Right on the Mark: Effective Content Marketing Through Storytelling

Every product and every service is associated with an experience, with a customer experience. In an age in which customers are exchanging their opinions more than ever and in which every consumer can research information on the Internet in a matter of seconds, it is becoming increasingly important for companies to offer their customers a comprehensive, personalized and positive experience that meets their needs as fully as possible. Content marketing for addressing customers is an important tool both for retaining existing customers and for winning new ones. Today, customers often expect added value from interaction with a company, especially in markets where the products or services of different providers hardly differ in terms of functionality or scope of services.

In addition, the younger generation in particular - the so-called GenerationZ - is increasingly experience-oriented and expects their wishes to be fulfilled immediately. Keyword: Instant Gratification. Storytelling is a proven approach to effective customer communication. The idea behind it is to entertain, captivate, convey the right messages and ultimately add value for the customer - both intellectually and emotionally. Storytelling shouldn't just be about lyrics. Especially Generation Z speaks up much faster.

Many brands, particularly in the luxury goods sector, concentrate solely on conveying the lifestyle for which the brand stands and mainly address the customer emotionally. But also useful content is gladly accepted and in the ideal case the customers like the content so much that they distribute it via social media. A real marketing success is when customers also become brand ambassadors in this way.

In all of this, honesty, brand authenticity and ethical behavior should be priorities. Because the Internet provides more transparency and exchange, and any misconduct can therefore cost a company dearly.  

• Image, text, video, audio clips: Use different content forms to reach your different target groups. It's the mix that does it. Of course these different forms of content must be adapted to the respective medium.
• Do not underestimate the effectiveness of the emotional component. First and foremost, the customer wants to feel understood.
• Be unmistakable - develop your very own language, in words and pictures. Address all the different facets of customer needs. What does the customer want to see, hear, feel?
• Do not neglect the topic of SEO. SEO and content marketing should go hand in hand so that your target groups can easily find your content. Think about how you can further distribute the content through content seeding.
• Communicate the positive customer experience at all contact points and present the brand consistently. This also applies to social media channels, which are not yet being used effectively by many companies. And: Make content sharing and bilateral dialogue easier for your target group.
• Something else about social media: New platforms can emerge almost overnight and quickly gain in importance. Instagram and snapchat are examples of this. Do not neglect new channels, especially the younger generation likes to use these platforms.
• From content to purchase: If the content triggers a spontaneous purchase decision with the customer, the customer must be able to implement it as easily and directly as possible, regardless of which channel they are on. Online, for example, with one click, directly from content to order.
• Test which content is well received by the customer - for example by A/B testing. And measure how marketing influences customer loyalty and buying behavior.
• Check and adjust the content strategy regularly on the basis of suitable KPIs. The competition also works with tested content marketing. It is therefore more difficult than ever to be perceived.