car V90 Cross Country. They don’t just try to sell a car, they present their viewers with a companion that will take them on every adventure and make them feel safe and secure.
The story of your marketing video should place your customers in a familiar context, which makes them feel that their needs and interests are relatable.
A relevant story that places your viewers in a familiar context is the foundation of your video marketing success. Indeed, if you bring your brand closer to your target audience, you’ll get great feedback in response.
2. Follow the Script
A script for your marketing video is not something to be underestimated. This is basically a blueprint which you must follow in order to reach the results you’re expecting to reach.
So before you actually create a video-story for your marketing campaign, you need to write that story down. Why? It will help you see which parts need edits, and what needs to be excluded from the video right away. A video script that follows the best techniques of professional writers is a scheme you will need to make sure that your video tells a great story.
To achieve success, keep in mind the following things when creating a marketing video script:
- Before you start, create a specific customer profile because you should plan your video script based on the target audience. Create a person who you want to target in your video by describing their age, gender, position in society, interests, income, personal and professional goals, etc. Include all the details that you think are relevant to your story.
- Edit along the way. You need to understand that writing a video script doesn’t take you just one day. And to make the process of writing a video script more efficient, you should divide it into meaningful parts and proofread each of them along the way.
- Always proofread. Many marketing specialists skip this part when working on a script for a video, but it’s something you should never bail on.
3. Take a Look at the Bigger Picture
Promoting a product is the obvious reason why you should create a marketing video with a story in it. But a smart marketing specialist knows that a good story always makes the viewers see a bigger picture by touching upon the issues that are relevant to specific groups or all the people in the world.
Brands that are not afraid to voice their opinion on the urgent matters that are relevant to every single person in the world are always successful, as they are constantly on everyone’s lips.
That’s absolutely true for every marketing campaign. And that’s what you need to follow when you create a video to tell a story behind your brand.
It doesn’t have to be something political or religious, or culture-related. You can, for instance, follow Nike’s footsteps to motivate people, as they did with their Dream Crazy video that tells everyone that even the most unbelievable dreams are worth achieving.
Videos with such messages create an emotional connection between a customer and a brand, as they build trust and make the viewers feel that they are being understood and supported.
Storytelling is a Good Way to Success
These are not just words of encouragement. This is a fact, supported by the experiences of many famous brands. Hopefully, the tips that were mentioned in this article, as well as some inspiring stats, will help you incorporate storytelling in your marketing video.
