I spent two decades in the newsrooms of daily newspapers and not once heard an editor or reporter use the term “article.” What reporters wrote and editors edited and readers read were stories. They had a beginning, a middle and an end, with real-life characters playing out a human drama on a large or small scale, often rife with conflict and tension. Full of facts, figures and quotes, perhaps accompanied by photos, maps, charts or graphics, their purpose was to educate and inform, or in some cases, to simply entertain.
Depending on the topic, they evoked anger, outrage, empathy, or belly laughs and occasionally inspired readers to action. We called the best reads “Hey, Mabel” stories because they were so good – usually in a deliciously quirky, offbeat kind of way – that they just had to be shared over the breakfast table with a “Hey, Mabel! Guess what?”
The original shareable content, you might say.
What I’ve learned from many years in marketing communications is that great storytelling is also at the heart of any effective content marketing strategy. The power of stories told with simplicity and clarity – stories that illuminate who you are and what you’re all about – can help you cultivate deeper connections and build greater trust with customers, employees and other important audiences in a way that traditional product-focused marketing never will.
It’s weaving together the “what we sell” with the stories of “who we are” and “how we make it” and “why we make it the way we do” that draws these key stakeholders into a more intimate and engaged partnership with your brand. That’s how to “make your story their story.”
If this sounds like yesterday’s news, a lot of companies still haven’t tuned in. As recently as 2018, only 42 percent of marketers said they were using storytelling in marketing communications. The number is now over half, but the shift to more open communications and authenticity in brand marketing – and a greater emphasis on storytelling and content marketing – may accelerate due to several factors.
Trust is a driving force in this shift. The recently released “Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust in 2020,” said that COVID-19 and the societal outcry over systemic racism are causing a fundamental reordering of priorities and elevating the importance of trust in consumer decisions about which brands to support.
“Trust is now the make or break for difference for brands,” Edelman states in the report, which found that 70 percent of consumers say trusting a brand is more important today than in the past – a belief shared across age, gender and income lines. Nearly 75 percent said brands’ impact on society was one reason trust was so important, and 81 percent said concerns about personal vulnerabilities, including health, financial stability and privacy, was another factor.
Other consumer behavior experts say elevated concerns about health due to the pandemic mean brands will have to make it a priority to show they are committed to the health and safety of their employees, customers and others – not just now but long after Covid-19 has receded from the headlines. Experts say pandemic-related curbs on mobility and our “normal” consumption patterns also may create long-term changes in consumer behavior, including a shift to a less consumerist society and a greater focus by customers on the value they get for their money.
Leading outerwear retailer Patagonia has spent nearly 50 years positioning itself as a company that’s “in business to save our home planet,” and it has done so largely through a masterful content marketing program, beginning with a printed catalog that took a journalistic approach to storytelling.
Over the years it has employed its own website, social media channels, earned media and documentary-length films to tell the story of its commitment to repairing, recycling and re-crafting clothing (addressing the fact that 85 percent of used clothing goes to landfills). It also uses its content marketing platforms to invite customers to join in its advocacy and activism, and shares text and video stories about conservation initiatives taking place around the world from the wetlands of Argentina to a fragile ecosystem in northern Minnesota.
Like most retailers, Patagonia saw sales suffer as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak but it may be well positioned to benefit from pandemic-driven trends, including heightened interest in healthy lifestyles, a boom in outdoor recreation that has reminded people of the value of wild, open spaces and a renewed appreciation for durable products that are made to last practically forever.
Perhaps better than any other brand, Patagonia has shown the way to a successful content marketing strategy that incorporates brand-building storytelling via all manner of delivery platforms, primarily owned and shared as well as earned and paid. Its example shows that the most effective content starts a conversation – it educates and informs, and talks to, not at, your audience – and at best, invites their participation and builds their trust. Over time, as content is continually refreshed, the dialogue takes the relationship in new directions, while never straying from the central purpose of reminding your audiences who you are, what you stand for and why they love being part of your story.
Based on the success of its Instagram, Twitter and YouTube platforms as measured by shared posts, you might say Patagonia’s winning marketing program comes out of the time-honored “Hey, Mabel” school of content strategy.