Flattering your visitors: like AroundMe did “Because you’re going places.”
Using humor: Like Dollar Shave Club’s viral video “Our Blades are F****ing Great” (with over 22 million views and counting!)
Tell a compelling story
Stories are awesome for conversions and a key piece of copywriting strategy. Consumers are increasingly sophisticated and have become immune to pushy sales pitches. They need to be engaged, not sold to.
Stories work because they trigger your visitors' emotions, hooking them. In fact, recent scientific studies have revealed that stories stimulate the production of oxytocin in the brain, generating feelings of empathy, a very valuable element for your writing strategy.
Jack Daniel's 'Bar Stories' campaign taps into the whiskey brand's heritage and tradition values. Its video featuring Frank Sinatra pouring himself a Jack Daniel's over a jazz soundtrack conveys the desired timeless cool. Stories also work with less "glamorous" companies.
Microsoft's stories are a far cry from the typical, boring corporate marketing material. Instead, they draw inspiration from digital magazines like Wired. And their stories focus on people, not their products.
As Ben Tamblyn’s storytelling manager says, “The product makes a pretty college and universities email list horrible story. By making a story behind the product, you get a much more interesting narrative that people can relate to.”
Create your own story
The best brand storytellers use classic narrative structures to create content that intrigues and engages their audience. Unfortunately, this is a skill that few marketers have been trained in. The truth is that any skilled writer can create a story as long as they understand the basic structure.
American mythologist Joseph Campbell came up with “ the hero’s journey ” which has been used in several successful Hollywood movies from the Wizard of Oz to Star Wars. The hero’s journey has 12 stages from start to finish, but we’re not going to write a movie script here, so we can simplify the journey to 5 stages that you can employ in your writing strategy.
The hero: The hero of the story isn't you! It's your client or someone they can relate to.
The goal: What does the hero want to achieve? Again, the goal should be something the customer can relate to.
