Like it or not, we live in a world with so many screens, yet so little time.
The amount of messages we receive from work, friends and family can feel overwhelming at times. On top of that, we’re bombarded with messages from brands every day. It’s estimated that we we see 300-700 marketing messages per day. It’s no wonder it’s harder than ever for brands to break through the noise. In an ever-changing media landscape where brands no longer control the message and interruptive marketing is ignored, brands have to find new ways to be relevant, engage and build loyalty with consumers.
One of the best ways to accomplish these goals is to transform brands from advertisers (pushing messaging on consumers that adds little or no value) to storytellers (engaging messaging that entertains, informs and solves problems).
Dustin Hoffman sums up the power of storytelling in a television spot for Sky Atlantic HD:
“Stories. We all spend our lives telling them, about this, about that, about people. But some stories are so good; we wish they’d never end. They’re so gripping; we’ll go without sleep just to see a little bit more. Some stories bring us laughter and sometimes they bring us tears, but isn’t that what a great story does? Makes you feel. Stories that are so powerful, they really are with us forever.” – Dustin Hoffman
Word-of-mouth marketing is hands down one of the best ways to convince and convert more customers to your business.
When consumers actually take their eyes off of all the screens and engage with their friends, family and colleagues they are telling stories and often making recommendations. It happens in homes, offices, online every day and in every language. The power of a positive recommendation is huge, and the recommendation is often based on a story about an experience the person had with your brand.
84% of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family and friends about products — making these recommendations the information source ranked highest for trustworthiness, according to Nielson.
As marketers, let’s continue to push the envelope with storytelling we create, but let’s not forget about our best storytellers — our customers.
