Copy strategies: Storytelling (because who doesn’t like a good story?)
There’s a reason the entertainment industry makes a bunch of money.
Okay, well, there are many reasons it makes money. But a main, core reason is our universal love for a good story.
We sit around campfires, captivated by spooky ghost mysteries; books are read to babies in the womb; we religiously watch seasons upon seasons of TV shows because of engrossing plots and characters; we tell stories to friends and strangers alike at parties. Stories let us escape, or pretend, or learn, or remember, or connect.
The “learn”, “remember” and “connect” ideas are important for copywriting, and here’s why.
Storytelling not only aids in building relationships with consumers, but it also helps people understand and remember what value your business brings to them.
Good storytelling can bring your brand to life for a potential buyer. Here’s what I mean.
Stories don’t just entertain
Chip and Dan Heath wrote an awesome book called Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (and, yes, I talk about this book a lot because it’s a goldmine of information). In it, they mention how good stories can simultaneously employ multiple strategies that help a message stick in someone’s head and influence them.
That is, a good story can convey a message that is concrete, emotional, unexpected, and simple.
In other words, storytelling can make your product/service a tangible, real, picture-able thing for your consumer, rather than an abstract concept. Storytelling can also appeal to emotions and contain an unexpected element that helps your service/product stand out in a memorable way. Additionally, a good story, if kept simple, can make whatever you’re selling easy to grasp.
Plus, everyone loves a good story.
Of course, the real challenge is in telling a story without writing paragraphs that ramble on and on, because that’s sure to lose someone’s attention unless they came to read your book. I’m talking about taking your value proposition and developing core messaging that, in a few words, tells a good, effective story.
A recent example
I recently revamped the web copy for an apparel company called From the Cape Table. Zoe, the owner of the one-woman show, sells clothing with unique Cape Cod-inspired designs that put generic tourist sweatshirts to shame. My challenge was to distinguish her hand-crafted pieces from those generic tourist sweatshirts that are found in shops all over the area.
To do this, I decided to tell a story.
Her brand is inspired by her own time crafting in the Cape as a child, and has a fun, breezy, cozy, preppy-but-not-too-much aspect to it that I needed to convey without so many hyphens. Her main messaging, featured on her home page, ended up as:
That Cape Cod summer bliss, hand-crafted into quality apparel.
There’s nothing quite like the summer-on-the-Cape vibe. Embrace it year-round with unique, homemade designs.
Here, I’m primarily relying on an emotional appeal, but in it, I’m also conveying a story—the story of dreamy summers on the Cape full of days at the beach, seafood and ice cream lunches, and salty hair. Her target audience is primarily Cape Cod lovers and tourists seeking feminine styles. All of them are familiar with this narrative of Cape Cod “summer bliss.”
The storytelling gets stronger on her about page, which begins with:
That feeling of driving over the bridge and arriving in the Cape? Yeah. We’re obsessed with it too, which is why we bottle it up and pour it into our one-of-a-kind apparel.
Every one one of her target consumers have lived the narrative here. They all drive over the bridge, and they all feel that sense of excitement or coming-home or freedom. Zoe’s brand brings this story to people through thoughtful, unique designs.
I’ve talked a lot about the wonders of storytelling, but it’s important to remember that it’s absolutely not the end-all-be-all. This strategy might not be the go-to for every brand or business or situation; however, it’s an awesome, effective tool to have handy in your toolbox of copy strategies.
TL;DR
Storytelling can help a brand’s messaging/service/product stick and make sense in someone’s mind.
Try telling a story within your core messaging - this means keeping it short, simple, and effective.
Best,
Megan
