Branding is one of the top ways of spreading the word about a business, especially for companies that sell to consumers (B2C). But, it has also been adopted by B2B companies, many of whom sell finished goods or services to consumers or to small-to-medium-sized businesses. With the abilities of smartphones and tablets, which are easy to carry just about everywhere, marketing pros are live-recording their brands’ stories in real time for consumers to interact and ride along with.
Marketing with Storytelling
Storytelling began in ancient times as a way to record history and teach younger generations. The genre grew with the advent of the printing press, then with photography. Now storytelling has entered a new phase in which it can entertain and inform in real time, online video or imagery as well as print media. The internet offers an affordable way to reach millions on various channels that they visit. And through inbound marketing mixed with traditional marketing on radio and television, brands can spread their message in a holistic manner. For brands, storytelling invites interested people to listen and learn just like they did in ancient times. However, modern storytelling is 3D and full of color, displaying only what brands want you to see.
This type of marketing is wildly successful, as long as the brand can stay in control of the message. Watching and listening is entertaining to customers, and they can feel as if they were taking the journey with people in the story. And many of the venues and channels allow real interaction via comments, links or buttons to click on. Customers can often reap rewards from coupons to free products by helping to spread the word and becoming brand ambassadors.
Where to Get Started
Interested brands can go to companies such as BMF Media to get started on their own storytelling. BMF has assisted many brands in telling their stories in a manner that invites interaction. Forbes listed some beginning steps for companies who want to get started with brand storytelling. While what the pubic sees is glitzy and enticing, brand storytelling begins the same way most marketing projects do, with research into market trends and customer preferences. For an audience to listen, companies need to know who’s listening first. Knowing the audience, studying the data gleaned by research, then telling a personalized story is how to get an audience excited.