THE ART OF STORY-TELLING (for @theaustralianjournal)

Story-telling is an art and a sales and marketing tool.

The advantage of using story-telling is that it allows us to connect with the target audience at an deeply emotional level and this, in turn, creates a bond between the audience and the person telling the story. Brands use this to create brand loyalty within their target audience.

Why is story-telling so effective? Mainly, because it is powerful and emotional. When emotions get stirred up, people react, and when people react, there is interaction. Brands always look for interaction and engagement as they are key factors that will lead to increase in sales.

Nowadays, almost every production company offers services of story-telling and if they don´t... they should. The truth is that we, as customers, have grown accustomed to certain types of marketing and advertising strategies. These strategies have now grown old and have become boring and artless. Therefore, they have become inefficient and even rejected by target audiences.

As consumers, we have matured. We have become more selective and more refined. We are no longer mesmerised by clever and funny publicity with generic music. Actually, we have come to see this sort of publicity as cynical and manipulative. We expect much more, mainly because there is already so much publicity out there in the first place.

Story-telling is a statement, because it is not a quick, cheap and ready-to-go process. It is an artistic process that consists on putting in the hours and actually trying to tell a story. Even if the publicity in itself does not stand off from the crowd, at least the notion that the company has decided to invest in telling a story will still create engagement with the selected audience.

When done correctly, story-telling will create an aura of authenticity surrounding the company. It will reflect certain values and philosophical viewpoints that are necessary during these modern times. Think about it. There are so many companies right now trying to get your attention and increase sales. They are fighting over your attention and you know that some companies deserve your attention better than others. You cannot know about their philosophical viewpoints, because you don´t really know anything about them... until they tell you their story. And that is why story-telling is so important: it allows a company to bond with their target audience and it allos the consumer to understand the values of the company they want to buy products and services from.

Story-telling creates Bonding. And because of this, you must not dismiss story-telling as your next big move.

Cheers.

Lg