Tell a good story and you'll persuade your audience to purchase your product. What qualified as "good" story? According to Jonathan Gottshchall, author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, the main components of a story, across all mediums, has a basic formula:
Story = Character + Predicament + Attempted Extrication
What does that math mean? Your audience has to find the correct protagonist (as we will be experiencing the story through his or her eyes), figure out who (or what) he or she is battling, and understand what he or she learned from the experience. if done correctly, these components will deliver a compelling and educational experience for your audience.
It's common knowledge that no one likes to be sold on anything. When integrating a product into a brand-driven story, for the most part, your audience must forget they are being sold. To do that, you have to captivate them and motivate them with the right story. When a story is good, it transports us into storyland where a rush of dopamine makes us connect with all the components.
3 Questions to Ask Before Beginning Your Brand-Driven Story
Before you begin to craft your story, here are three questions you should consider:
- How will the story fit into the brand?
- What goal(s) is the brand trying to achieve?
- How does the story fit into the overall marketing strategy?
People love stories and if you manage to delight and educate them about your product with your campaign, you'll have an engaged customer.
