Top Dog Words

If you’ve done any research into the pillars of marketing in the last five, ten, or even fifteen years, you’ll be sick of hearing about the importance of narrative. As a keen writer and storyteller myself, narrative is my bread and butter. But, I’ve noticed that a lot of people don’t know how to use it to its full potential.

Narrative is not and should not be a story or perspective that you force on your audience for your own benefit. Who else is sick of the perfume ads selling you rich (and slightly erotic) adventures, or the cheese companies whose products will suddenly make your kids happy? I’m not saying these tactics don’t work, otherwise they wouldn’t be so embedded in our advertising culture. I just think consumers are getting increasingly wise to these things. 

There’s a reason the younger generations are more interested in ‘small business’-type marketing and social media interaction. Spoiler: it’s not because they believe your random product will solve all their life problems.  

So, how do you use narrative in a more sustainable way, that’ll continue to grip consumers without flaunting obvious lies? Let me tell you!

#1 Have a clearly defined perspective

You can’t have a story without a start and an end point. You probably already know that it’s important for businesses to understand what they’re selling and why. This should be your start point. As calls for slow-consumerism are increasingly answered, people will demand to know why your business exists. Do people really need another fashion brand? If so, why? What do you contribute?

If you can answer that, you have the basis for narrative marketing. 

#2 Honesty is your foundation

Be straight with people. Innocent Smoothies sells happiness, but they do it through building a joyful narrative of health, spruced with a bit of wonder for nature. If they used narrative the wrong way, they would push the idea that you need their drinks to feel healthy and to look after your body. No product will ever solve such complicated human challenges, so don’t sell it like that.

Instead, their marketing focuses on the actual fruits used in their drinks and the charity work the company does – allowing audiences to infer that they are a healthy and beneficial brand. Be straight, be honest and build upon what you actually do.

#3 Build with trusted voices

It’s all well and good drawing people in with your brand voice, but consumers also want to know you can be trusted. Online reviews are heavily relied on these days, which is great, but not always the most gripping. To really hammer home the point, we want to see actual people (like us) enjoying your product.  

There’s a reason influencer marketing took off, and also why people are now sceptical of it. We demand honest insight! Stripped down to their very core, businesses should be there to serve the community, so highlight them! Give your people a voice, a face and a name. Take them out from behind the keyboard and show me grandma Betty really enjoying a good piece of crumbly cheese.  

#4 Don’t force it

In this day and age of global corporations and mass wealth, I’ve noticed businesses have a tendency to market their products as the one and only solution. What this strategy is forgetting is that humans are very individual creatures. What works for one doesn’t work for another.

Individuality should be fostered, not beaten into submission. The world would be a grey place if we all had the same experience of life. So don’t do this to your potential consumers. 

To understand the people you cater for, you have to understand those you don’t. Highlighting your specific target audience in your marketing will grab the attention of those who will genuinely value your product or service. 

#5 Listen and adapt

The final key part of top notch narrative marketing is to continue to adapt. Narrative is not a static concept. It’s an ever flowing story that keeps on giving. Don’t plan out your narrative and assume you’re done. This is an ongoing project of communication between you and your consumers. 

Understand how their needs change, both for your products and for your marketing. Keeping up to date with the community shows that you care about the people you serve. As I’ve mentioned multiple times now, people respond better to community-focused marketing. 

I hope these tips have sparked some inspiration for how you can use narrative to promote your business. Contrary to the title, there’s no actual right way to do these things. It all depends on your brand’s industry, personality and audience. But there is a right way to respect your consumers, and that’s by recognising them, listening to them and engaging with them. If you’d like to find out more about how you can incorporate narrative into your marketing (big or small), drop me a message and we can chat.