Copywriting is about marketing and seducing the reader, not telling a story. But what if it contains a story? Wouldn’t that be more impactful? Human brains are wired to love, remember, and share stories.
Storytelling can work in a product description. It can work in a subway poster. It’s not about the length; it’s about the irresistibility of the scenario. But while storytelling might help improve copywriting delivery, it’s important to remember they both share many characteristics. Storytelling is all about triggering emotions and inviting the audience to connect with story characters, conflicts, plots, and the resolution happy ending, which most of the time motivates the audience to take action and follow the hero's steps in his or her journey. While copywriting is about the reader, it is also about the writer. It's all about figuring out what action the writer wants the reader to do at the end of the content and how to get them to take it. That is sometimes a story. But it isn't always the case. Even when it is, the story’s not the story you want to tell. It’s the story the reader needs to read. It’s also called "story relatability," when the audience puts themselves in the customer's shoes and imagines what the customer wants or struggles to get. In my book, The Art of Storytelling, I referred to an analysis of data from the IPA (the U.K.-based Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) that revealed that ads with purely emotional content performed better (31% vs. 16%), about double compared with only rational content. Ads with purely emotional content perform slightly better (31% vs. 26%) than those with combined emotional and rational content. Committing to the emotive branding approach requires a deep understanding of consumer motivation.
Copywriters know that copy should be exactly the length it needs to be. Sometimes that’s 50 words and sometimes it’s 10,000, but it’s never more than is needed. The same thing with storytelling. Length is not an issue. The objectives and goals of storytelling and copywriting are clear, and they invite the reader to focus on the topic.
Both storytelling and copywriting have a call to action at the end that influences the entire focus of the copy. At every point of storytelling, you’re asking the audience to keep reading or keep watching the movie through breath-taking suspense. You want the reader to turn the page and keep reading the next chapter. In short, you don't want them to put the book down or turn off the movie in the middle of an action. Similarly, copywriting must be tailored to achieve that goal. Everything must be tailored to achieve that goal. If you want your readers to turn the page, you need to give them a reason to. When the chapter ends, they must be fascinated enough to read the next one. If your writing is clumsy and difficult to read, you won't be able to do this. Write in a way that the story flows. Write so it’s tense, and your readers won't be swept away. In a nutshell, write to keep them reading.
Business storytelling has many commonalities with copywriting. Both want to influence and persuade the audience to take action, connect with a brand, or make a purchase decision. Good copy is short, smart, to the point. It’s exactly the length it needs to be and no more. And sure, good brand storytelling also shares those qualities, but it also has other qualities like story setting, context, conflict, plot, and fully fleshed-out characters, to name just a few.
What methods do you use to include storytelling in your copy?
Instead of offering cold raw facts and numbers, relate the story of a person you're aiding if you're writing for a non-profit to generate money for their cause. If you're writing for the financial business, you may use a chart with an indication to tell a story about how the company's sales were declining until something happened that changed everything. If you're a healthcare writer, you may describe the narrative of a person who has overcome a disease thanks to your client's breakthrough supplement. Alternatively, rather than reporting scientific findings, relate the story of the real discovery.
People love stories because of the ‘curiosity’ value of a story that makes the audience want to know more about it. Curiosity involves surprise, the unexpected, inconsistency, and conflict. The copywriter that follows in the footsteps of the master storyteller will always write successful copy. Storytelling is central to copywriting. Facts by themselves are just a catalog of information about a product or a service. What you want are facts in motion telling the story of why the product is necessary or compelling and how it is used to solve the customer problems and how the user feels comfortable and satisfied after using it. Such "showing" puts the reader into the story, making him feel how life would be different, easier, and more interesting with it. If you’re selling a mountain bicycle, sure it is valuable to describe the brakes and shifter, but describing a ride, the exhilaration, its dexterity, and the sense of riding joy will be what sells it. You want to sell the feeling of adventure.
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