Every day there are over 700,000 reels being posted on Instagram and over 2 million videos being uploaded on YouTube. Per day.
And all this content is vying for one thing: your attention.
The need to make viewers stop the scroll and actually watch what you have to say or read what you wrote has become the highest priority for everyone. Not just brands or companies or creators. Everyone who is trying to get their message heard—that friend who is sharing a GoFundMe link and that Facebook friend request you accepted 8 years ago who is now trauma dumping online publicly.
Everyone is sharing something that demands attention.
So what is it about content that truly makes you stop scrolling, or scroll back even?
The hook is what grabs your attention, yes, (and we will get into hooks in a future issue) but what is it that makes you stay?
When you connect with a piece of content, whether that’s because it made you feel a certain way or you found value in it, that means you gave it proper attention and it delivered on some kind of promise. That promise incites connection.
Storytelling is how we build connections.
Why Storytelling Works
Not only does storytelling grab someone’s attention, but it taps into the emotional part of a person’s brain that allows them to connect and engage.
Most of the time, we purchase an item because of how it’s going to make us feel.
And when you can make someone feel genuine emotion because of your content, they will continue to come back and see what more you have to say—sometimes even if that emotion is negative. There are people online who continue to watch content from creators whose views and takes anger them, but they continue to comment because the content is getting a rise out of them.
Creating a narrative around a complex idea helps simplify that idea so that it reaches more people.
This is why metaphors and similes work so well for illustrating more intricate subject matters that help you get your point across. This allows more people to comprehend and retain your message as well.
Storytelling helps you develop your voice.
The digital landscape is crowded. Being able to have a distinct style, tone, and way of saying things, as in how you tell narratives, helps you stand out.
The most unique part about you is that there’s only one of you. You have your own tastes, ideas, and thoughts. If you can share those in your own way, you can connect with the right people who want to learn and hear more from you.
You can spark change with stories.
Having a compelling narrative can inspire, motivate, and make change for good.
Some of the best speakers in history have used storytelling in their speeches to spark movements and inspire hope. Speakers like Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Steve Jobs are some that come immediately to mind. (And there is a whole art to public speaking and telling stories that hold a live audience.)
These are topics and case studies that I will explore with the Craft Brief: hooks, story structure, brand case studies, etc.
Nearly 30 years ago in 1996, Bill Gates published an essay on the Microsoft website titled “Content is King”. In it he correctly predicted that online content would be the new currency for businesses and individuals in the new digital age. I’m here to say if that’s true, then storytelling is queen.
Growing up, I loved reading and fell in love with the stories I read in books. Now, I get to prove the importance of storytelling and all its aspects from the perspective of a writer turned content strategist.
I’ll take a concept or technique in writing/literature and put it through the lens of brand and business. This way you can dissect why something works, put it to use in your own content or brand strategy, and hopefully you’ll let me know how it turned out.
-MK