Great storytellers like J.K Rowling and Steven Spielberg engage the human brain with their storytelling models, taking their audience on an unpredictable ride. It’s a space that most marketers are trying to tap into as well. Marketing professionals and creative founders across the world today realise that selling products and services through storytelling is far more potent than merely listing the impressive qualities of whatever is being sold. The reason? People tend to trust brands that have a human appeal; brands that care about their consumers and do not preach solely to achieve targets and conversions. Storytelling allows brands to tap into the consumer’s mind, create content that can be shared and willingly consumed by consumers.

Here are some easy steps to help you build relevant and engaging content via storytelling:

1. Maintain unpredictability in storytelling

Sports fans usually tune away from games when the outcome is no longer in doubt, and readers lose interest in books when they can anticipate the ending. The key to engagement is to maintain unpredictability. Great content creation is all about hitting readers with something they haven’t seen before or something they weren’t already expecting when they arrived at your page. The element of surprise is what keeps us all hooked, and this is the belief from which the storytelling model stems. If you can build a convincing and exciting story around whatever you want to say – one that keeps users glued to their screens, you have achieved the purpose of your content piece.

2. Humanise your content

We live in a world where 1400 new blog posts are published every minute! But how many manage to capture and retain their audiences’ attention? What is it that people want to read? And what gets swiped unnoticed? What adds an edge to a content piece is the human character in it. It is the ability to captivate consumers by telling them that your brand understands them.

One way to do so is by putting out a story that they can relate to, something that tells them how their life can be affected by a product or service you are trying to sell. Publishing success stories about how your product or service has helped five people can have a better impact than merely listing the 25 features of the product or service. Storytelling allows your brand to make the conversations about your users, to create targeted and people driven content that users can resonate with.

3. Always be authentic

People like brands that are different, original and stand by ideology. Storytelling helps you cut through the clutter and carve a niche for yourself. Publishing impactful and real stories can increase your brand’s credibility among users. It also establishes your name in the industry. Storytelling is what makes you different from other brands; it is your chance to shine, sound genuine and be true to your audience.

The storytelling model in content marketing can be a powerful tool for engaging with readers today. It activates the brain in the same way a fascinating film or book does; this gets people to do more than just swipe through your posts. Engaging your audience with thoughtful and relevant content requires that you understand the psychology behind why people devour compelling tales. And storytelling is an excellent way to help you achieve all this and more!