Storytelling techniques for copywriters

March 2011

It is said, and I believe it, that human beings are hard-wired to love stories.

Long before writing was invented, cavemen, cavewomen, cave children, cave dogs and cave hamsters were sitting round smoky fires, enthralled, as the tribe’s storyteller created imaginary worlds, legends, myths and, occasionally, case studies of the best way to bring down a mammoth with a spear made from a stick and a lump of rock. Or so I’m told.

And it turns out storytelling works pretty well for copywriters too. Here’s an example.

I once had to write a corporate brochure for a large US corporation. They wanted to move away from the usual overblown style that characterises this type of document towards something on a more human level. Here’s what I suggested to their marketing director.

“Why don’t we tell a series of little stories?” I said. “You can show the reader how you make their life easier through examples, rather than listing benefits.”

“Won’t that come off a bit, well, flaky?” she asked.

“Not if we focus on business problems and how your products solved them.”

So off I went. The stories I wrote were focused on a series of typical working days: a marketing manager, a mailroom manager, a finance director, an HR manager.

Each had the four vital ingredients of a good story.

1.     A protagonist AKA the hero. This is the person we want the reader to identify with.
2.     A predicament or problem. This is the problem my client could make go away. 
3.     A narrative – simply, what happened. 
4.     A resolution. How the story ended. For one of the characters, it was getting home in time to kiss her children goodnight.

Good fiction usually involves the central character undergoing some sort of change. You could argue that the change here was becoming a customer of my client’s.

Here are a three more tips for good storytelling.

Give your character some depth. You don’t need to write a long screed describing their upbringing, career and beliefs. Just a couple of carefully chosen words that flesh them out a little. Is it their 11 cups of coffee a day that keeps them awake? Or maybe wanting to go for a run at lunchtime.

Focus on the purpose of the story. This isn’t fine writing. You’re still trying to sell. Make sure you show your reader how the product you’re promoting solved the hero’s problem.

For a more immediate-sounding story, write in the present tense. For a more true-sounding story, write in the past tense. Play around and see what works for you.

And I’m telling you this because?

It's always hard to sell using the written word. Your reader is ever more mistrustful, stressed and busy.

Storytelling allows you to bypass much of the cynicism that attaches itself to marketing messages and tap into that stone age desire to be entertained.

Oh, and there’s one final tip that really gets people hooked on your story. I'll tell you what it is next month.