CHICAGO318 W. Adams, Suite 1600Chicago, IL 60606312.585.7649
KANSAS CITY4600 W. 51st Street, Suite 300Roeland Park, KS 66205816.868.8320
March 25, 2024
Everyone loves a good story. Preferably one that is witty, makes you care about the characters and leaves you wanting more. The question then becomes, why isn’t it used more in marketing?
Well, there’s science behind storytelling video.
However, some marketing experts aren’t sure if there are any facts behind the art of storytelling.
Sure, it makes for good fun, but is there a logical reason to use stories in your video media marketing campaign?
As it turns out, there is.
When you’re standing up in front of a crowd, you only have a limited amount of time to convey your message, and win them over.
For many people in the audience, you only have this one shot, because once they walk out that door, you may never see them again.
Your time is even more limited with media such as video.
Whether it’s a commercial on YouTube or a Facebook ad, you’ve got mere seconds at most to get their attention. One swipe is all it takes for potential clients to dismiss you, so it’s important to make it count.
According to Forbes, storytelling may be a way to get around this.
Video storytelling is nothing more than a means of communication, after all, which is what you’re trying to do with your potential audience. But rather than giving them a list of reasons why you’re the best, video storytelling lets them know where you’ve been, and where you want to go.
It gets the audience emotionally involved, which in turn encourages them to join you on that journey.
Without the brain, there’s no communication. That seems simple enough, but it’s true. So when you’re speaking to others, it only makes sense you need to engage their mind. Harvard Business points out while the PowerPoint you spent hours working on is a good visual, the dozens of bullet points aren’t doing much to engage your audience.
Harvard Business went on to state, “Even if the presenter is animated when we hear the information being ticked off like this, the language processing parts in our brain, known as Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area, get to work, translating those bullet points into story form where we can find our own meaning.
The problem with this, however, is that the story we come up with in our mind may not be the same one the speaker is intending to convey through data.”
In other words, what you’re saying and what your audience hears may not be the same thing.
It’s sort of like when you’re in the middle of an argument with someone, and you can’t figure out why you’re fighting in the first place. All you know for sure is that what you’re saying and what the other person is hearing aren’t the same thing.
Using PowerPoints or rapid-firing facts is sort of like that.
You may not be in an argument, but the point you’re trying to make, and the points your audience is hearing aren’t the same.
So how does video storytelling beat out a thoroughly researched PowerPoint presentation?
As hard as it is to imagine anything more exciting than that, the brain becomes more active when it’s hearing a story and watching along in a video format.
Yes, it’s good the Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area are activated. If you want to win your audience’s trust, however, you’ve got to do more.
In an article for Buffer, Leo Widrich explained you need to activate the various brain cortexes. If you mention food, the sensory cortex is activated. If you talk about driving down a fast highway with the wind blowing in your hair, the motor cortex lights up.
The more of the brain you activate, the more attention you’re getting from your audience.
Another area of the brain that becomes intrigued by the storytelling process is the insula.
Essentially, when we’re trying to connect with someone else, we do so through shared experiences. When we do this, the insula is activated.
The first type of written media was done by the cavemen. The stories may have been simple, but thousands of years later, people are still digging themselves into a hole trying to read these stories.
In an article for Psychology Today, Dr. Pamela B. Rutledge pointed out stories help bring us together. It’s no secret the best car salesmen are the ones that create a connection with potential buyers, even if it’s only for a few brief minutes. We’re more prone to making a deal with someone we trust than we are with someone who can spit out a few facts.
It’s also how our minds work. Dr. Rutledge said, “Stories are how we think. They are how we make meaning of life. Call them schemas, scripts, cognitive maps, mental models, metaphors, or narratives. Stories are how we explain how things work, how we make decisions, how we justify our decisions, how we persuade others, how we understand our place in the world, create our identities, and define and teach social values.”
Rutledge went on to explain stories can make us feel safe. It’s both exciting and comforting to predict how the story will end. Even if you didn’t get it right, it’s still fun to try and figure it out.
Stories also engage the right brain, which is where the imagination dwells. This helps us become personally involved in the story, even if it’s a work of fiction that was never real.
Now that you’ve learned some fascinating facts about video storytelling, it’s time to put it into practice. With videos, this should be easier than ever before.
Many industry leaders already utilize storytelling in their media campaigns. Disney is a master of this and filmed a commercial for Disney Paris that will pull on your heartstrings so hard, you’ll cry when a magazine gets wet.
Additionally, Apple did an epic job while promoting the iPhone 11 Pro. Many iPhone users were probably thinking, “Why should I upgrade to a new phone again? It’s all the same.” Yet one simple commercial which was reportedly filmed entirely on an iPhone 11 Pro was enough to sway many iPhone users to upgrade.
The story was simple. A teddy bear was kidnapped and was being held hostage in a snowy fortress. The heroes showed up to save it and had to fight their way through snowball-wielding villains to save the bear. Only one word was spoken in the one-minute video, but it was powerful enough to pull viewers in and make them think, “What can I film?”
So that’s the question we present to you. What can you do using storytelling video that will reside in your clients’ memory for years to come?
With Scenic Road, the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.
Forbes
Harvard Business
Buffer
Psychology Today