Story Marketing - How Your Brain Responds

When a story is delivered artfully, an audience is hooked. We all have that friend or family member who can tell a good story, make us laugh, cry, or create a feeling of shock and awe. We read books and watch movies to get lost in stories and share the stories we love with friends.

We buy things because of stories too.

There's an idea we make decisions because of a “clear head,” data, or with facts. But neuroscientists studying decision-making found our amygdala, the core of our emotional processing, is where we make our choices. Our subconscious brain drives and decides our conclusions before applying logic.

Stories stimulate our brains when we hear them. The term neuro coupling is what happens to our brain when it sees or hears a story. It’s neurons fire like the speaker's brain, creating a direct connection and correspondence between the speaker's brain and the audience listening.

Stories engage us emotionally and affect our behavior, it’s actual science.

In 2009, Rob Walker and Joshua Glen created an experiment called Significant Objects. The project auctioned thrift-store objects on eBay with short stories written by over 100 contributing writers. The items were not exceptional, most costing a little over a dollar. Their goal was to prove the effect of narrative storytelling on objects.

Instead of describing the objects, the duo attached fictional stories to the trinkets and found the response was extraordinary. For example, a pink plastic horse originally purchased for $1 was sold for $104.04, connected to a heartbreaking story of a mother’s missteps and loss.

The experiment offered shoppers an emotional connection to the objects they were buying. The ornaments had a purpose, a tie to another human story; they created an impression, making the buyer feel connected to something bigger than what they were purchasing.

Story marketing creates an emotional connection between a company, its services, and its customers. It increases engagement between a brand and its audience, which ultimately helps drive revenue and growth. For your marketing to cut through the noise and reach your target audience, storytelling will humanize your brand and create lasting customers.

It’s science.