People like good stories; otherwise, novels, movies, and TV shows wouldn't have endured through time. This is because humans are social creatures wired to relate to other people's experiences, according to Harvard Business Review. We release cortisol -- the stress hormone -- when we're at the suspenseful parts of a story, while we release oxytocin -- the feel-good hormone -- when we're faced with cute or pleasing visuals such as babies or kittens. It's no wonder why cats are so popular online! Finally, when we encounter a happy ending, we release dopamine from our reward center, the limbic system.
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Why are these hormones so important? Cortisol helps us focus more, oxytocin makes us feel connected, while dopamine makes us feel optimistic. It all happens in the brain, but its target is straight to the heart. Thus, when coming up with a content marketing strategy, you need to consider plot development as a key driving force. It's the best way to appeal to people's emotions and make them work to your advantage.
But it's not enough to just tell a story. You have to choose what story to share, and how you'll deliver it to your audience. If unsure where to begin, your own organization's story is the best place to start for your content marketing strategy. Ask yourself these questions: How did your organization form? What drove its creation? What is its mission vision? The answers should give you a clear idea of what kind of stories you want to tell.
As for the how part, the internet has already taken care of that. You can choose to go the way of traditional marketing, but the internet has already made it easier to reach target audiences at the fraction of the cost for print ads and broadcast spots. Through your own website and social media pages, you can deliver relevant content and engage with your prospective customers in real time. You can quickly see which content marketing strategy works for your inbound marketing campaign, and which doesn't.
To learn more about storytelling as a content marketing strategy, check out our guides and cheat sheets!
