Storytelling Tropes Aren’t Just for Literature
If you’re not used to these techniques, using storytelling for your brand and its content might feel like you’re back at school or, worse, trying to stuff your unique gift to the world into a clichéd box.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
In fact, you’re probably already using perhaps the most common storytelling trope already. Think about the structure of your success stories. Your blog posts. Maybe even your media pitches or bylines.
Faced with Obstacle, Hero summons Resources and against seemingly insurmountable odds (perhaps another Obstacle or Rise and Fall occur in here), Triumphs.
Sound familiar? It’s so familiar we take it as a given. It’s comfortable. It’s home. Which makes it an easy way to help your audience relate to your brand.
When you do it correctly.
Too often brands give little time to (or skip entirely) a solid portrayal of the Obstacle. Every story needs tension, which is usually delivered as a barrier to the Hero’s goals in the form of something or someone.
This brings up a critical point: the Hero is not necessarily your brand. When you center your audience as the Hero, it becomes obvious that the Obstacle is their pain point, not your need to sell product or services.
So where does that leave you as a brand? Resources. It might not sound sexy at first, but here’s where you can talk about how what you offer is designed to overcome the Obstacle without it sounding like a flex or a pushy pitch (save those for further down the marketing and sales funnel).
One of the other things brands do is restrict their ideas of what Triumph looks like. First, Triumph can be a moment, but it’s not likely a one-and-done. If customers are coming back to you, it’s because their pain point persists, or has shifted, evolved, or grown. Each milestone toward their objectives is a Triumph and should be celebrated accordingly.
Second, there is a Triumph in implementing something new to address a longstanding challenge. There may not be results yet, but that just provides an opportunity to re-visit the narrative for future iterations of the story.
And one note that you’re likely to hear again on this site: Despite the cover image on this blog post, it is women, people of color, and other historically marginalized groups whose stories need to be heard more than they are.
Too often when it comes to these groups, brands either share stories that reek of Savior Syndrome, or they shy away entirely from fear of being politically incorrect. There is a solid middle ground that is respectful and honoring of these groups and of your brand.
To get there, you need to remember who your Hero is and then do the work to build a story that does them justice, no matter who they are.
Image © Dmitry Ratushny courtesy Unsplash
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