Stories are a very integral part of being persuasive. If you want to employ Disney digital storytelling for persuading customers and create a memorable experience at the same time, you must master the psychology of storytelling.
The reason that stories (when told well) are so appealing is that you can transport customers inside the story and get your point across without directly selling.
In essence, Disney was a master storyteller with a good eye for important trends. Unfortunately, many people take him to be something more, which can be problematic when someone who has read one of his books takes it as Gospel without looking for further substantiation. However, I’m not sure Disney deserves all the blame for that.
Researcher Jeremy Dean (founder of PsyBlog) notes the following on the effectiveness of stories:
Once inside the story, we are less likely to notice things that don’t match up with our everyday experience.
For example, an inspirational Hollywood movie with a “can-do” spirit might convince us that we can tackle any problem, despite what we know about how the real world works.
You’d think that as an engineer that loves research and data, I’d be averse to storytelling as a whole. As a marketer though, I can’t be: those in marketing have known for a long time that stories trump data when it comes to persuasion because stories are easier to understand and relate to.
Are you incorporating stories into your copy? Are you utilizing them on your blog?
The point that I’d rather make is that how you say something is just as important as what you are saying.
Digital storytelling examples.
Stories are a great means for sharing and interpreting experiences, and great experiences have this innate ability to change the way in which we view our world.
Stories, when properly practiced, pull people into a dialogue. It’s about engagement and interaction. The audience is just as active a participant as the storyteller.
In contrast, many companies and brands still relentlessly push messages to their employees and into the marketplace—without meaningful context or relevancy. Next time you are building a marketing campaign, use a great story built from these tips.
Disney digital storytelling can be incorporated effectively in this way by utilizing the storytelling in your content marketing efforts. This is especially true if you use case studies and interviews to tell your tales and present your messages for you.
There’s a passage in Ernest Hemingway’s 1925 novel, The Sun Also Rises, in which a character is asked how he went bankrupt. “Two ways,” he answers. “Gradually, then suddenly.” The quote has since become emblematic of how a crisis takes shape. First with small signs you hardly notice and then with shocking impact.
Are you incorporating stories into your copy? Are you utilizing them on your blog?
Disney digital storytelling … here’s the bottom line
While we are all often resistant to the idea of being told what to do, we are very susceptible to agreeing with the “moral of the story” due to how it is presented to us.
Please share one of your stories with us.
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All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
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Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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