Storytelling in 2021 When we consider digital marketing, we sometimes go straight to thinking about technology platforms, algorithms and audience segmentation. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data enable companies and political parties to reach us with surgical precision. Sky AdSmart technology can beam a different ad into each house on the same street, based on data that predicts our propensity to buy a particular product. Google can serve up different digital ads to each member of the same family based on the devices we use and our browsing behaviour. While society grapples with the ethics of these practices, machine learning keeps getting smarter at delivering advertising messages. Technology advances show no sign of plateauing. You might be familiar with a concept known as Moore’s Law. In 1965 computer engineer Gordon Moore predicted that the capacity of silicon chips — in other words, computer processing power — would 8
double every two years, while the cost would halve. That’s one reason why the latest mobile phones have infinitely more processing power than early NASA spacecraft. Moore’s prediction continues to apply today, although eventually there will be a ceiling. Yet, despite this rapid change in digital technology, great content is still at the heart of digital marketing. Social media brands will ebb and flow in popularity, but the adage coined by Bill Gates that ‘content is king’ is just as true for digital media as it was for print, television and radio. Indeed, if we boil down the elements of digital marketing, they essentially consist of two things: 1) F inding the audience that is looking for what we offer 2) Telling them great stories Author Seth Godin said: “Pure marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem, and either we tell stories that spread, or we become irrelevant.” The pleasure of sharing stories is a deep human desire. Ancient storytellers would gather villagers around the campfire and captivate them with myths and legends. Often the story would last for several nights. While
the storytelling medium has changed over the centuries, is that campfire experience really any different to someone listening to a podcast series in 2021? Primitive sketches on cave walls depicted the journeys and travails of early civilisations. They were a visual record of their daily observations and social structures. Today Instagram allows us to leave a modern visual legacy, in a similar vein to our ancestors. Why are stories so meaningful? “Great stories, when told well, are memorable, impactful and personal. We are drawn like magnets to great stories”, said Matthew Luhn, Story Artist at Disney Pixar.
ʻ Bill Gates’ adage that “content is king” is just as true for digital media as it was for print, television and radio.ʼ
Stories help us remember Marketers, teachers and trainers know that storytelling is effective. When we share data and statistics without a story, most people only retain about 5% of the information when asked about it 10 minutes later. If you tell someone that same information wrapped in a story, they are 22 times more likely to remember it. Students memorising facts for exams use mnemonic devices — take the simple example of the colours of the rainbow — Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain. By adding a story element to the facts, we find it easier to remember. 9
