Stories have always defined our existence. Since the dawn of communication we have been hearing stories. With time they have evolved, but the purpose has remained the same, which is to entertain, teach, and pass on traditions or to share common experiences.  At its very core, marketing too is storytelling, and in an ad-free world it is the only solution. People may ignore pop-ups, they may fast forward television commercials or ignore email offers. To get in front of the desired audience you can use the power of storytelling. Create immersive and exciting experiences which will keep the audience hooked. However, engaging with the target audience and humanizing a company can prove more challenging than it seems.

Why brands need to mature

Present day organizations focus on creating more engaging content using different formats, but very few know how to effectively map out strategies for success. Marketers are interested in developing visual content and are striving to become better storytellers. Creating quality content is one of the primary aims of B2B marketers. The fact that brands use different formats but yet have to incorporate various media types into a seamless storytelling experience shows how much brands have to mature before they actually become publishers.

Engaging the audience successfully

B2B marketers are using storytelling to strengthen ties with the potential and current customers, to share their message in the world and to become thought leaders in the industry. To become experts in storytelling they must focus on creating engaging and authentic content which goes beyond a listicle blog post or a typical case study. They must create stories which amuse, inspire and entertain the reader. With people’s attention fast dwindling, it can be very challenging to get the reader to read the entire article. With more interactive storytelling such as podcasts and webinars the marketers can engage the audience.

Reaching out to customers

Through storytelling brands can lower the barrier to reach out to customers. In the present times they have to understand how they emotionally resonate with the customers, then position the message in the right place to tell the story at the right time. Today countless tools are available to corporate marketers which help them to share their stories. By knowing how and where the target consumer consumes media, the brands will be able to position the story more effectively.

Why buyers want interactive content

An increasing number of B2B buyers want interactive content which helps them to make their buying decisions. Prominent brands are leveraging formats such as assessments, videos and quizzes to promote engagement across the buyer’s journey. It has been seen that a majority of buyers prefer interactive and visual content than the traditional formats. Interactive content offers prospects a more valuable buying experience and provides them with deeper insights for future marketing initiatives.

Audiences embrace long-form articles

Connecting with the audience on a human level is the secret to win them over. With the advent of the internet people preferred shorter content. But with the download speed fast increasing and new devices offering unique reading experiences, how people think about storytelling has changed. Long-form articles are being able to capture the reader’s attention and entertain the audience. Long-form content is no longer a page of black and white text. Rather it refers to well-designed templates coupled with videos, images, graphs and audio clips. It is the playfulness and interactivity of the content which keeps the readers engaged.

Introduction of arresting visuals and graphics

In 1786, William Playfair, a Scottish engineer and political economist, introduced the bar chart and the line chart to the world. He tried to explain imports, exports and general trade trends of England in a single view. He was aware of the sheer amount of statistical information he wanted to publish which would overwhelm the audience. He knew that if he organized the information to number driven images readers would easily understand his core points. In modern day publishing charts are being used to break large chunks of text which draws the reader’s attention to important facts and figures. The interest of the readers in charts and images will not decrease over time. Hence, data visualization may have started as a way to quickly communicate data to an unfamiliar audience but it has founded a new type of content on its own.

An interesting study

A study was conducted on 63 self-identified long-form content lovers and their consumption was monitored over 21 days. The participants read 1349 stories in three weeks and shared almost 35% of what they were reading without any prompt. The readers mostly shared the stories across three hubs which includes Facebook, Twitter and email. The respondents read the stories evenly throughout the week with 50% of consumption taking place during weekends. Surprisingly, 66% of the times the readers finished a long story in one sitting.

Incorporating media elements

In spite of being pressed for time people are engaging in long form content. Most long form stories contain visual elements which have been used to break the monotony of the text. Videos and audio clips have been added to appeal to the reader’s senses. Long-form stories have interactive components which help share and discover more information. Technological changes and a shift in how people prefer to consume information have led to the emergence of this form interactive visual storytelling. Interactive content will fit into every marketing program but the degree to which you add the mixed media elements will depend to a large extent on your budget. What you are trying to communicate to the audience and your program’s end goal will decide the media elements which you are incorporating in interactive content.  

Avoiding self-referential stories

Interactive storytelling is the future of marketing. With interactive storytelling you can include others such as your staff, suppliers, customers and the audience. You no longer run into the risk of telling a story which is all about yourself. A good piece of interactive content will involve others and make you feel a part of the tale. By involving others you can create stories which are alive and always evolving. As self-referential stories is a challenge which B2B marketers face today, with interactive storytelling you can provide useful and interesting information which is relevant to your customers.

Thinking out of the box to boost interactivity

For top-notch interactive content you will have to think out-of-the-box. If you want to capture people’s attention you will have to come up with content which is compelling and unique. As people do not flock towards mediocrity, there is no room for average. Interactive storytelling does not solely depend on words alone. You can make use of videos and real world interactions to engage the audience. As long as you are embracing people and encouraging them to get involved you are on the right track. Interactivity empowers the audience to become a part of the story.

Advantages of adding videos

Experts have noted that adding interactive elements to popular content formats such as a video not only boost engagement but can lead to greater insights about the prospective buyers. Video software tools are available today which enable B2B organizations to score leads based on the engagement which the video creates. This can supplement the other data in marketing automation platforms and CRM. It is a good idea to incorporate interactivity within the video such as include pop-up questions which offers buyers different ways to absorb content which has been created.

Using the story-form

Although content marketing and brand storytelling may share a few core concepts there is a growing difference between the two. Not every piece of content which is created for a marketing strategy uses a story-form to connect with the audience. It is advisable that you tell interactive stories in chapters. This way you can create suspense and anticipation among the readers. As a marketer you will enjoy unprecedented power, as you can give readers only what they need to get hooked on a story. To evaluate whether a story is interactive you need to revisit the format.

Choosing the right format

The next question which arises is how to choose the format. Interactivity can be established in various ways but it is necessary to understand when a simple animation may serve a better purpose than a microsite or an advanced landing page. A blog post which covers trends may not require a whole site redesign but it could benefit from data visualization. You can consider including a graph which will communicate a data set to the audience quickly. A dense industry research is not only overwhelming for the audience but may prove challenging for the marketing team to deliver. In such a scenario it makes more sense to break the story within research and develop narrative around the data points. You can then deliver the information through an interactive concept.

Consumers embrace branded content

A majority of consumers are open to reading articles which add value to their lives. A recent study has revealed that consumers are embracing branded content. They are more likely to watch an online streaming TV series which is produced by a brand rather than the same content being made by a traditional media company. Interestingly, B2B marketers are striving hard to become better story tellers. Interactive storytelling is the solution which they are on the lookout for, which requires knowledge of web design, analytics and an understanding of how to write. Importantly, quality is an important barometer which marketers can use to measure the value of the media which they are about to publish.