As we tip into a new season for marketing, stepping away from rapid fire marketing, and closer to long form storytelling, we see the importance that good storytelling has on connecting with your audience.
“Storytelling is something that happens over time… If you want people to connect with your brand, they want to go on a long-term – and I hate this word, but – journey with you, and they want to keep coming back” –Sarah Mitchell
Carla Johnson, founder of Type A Communications, uses the example of one of the best-known book series of all time, Lord of the Rings. She says older marketing styles would look like “Frodo is a hobbit who saves Middle-earth” written over and over. Whereas today’s marketing needs to look more like the Lord of the Rings we know and love today: a long journey, where the reader truly gets to know the characters, the lay of the land, and the threats that face that community.
To take your audience through a story is not easy and requires grit. You need to keep consistently producing engaging content that slowly builds deep emotional connection, leading them on a journey where the final chapter is a profitable action.
On this episode of Brand Newsroom, Nic Hayes and Sarah Mitchell are joined by Carla Johnson to understand her new book, Experience: The 7th Era of Marketing, and the current direction of the industry.
They discuss the power emotional connection has over a purchase decision, the part that story plays in that context, and why story requires grit.
If you would like to tell your own story, contact the team at Lush – The Content Agency, where storytelling is our passion.
Links
- The 7th Era of Marketing by Robert Rose & Carla Johnson
- This Old Marketing Podcast ep. 113