Why Storytelling Stories Work on Facebook

Marketing is nothing like it was decades ago. Marketers at the turn of the 20th century had very few options for advertising. It usually meant magazine ads and radio ads. With very little ad real estate, storytelling stories wasn’t really an option.

With the invention of the television, advertisers had a new way to promote their products and services. This new format also transformed ads from explaining a product’s benefits to creating a story around each product.

Today, with the internet, there are countless ways to advertise, Facebook being one of the most effective. After all, there are over two billion Facebook accounts worldwide! Choosing Facebook as a place to advertise is a must for every business, but even more important is how you advertise on Facebook.

That’s where corporate storytelling comes in.

What do we mean by storytelling stories?

Storytelling stories sounds a bit redundant, but there’s a reason we have phrased it this way. That’s because each word means something a little different.

“Storytelling” is the content that’s being shared. It might include the background of a company or the inspiration behind a product. In short, it’s the ways brand authentically connect with customers, users, and clients. It does not include hard-sell advertisement tactics.

“Stories” refers to the format that is used to share this information. When it comes to Facebook, there are a few different ways to do this.

First, Facebook offers a new way to connect with friends called Facebook Stories. This feature is a lot like Snapchat, and a similar feature can also be found on Instagram.

The Facebook Stories section is separate from your regular newsfeed, and it’s much more visual, making it the perfect place to showcase your videos. Clips are shown in a continuous stream with no captions or text overlays. Portions of content disappear after 24 hours.

Second, the way Facebook advertisements work gives you the opportunity to craft a sustained call-to-action campaign that has the potential to convert users to high-value leads.

It involves a sequence of ads that start by telling the brand story, then progress into providing information about the product, and the ads end with an invitation for users to sign up.

Of course, storytelling stories also means the stories you tell on Facebook, which includes your profile information and newsfeed posts.

Why storytelling stories are effective, especially on Facebook

Intuitively, it would seem that it’s better to get to the point, which means focusing on your products and services, and including a CTA with every advertisement. The truth is, the method of storytelling stories can be even more effective than more traditional methods of advertising.

Using the Facebook Stories feature, you can connect with a younger audience. It’s a new way to advertise that’s just starting to gain steam, which provides companies with a way to get in early on a new trend.

The real benefit can be seen when it comes to Facebook advertisements. Those who were exposed to an entire sequence of ads that starts with a story, when compared to more traditional call-to-action advertisements, were more likely to click on the landing page with a whopping 87-percent increase in clicks. You may have to elongate your campaign, but even after seeing just one of these storytelling ads, people are more likely to convert.

How to do corporate storytelling right

Once you’ve decided to try storytelling stories in your advertising campaign, you have to figure out the right ways to do it right.

If you decide to connect with customers and clients in a visual way through the use of Facebook Stories, it is vital that you upload vertical videos and images. Although it may be more convenient to upload the videos and images you have, you will lose viewers if you don’t match your materials to this format.

With no text captions, Facebook Stories is not the place to do traditional advertising. Instead, use this as a true platform to tell the story of your brand, day-to-day life, or products, and skip hard selling tactics and CTAs.

When it comes to advertisements, patience is key. Sequenced advertisements require you to implement multiple steps that include telling your brand story in one advertisement, share product information in the next advertisement, and ask people to take action in the last advertisement. Each phase of the sequence may need to be tweaked, depending on your goals and the results of your marketing efforts.

Examples of good storytelling

Sometimes, the best way to understand storytelling stories is to see them in action. A few examples of brands that have mastered corporate storytelling on Facebook include:

• Refinery29 implemented and tracked the results of a sequenced advertising campaign on Facebook with much success, showing that this kind of advertising approach is extremely effective when done correctly.
• Nike has a long history of storytelling as a way to sell their products, starting in the 90s with Michael Jordan and his endorsed products. Modern stories take up the bulk of their profile on Facebook.
• Dove is another name that has mastered storytelling with the “Real Beauty” campaign. They are expanding on their story by including men, but they are doing it with a separate Facebook page to ensure they reach their target audience.

There are many ways you can tell storytelling stories, but one of the best is by using videos, especially on Facebook. Whether you need a vertical video for Facebook Stories, or you want to create a video you can use on your timeline, True Film Production is here to help. Contact us today and we’ll help you take control of your corporate storytelling marketing campaign on Facebook.