The Power of Storytelling in Content Marketing: How to Craft a Compelling Narrative
Make your content stand out and create connection by telling engaging stories.
You’re scrolling through Instagram and let out a bored sigh. Same old, same old.
Another perfectly staged photo of avocado toast, another post about Instagram content tips for small business owners. All basic. All uninteresting.
Just as you’re about to give up and close the app, a post catches your eye. It’s a video with a hook that’s taken you by surprise, and you watch, mesmerised, as a story unfolds before your eyes…
You feel yourself getting lost in the story, forgetting about the rest of the world (and the rest of Instagram), for a few precious moments.
^ See how that caught your attention better than most other article introductions? That would be the power of storytelling.
But don’t worry, if that style of writing doesn’t suit your brand, you don’t have to use language like you’re writing a novel. You can tailor it to suit you, but there are some key principles of storytelling that we can learn from when creating content.
Table of Contents
Why use Storytelling in your Content Marketing?
Make your content stand out (especially from a sea of AI generated content!)
These days anyone can use an AI tool to pump out an article or social media post within seconds. Although I wouldn’t personally recommend you do this (aside from the fact your content will be just like everyone else’s, AI is also factually incorrect a lot of the time!), we can’t deny it’s happening.
But even as AI gets better with facts, and using more nuanced tone of voices, the one thing it will never be able to replace is our own unique, personal experiences, insights and stories.
By injecting these into our content, this is how we can continue to stand out from everyone else!
Create a deeper, more personal connection with your audience
When you share insights and behind-the-scenes of you or your business, you’re opening up and being more vulnerable with your audience, which will make them feel closer to you and your brand.
Take advanced of the psychology behind why humans LOVE stories
Storytelling is an art that humans have been practicing for 1000s of years, and studies show us that our brains are kind of obsessed with the idea of a narrative… when we hear the start of a story, we crave a resolution.
So lean in to that human desire for a narrative, and get your audience hooked on finding out ‘what happens next’ in the stories you share.
Elements of a Compelling Story Narrative
The Classic Story Arc
A tale as old as time; you probably learned something like this back in school, but a classic story arc will always include a Beginning (Introduction), Middle (or Climax) and an End (Resolution).
Some story arcs also include other peaks and troughs along the way, with more downturns, climaxes, and resolutions, such as the ‘Three Act Structure’ or the ‘Double Dip’ but the general trend is always the same.
The Hook
Most good stories start with a hook. Something that grabs your attention and makes you want to follow the rest of the story.
Think about when you read a book or watch a film; if that first chapter doesn’t ‘hook’ you in, you’ll likely put the book down or switch the film off, because you don’t feel compelled to learn what happens next.
Hooks can pique interest by leaving the audience on a cliff-hanger, or by being unexpected. This creates questions in the audience’s mind that - when positioned well - make them want to know the answers to (because humans crave a resolution, right?).
The ‘Start at the End’ Story
Think ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ or ‘Fight Club’; those stories hook the audience by showing them a glimpse of what happens at the end of the movie, and then go back to the beginning to fill in the gaps of the journey.
You can show your audience what the resolution is, and then show them the HOW afterwards, and it can be just as effective as the ‘classic’ story arc.
How to Translate this into your Content
Always Incorporate a Beginning (Intro), Middle, and End (Resolution)
And as I mentioned above, it doesn’t HAVE to be in that exact order. But the worst thing you can do with your content is just go straight into the Middle, or straight to the End, without including the other parts at all.
Imagine that happening in a book or a movie! What a let down…
I see people going straight into the ‘Middle’ in in long-form content such as blog posts, all the time. They don’t have a hook, an introduction, or any context before diving straight in, and it means you lose half the audience before they’ve even got started.
Instead, in all my blog posts (and podcast episodes!) I always include an introduction paragraph, telling people what to expect from the post. I usually also include a section about ‘WHY’ this topic is important (eg. At the beginning of this post!), so that the audience has context and gets excited to learn more.
I also see people sharing just the Middle, or just the ’End’ (Resolution) ,with nothing else on social media ALL. THE. TIME! Especially on Instagram.
They’ll put up a post of their product or service, without giving an introduction into WHY their audience might need it.
They’ll put up a Story of a client testimonial, or a latest project, without any introduction as to who the client was and what problem you solved for them.
Or they’ll share a snippet from their day without any real context around it, so it feels like a random broadcast to your audience, rather than you taking your audience along a journey with you.
Take people through a story when you’re sharing content instead!
Use hooks to make your content ‘sticky’
Ever been on a scrolling session on social media and looked up and realised 30 minutes have passed? This happens to me all the time!
With so much content online, and so much to scroll through, it’s harder than ever to make people actually PAUSE to look at and engage with our content. So we have to make it ‘sticky’!
Having a great hook - whether in the first line of your caption, or at the start of a video - is a great way to make people stop scrolling and stick around on your content.
This is great for having your audience actually engage with and connect with what you’re saying (rather than scrolling past), but also for the ‘algorithm’ in general.
^ Both of these posts use compelling hooks to make you want to read more!
Tell your own stories & how they’ve created your brand
We know people love a story, and we also know people love to be nosy! So give the people what they want and share your own stories and experiences with your audience regularly.
Tell your clients/customers stories
Sharing testimonials and case studies of previous clients and customers provides amazing social proof for potential clients to ‘cross the line’ and buy from us.
But when you share your testimonials, you can make them so much more powerful by incorporating a story arc! Share an introduction as to where your client was at the BEGINNING of the story, share the journey you took them on and the climax/MIDDLE of the story, and share where they are now at the END.
See how much more engaging that could be?
Best Practices for Using Storytelling in Your Content
Know your target audience & their own stories
You can’t know what stories will resonate with your audience unless you truly know them. Where are they at now? Where do they long to be?
What are their struggles, fears, passions and desires?
Read my blog post about understanding your target audience and ideal customer to learn more.
Brand voice & style
Storytelling gets even better at helping you to stand out when you’re clear on your unique brand voice and style, and it makes it easier for your own stories and insights to flow out of you when you know this too.
Ready to start using content marketing to tell your stories?
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✔️ Perfect your content creation & repurposing process to turn 1 content piece into 10 or more
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