Unlock the Power of Data-Driven Storytelling

People have been telling stories to entertain, convince and persuade ever since human language evolved. And brands have been using storytelling to help raise awareness and sell products since there were products to market. Thanks to the arrival of big data and sophisticated analytics tools, you can now combine the two to deliver more powerful, targeted marketing messages. It’s the first step to making your brand relevant, relatable and respected.

What is Brand Storytelling?

There is no universally accepted definition of brand storytelling and many brands do it differently, but the end goal is usually the same. Brands use storytelling as a marketing tool to build awareness and establish a relationship with their customers to showcase their values and, ultimately, their services.

However, you do need to ensure your marketing efforts have a clear purpose and that your audience finds you consistently useful, genuine and credible. Otherwise no one is likely to engage with your product or service.

Using Data to Drive Your Storytelling

One of the obvious benefits of big data is the ability for businesses to extract extremely specific audience data and glean insights into their interests and behaviour. The trick is to make sure your analysis identifies useful, actionable insights that you can use to inform your overall business strategy and the stories you produce. This could be trends you glean from your social media activities to the demographics of your users, or the location of your email newsletter subscriber base.

The Benefits of Data-driven Storytelling

For a business that's committed to leveraging the full potential of data-driven storytelling, the rewards are hard to ignore. It enables you to:

Entertain and Connect with Relevant Consumers

Toy maker Lego really nailed this when it made The Lego Movie, which is essentially a 100-minute product showcase disguised as a very entertaining story for kids of all ages, and mums and dads too.

Personalise Your Content with Audience Insights

Music streaming service Spotify does this really well. By curating personalised playlists based on the music you listen to, the enbrand is able to push the right content to the right customers (while making them feel rather special in the process).

Create a Customer Community Based on Shared Experience

Action camera manufacturer GoPro is a market leader in using user-generated content (UGC), showcasing the daredevil exploits of its fans across its social networks. In the past this has helped the brand double its net income with only a fractional increase in its marketing budget.

Make Your Brand Relevant, Relatable and Respected

At the end of the day, data-driven storytelling can help you build trust, reinforce your brand identity, and create an enduring relationship with your audience. If you pull this off, your efforts will ultimately translate into more sign ups, conversions and sales, and all the benefits that follow.