What is storytelling marketing?
Storytelling marketing means using a brand narrative to communicate with audiences. It involves framing your brand’s message in a way that feels personal and relatable. Brands create stories that center around their customers, solve their problems, and convey the brand’s message with impact. This also gives customers information about what they need to know in an engaging manner.
In the retail sector, storytelling has become essential in marketing. It helps marketers kickstart their ad campaigns with a mix of facts and narratives to persuade customers. Stories not only engage customers but also build brand loyalty and drive business success. They create strong connections that lead to high brand revenues and conversions.
Why does storytelling work? Understanding the science behind
Stories engage human brains differently than random information or statistics. It is because stories have the capability to evoke emotions. Research shows that hearing an impactful story releases oxytocin from the brain, which is a chemical that helps us bond with friends and family.
In this way, storytelling marketing makes brand narrative more relatable and memorable for customers. It makes every person feel a personal bond with the brand. This sense of belonging leads to loyalty and lasting relationships between customers and brands.
The art of storytelling: how brands tell stories?
Source: incrementors
Creating a solid brand narrative
A solid brand narrative is the foundation of every storytelling marketing campaign. Your narrative should answer every customer query. It will connect customers to the bigger idea and boost your brand identity.
Make your story engaging and attention-grabbing
Younger generations of this era, especially Gen Z, have very short attention spans. For them to stop scrolling and listen to your story, you need to have a compelling hook. To make your hook intriguing, add something unexpected, like a relatable question or a striking image. This will catch their eye in the first few moments of the ad.
Adding elements of interaction
Adding elements of interactivity makes the marketing story more impactful. Brands can use immersive things like AR filters and interactive social media challenges to pull people into the experience. These things make people step inside the story and have real-time interactions with its elements.
Use your imagination and be creative
Being creative with your storytelling can make your marketing more effective. Try to add some never-seen-before experiences and explorations to your campaign. Do not limit yourself, and think outside the box. This will give you creative freedom to make your story narrative more impactful.
Top storytelling marketing examples
Loewe’s AR filter for Qixi
LOEWE introduced a playful AR filter to celebrate Qixi, the Chinese Valentine’s Day. Users can choose from dreamy butterflies, cuddly hedgehogs, or twinkling stars to snap cute photos and videos. Every filter tells a story. The hedgehogs show that love may have a hard exterior, but deep down, it has a soft and warm feeling.
This lets them celebrate love in the sweetest way, whether they are with their special someone or flying solo. They can tap for a pic, hold for a video, and capture those perfect little moments. This lets them show off their softer side and make memories with their loved ones in a unique way.
YSL Beauty’s LIBRE Eau de Parfum 3D Experience
Now you can find your perfect scent without leaving home with YSL Beauty’s LIBRE Eau de Parfum 3D experience. It takes you to a digital world where you can explore the rich and luxurious notes of the fragrance and get up close with its stunning couture-inspired bottle. The interactive journey helps you find the perfume that matches your vibe, all from your screen.
Livat Shanghai’s Grand Opening
Livat Shanghai’s grand interactive opening is a step towards an immersive future. Ingka’s Livat Shanghai is inspired by the Swedish idea of a ‘lively gathering. ’ The place is all about fun, community, and dynamic experiences. The core highlight was the innovation hub, where visitors could explore four digital worlds, including a glowing forest, a vibrant ocean, fields of wildflowers, and a surreal wonderland. It is an immersive shopping adventure where art, sustainability, and innovation collide using cutting-edge AR tech.
Huawei’s “Ten Days Later” AR experience
Huawei’s ‘’Ten Days Later’’ future home in Shanghai is a futuristic experience created with augmented reality. To witness it, just open the Future Home AR mini-program and point it at Huawei’s Smart Home authorized store.
You will see dynamic AR effects come to life by day, and with one tap, it transforms into a glowing neon wonderland at night. Plus, you can snap all the fun and record the adventurous moments to cherish in the future. It symbolizes how immersive technologies are changing home design and living for the better.
Changsha IFS AR Campaign
Changsha IFS created an immersive AR experience to kickstart the celebrations for the Lunar New Year. It used SLAM AR to bring traditional Lunar New Year symbols like dragons, lions, and lanterns to life. Users could scan the building to witness these dynamic AR displays spreading all over the building. The symbolization of Lunar New Year with AR-powered three-dimensional graphics made the experience more meaningful and unforgettable.
Martell Noblige Limited Edition AR experience
Martell teamed up with artist Jacky Tsai to create an AR experience for its Noblige Limited Edition Bottles. Scanning the bottle’s barcode unveils the dynamic AR displays and takes users on a digital voyage. The immersive storytelling allows them to learn the Martell story and appreciate its interactive design.
The trippy visuals track the bottle as you move it around and bring the whole scene to life with their dynamism. Moreover, AR transports them to a greeting card digital platform, which is a super-fancy thing to experience. These interactions make Martel’s storytelling marketing highly impactful and fun.
Tips to implement storytelling in your marketing strategy
Source: stellardigital
Define your audience and set your goals
This is the first and most important step that will act as the basis of your storytelling marketing strategy. Determine what your marketing objectives are and what kind of audience you want to target. Then, curate your story and ad according to what they demand to get high engagement.
Make your message focused and relevant
Define and create the core message of your campaign and stick to it. Make it focused so that it gets conveyed without any confusion. It should not be too long or filled with irrelevant jargon. Rather, it should be clear, concise, and goal-oriented.
Plan the story and choose a medium
Plan and develop the story and use the right medium to share it. The format of the medium should match the story you are telling. Because a good story can flop if it is not told to the audience the right way. So, choose the right medium so that your story sits well with your target audience.
Have a clear start, middle, and end
The structure of our story should be well-organized, and every part should serve its purpose clearly. Start with a hook by targeting their issues, build tension in the middle, and end with a solution that shows how your offering will save the day.
Add a clear CTA to encourage action
The CTA (call to action) is the part of a story that will nudge them towards the next step. Use an encouraging CTA that establishes the action you want your audience to take. It will ultimately motivate them to take that much-needed step.
How to enhance your storytelling marketing strategy with Kivisense?
In marketing, storytelling is all about being strategic in connecting with customers. The major goal of every marketer is to get maximum engagement for their marketing campaign, and that is not possible without effective storytelling. If you are an e-commerce or retail brand and want to step up your marketing strategy with immersive storytelling, we are here to help. Kivisense is a leading marketing solutions provider for every kind of business. Our highly innovative AR, VR, and AI-based solutions can help you achieve lasting success, keeping your marketing game ahead of others.
