The goal of your marketing shouldn\u2019t just be about being seen; it should also be about being remembered. And one of the most effective ways to make your brand memorable is through storytelling.<\/p>\n
Stories help people attach meaning to information. By connecting with people\u2019s emotions, they make ideas easier to understand, easier to recall and easier to believe. Here are a few of the reasons why storytelling is such a powerful marketing tool.<\/p>\n
A common mistake marketers make is prioritising attention over memorability. Campaigns that aim to reach the masses, rather than connect with a carefully defined audience, might deliver impressive vanity metrics in the short term (I know we all love to see high impressions), but they don\u2019t build a pipeline for the long term.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, behind all the shiny social media statistics, our role as marketers is to bring in new business.<\/p>\n
In B2B marketing, consideration cycles can be long. Organisations are often tied into contracts, waiting on new budgets, or navigating lengthy approval processes. Unlike spotting a targeted ad for a 1960s Elvis Presley ash tray and clicking ‘buy now’ (my eBay algorithm has me sussed), B2B decisions take time.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why memorability matters. You\u2019re not trying to drive an impulse purchase; you\u2019re trying to be remembered when the moment to buy finally arrives.<\/p>\n
Anyone I\u2019ve worked in a sales and marketing capacity with will know I talk about the 95\/5<\/a> rule a lot \u2013 and for good reason.<\/p>\n The rule suggests that, at any given moment, 95% of your potential buyers are \u2018out of market\u2019. They\u2019re not actively looking for what you offer. So, if all your marketing focuses on the 5% who are ready to buy right now, you\u2019re missing a much larger long-term opportunity.<\/p>\n This is where brand building becomes so important. The brands that win aren’t necessarily the ones shouting the loudest today; they’re the ones that have built enough familiarity and trust to be remembered when buyers enter the market tomorrow. And that’s where storytelling comes into play.<\/p>\n Stories help people feel good about brands and create the mental shortcuts people rely on when making decisions. They help your audience remember your brand long after they’ve forgotten your latest campaign statistic, product feature or sales message.<\/p>\n Brand awareness is the term most of us will be familiar with. Quite simply, it means people know your brand exists. But awareness alone isn\u2019t enough. What really matters is brand salience, which is whether your brand comes to mind in a buying situation.<\/p>\n Take Nvidia as an example. Many people recognise the name and logo and know it\u2019s a ‘tech company’. But outside of its core audience, relatively few people could clearly explain what it does. In this case, that\u2019s intentional; the brand only needs to resonate with a specific group.<\/p>\n For many SMBs, however, a lack of salience can hold back growth. It\u2019s not enough for people to have heard of you. If you\u2019re not the brand they think of when they need your service, you\u2019ll lose out to a competitor.<\/p>\n In practice, brands should build awareness first, then strengthen salience through consistency, distinctive assets and emotional connection. Storytelling helps with all three.<\/p>\n Stories are how humans make sense of the world. They help us attach meaning to information, explaining why it matters, which is what makes it memorable \u2013 and we\u2019ve used this as a survival mechanism for millennia.<\/p>\n The Blindboy podcast is full of great examples of this. I learned about a brilliant one in a recent episode. In Ireland, there is a well called Tobar na nGealt<\/a> (Well of the Mad). For centuries, people would flock to this well, believed to be a portal to the otherworld, to drink the magic water and cleanse their mind.<\/p>\n In 2012, after centuries of myth and folktales surrounding this well, scientists tested the water and discovered a high volume of naturally occurring lithium, which has been cited as a treatment for ill mental health. A study<\/a> found that \u2018Naturally occurring lithium in drinking water may have the potential to reduce the risk of suicide and may possibly help in mood stabilisation, particularly in populations with relatively high suicide rates and geographical areas with a greater range of lithium concentration in the drinking water\u2019.<\/p>\n I absolutely love this example. By passing a story through word of mouth for generations \u2013 \u201cthis well has magic water, if you\u2019re sick in the mind, drink from it and be cured\u201d \u2013 countless people were likely given genuine health benefits.<\/p>\n Hundreds of years later, we\u2019ve been able to prove that this tall tale has real truth in it.<\/p>\n Now, the Well of the Mad may not seem to link directly to B2B marketing, but there\u2019s a lot we can learn from the example.<\/p>\n Firstly, if your product is good, people will talk. The news will spread far and wide that your magic water cures illness.<\/p>\n Secondly, the reason that information was remembered for centuries wasn’t because someone published a list of facts on LinkedIn (or the medieval equivalent). It was remembered because it was wrapped in a story.<\/p>\n The well wasn’t simply a source of water with unusual properties, it was a portal to the otherworld. Little bubbles of magic rose through the well and infused the water, so drinking it passed those magical qualities on to you. The story gave meaning to the information, and in turn, memorability.<\/p>\n In marketing, storytelling shouldn\u2019t be seen as creative dressing. It\u2019s a cognitive tool that helps your audience understand, retain and recall your message when it matters most.<\/p>\n There are so many ads I remember from my childhood \u2013 and it\u2019s the great use of storytelling that\u2019s kept them in my mind.<\/p>\n The BT campaign starring Kris Marshall<\/a> is a great example. Running for six years, it followed his character navigating life with his new partner and her children. Each instalment introduced a new life event, from career challenges to a pregnancy (which the public actually voted for) and eventually a wedding.<\/p>\n This campaign was effective not just because of the creative, but also the continuity. Viewers became invested in the story. Each ad built on the last, reinforcing both the narrative and the brand. The underlying message was that BT could support customers through life\u2019s changes, but it was presented in a natural way that enabled the viewer to come to their own conclusion.<\/p>\n Almost 20 years on, I still think of Kris Marshall every time I see the BT logo.<\/p>\n There’s an important lesson here for marketers \u2013 you can’t tell one great story and expect that to be enough. Your message should be woven through multiple touchpoints over time. Repeated storytelling builds memory and narrative progression deepens emotional investment. Together, they make your brand easier to remember when those crucial buying moments arrive.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a common perception that B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing has more freedom to be creative, like the BT campaign example. It\u2019s easier, people assume, to tell stories that resonate with consumers than with organisations.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s important to remember that just because your product or service is B2B, that doesn\u2019t mean your customer is a business. Your customer is a thinking, feeling person within that organisation \u2013 someone with responsibility, pressure and decision-making power. If your marketing speaks only to \u2018the organisation\u2019, it’s missing an opportunity to connect with the person who has the power to bring your product or service on board.<\/p>\n Storytelling allows you to do exactly that. It brings context to your messaging, makes your proposition more relatable and, most importantly, makes your brand more memorable. And in a market where 95% of buyers aren’t ready to purchase today, memorability is one of the most valuable assets your brand can build.<\/p>\n Our writers and strategists at Stratton Craig can help you tease out the story from any piece of comms, whether it\u2019s an annual report, a company update, a piece of thought leadership or an advertising campaign.<\/p>\nBrand awareness vs brand salience<\/h2>\n
Why stories create memory<\/h2>\n
What marketers can learn from storytelling<\/h2>\n
B2C does it best, but B2B can do it too<\/h2>\n
You’re selling to people, not companies<\/h2>\n
Don\u2019t let B2C have all the fun<\/h2>\n