Customers don’t just want to hear how great a product is; they want a story that shows how the product will enrich their lives. It’s a simple concept but many brands still struggle to centre the buyer persona and not themselves. This means leveraging persuasive digital storytelling instead of inundating your audience with low-impact content.
What Is Digital Storytelling?
To put it simply, digital storytelling is a modern update of traditional brand storytelling using the latest channels like social media, blogs, testimonials, email, and more.
The challenge nowadays is that attention is fragmented and non-linear. Brands rarely get a chance to give their buyer persona a full narrative in one piece of content. Marketers must have a firm grasp of their brand’s story so they can emotionally connect with buyer personas quickly across various channels, whether it’s a Tweet, a YouTube video, or a Google Ad.
- Consistency is key
Because brands are trying to tell a story across potentially several different channels, it’s crucial that the message be consistent. If your Twitter account is focused on your brand’s commitment to sustainability, while your Facebook promotes your product’s great value, but your blog regularly posts about how innovative you are, then consumers will have a hard time connecting the dots. Worse, you may come off as insincere.
- Show Don’t Tell
There’s debate about the exact number, but studies show the abundance of information thanks to social media and news cycles has narrowed our collective attention span. Some say the average attention span right now is as little as eight seconds. Whatever the exact number, the point is that there is a lot of competition for your buyer persona’s attention, so you’d better deliver your message quickly and efficiently.
“Show don’t tell†means demonstrating your brand’s values without having to explain it. For example, instead of detailing the specs of a sneaker, Nike will partner with an athlete.
A Case Study
Spotify recently ran a campaign centring on how its app understands its users better than its competitors. There was a commercial using Harry Styles’ song “Adore You†commenting how one user repeated the song over and over while studying. This was complemented by a social media campaign where Spotify encouraged users to share their yearly listening statistics provided by the app in easily sharable formats.
The message here is simple and effective: use our app because we understand how you listen to music. Spotify successfully centred its buyer persona by showing how the app intimately connects with users. There’s no mention of algorithms, data, or streaming software. Instead, it’s fun, breezy, and consistent across channels.
Growth Marketing
As a growth marketing agency, we take a holistic approach to fully leverage digital storytelling. By optimizing social selling, content marketing, search engine optimization, and more, we deliver a consistent and effective message for your brand.
To learn how Pulsion can help you exceed your marketing goals, call 1-866-4202 or visit our website.