Today’s digital world is drowning in engineered perfection and overly polished content. So, how do you make sure that your brand remains authentic and trustworthy? With good, old-fashioned storytelling, you can keep your brand’s head above water, adding a healthy dose of realness to your communication, which connects with customers on a human level.
Stories have been part of the human experience since we were drawing woolly mammoths on cave walls. In fact, research shows that stories prompt a reaction in our brains — the release of chemicals such as dopamine and endorphins that strengthen emotional connections and memory creation.
In the Information Age, the ability to stand out and be remembered is vital. We all know that the world has enough content to last multiple lifetimes, so your brand must cut through this white noise if it is to avoid becoming a victim of our short attention spans. Storytelling can elevate your communication by shifting the conversation away from standard buy/sell, pain/gain messaging and instead create instinctive bonds with the social animal in all of us.
Real appeal
For too long, online communication — especially, social media — has presented a carefully edited version of reality for our consumption, sweeping imperfection and nuance under the digital carpet. And with AI lurking around every corner in the form of chatbot copy and manipulated images, trust is a rare commodity.
The ‘realness’ movement describes a growing tendency – especially amongst young people – to push back against this engineered perfection and seek out more balanced digital experiences. Storytelling can tap into this because it is based on authentic human experiences told by real people.
As the online experience is often a lonely one, storytelling provides your audience with something they can connect to. From unique personalities to recognizable situations and engaging language. And when we connect with someone, they gain our trust — an essential driver of business.
