Use Storytelling in Marketing

Posted: January 01, 1970

When it comes to retaining information, something that is in story form with great detail sticks in our brains longer than just reading something generic. This information can be used to marketers advantages when it comes to marketing. Learn how storytelling can be a powerful marketing tool.

When it comes to retaining information, something that is in story form with great detail sticks in our brains longer than just reading something generic. This information can be used to marketers advantages when it comes to marketing.

, writer for Social Media Today, shares how to use storytelling in marketing.

Hieroglyphics. Cave dwellings. Fireside chats. Ghost stories at a campsite that scared you so much you were afraid to go to sleep. Telling stories is one of the most fundamental ways in which we communicate with each other, and while the mediums through which we do this are changing, the concept remains the same.

Something happens in our heads, in our brains, when we hear stories. Think about it – how much do you retain, when sitting in a classroom, or watching someone show you a Powerpoint presentation? Now think about how much you retain when your best friend tells you a story about something that recently happened?

When we're being shown facts and figures, certain areas of our brain take in that information, but when we're being taught something through a story, our brain automatically puts more of ourselves into that story.

More of our neurons are activated when content is delivered in story-form, and the more emotion we hear in the person’s voice or writing as they're telling us that story, the more we're relate to those feelings, developing deeper connections.

The same thing happens when we're the storytellers. The brain of the person telling a story and listening to it, can synchronize - as explained by :

“When the woman spoke English, the volunteers understood her story, and their brains synchronized.  When she had activity in her insula, an emotional brain region, the listeners did too.  When her frontal cortex lit up, so did theirs. By simply telling a story, the woman could plant ideas, thoughts and emotions into the listeners’ brains.”

Stories put our brains to work. If I were to say: "I ate a steak yesterday", that doesn’t bring up much in your brain, right?

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