4 Storytelling Formulas To Create CONTENT That SELLS 💸

Key Takeaways

riddle me this what is as old as time but reborn every single day you can hear it see it smell it taste it feel it but it's completely invisible it exists in every single country in the world yet you still take it with you everywhere you go any guesses hey guys it's Alex I'm so glad you're here and yes I'm sure many of you have guessed the riddle by now thanks to the title of this video the answer of course is storytelling it's the most potent form of human communication and has been around since prehistoric times so yes it's as old as time yet new stories are being told every single day storytelling evokes all of your senses according to storytelling analyst lisa krone in her book wired for story the regions of the brain that process the sights sounds tastes and movement of real life are activated when we're engrossed in a compelling narrative so when a story enthralls us we are in side of it feeling what the protagonist feels and experiencing it as if it were indeed happening to us so there you have it you can hear it see it smell it taste it feel it yet it's completely invisible every culture on the planet has storytelling built into its DNA it's how traditions and customs and norms are passed through the generations and before there was the printing press and digital archives and voice memos and theory and YouTube verbal storytelling was the backbone of education and advancement we all remember the stories that our parents and grandparents have told us about their parents and their grandparents and we'll pass those stories on to our children - so yes storytelling exists in every single country in the world yet you take it with you on your journey through life everywhere you go there's no doubt that storytelling is insanely powerful and I'm definitely not the first person to tell you that this form of communication is absolutely we critical for engaging your audience especially in a saturated and highly competitive market every good copywriter and marketer knows this to be true and uses storytelling structures in their sales letters landing pages campaigns and website copy it creates relatability Authority and trust with your prospect but how exactly do you weave storytelling into your copy and what are some of the best formulas that have worked time and time again well I'm here to share my top four storytelling techniques which I have used again and again in my work and if you want to learn more copywriting marketing and branding techniques I share a new tutorial every single week right here on my channel so if you're not already part of the Posse yet click subscribe below to join us and if you've been with me for a while thank you so much give me a thumbs up below to let me know you're here alright now let's move on to the list of storytelling techniques starting with the most classic of them all you've likely heard of it the hero's journey also known as the monomyth the hero's journey was conceptualized by Joseph Campbell in his book a hero with a thousand faces this story structure has been used in films and comics and literature around the world it features a hero also known as the protagonist as they are called to awaken their potential by setting out on a difficult journey and ultimately triumphing over adversity the hero's journey which has inspired marketers and screenwriters throughout the past century can be summarized into three main acts the first is the departure when an external event compels the hero to leave their ordinary world second the initiation when the hero ventures into an unfamiliar territory also known as the unknown world meets a mentor or guide and of course deals with a variety of trials and challenges along the way and lastly the return the hero overcomes their struggles and is stronger and wiser returning to their ordinary world with a sense of victory you can clearly see this story arc and works like Star Wars Batman Game of Thrones The Matrix I could go on and on what is your favorite movie with a hero's journey plotline let me know in the comments below now the hero's journey has been fiercely studied by and marketers ever since Joseph Campbell's book was released and there are tons of amazing resources available that will walk you through this story arc step by step I'll share some of those resources with you at the end of this video to point you in the right direction alright moving on to storytelling technique number two future pacing future pacing is a type of storytelling that allows the reader to imagine themselves in their ideal future it's a technique famously used in neuro linguistic programming or NLP a unique approach to influential communication that is used by many of the world's notable communicators like Oprah Martin Luther King Tony Robbins and many more now NLP is a whole science that takes hours and hours and hours to master and I am no expert but this one particular technique can be used pretty powerfully in copywriting the only thing you really need to know is the one thing your prospects are looking for that's singular benefit and once you've discovered it use future pacing throughout your sales copy to help them visualize their dream life or in other words the life that they'd have after you help them overcome their problem remember your brain cannot tell the difference between positive memories that have already happened or positive future dreams so by allowing your reader to imagine what's to come you're telling their brain that it's already happened and therefore possible to achieve if you can believe it you can achieve it as they say the trick though is to use present tense so that their brain recognizes it as an event that is happening or has already happened it's also important to get highly specific with your future pacing for example instead of saying you wake up in your hotel room on your dream holiday go with you wake up not to the sound of a buzzing alarm but to the exotic chirps of island birds perched outside your window you hear waves softly lapping at the shore as you slowly stretch out under your king duvet you can't remember the last time you slept so soundly if someone told you just three weeks ago that you'd end up here you wouldn't have believed them see the difference you guys want to give it a try comment below with a powerful future pacing statement your own life or business and keep it specific to just one thing you want to achieve so here's one for me I wake up on a gorgeous Sunday morning Sun is filtering through the vibrant green chestnut tree in front of my house on what was supposed to be a rainy day and I checked my phone I open the YouTube app and I realize I have just hit 100,000 subscribers that feels good okay now let's move on to storytelling technique number three what I call the troublemaker so this is a technique inspired by my good friend Perry Belcher the co-owner of digital marketer and amazing copywriter earlier this year Perry spoke at my mastermind flight club and delivered a powerful talk on storytelling now Perry is an avid student of storytelling technique and takes a page from Hollywood screenplays when writing his high converting sales letters he bases his copy on the fundamental truth that nothing and I mean nothing is more interesting than trouble trouble creates drama drama creates attention therefore making the story more memorable and effective and of course the trouble scenarios he writes about reflect the problem that his product or service is attempting to solve Perry encourages copywriters to introduce trouble early on to capture attention and there are two ways that you can do this the first is what I call the build up where everything seems to be going right you're setting the scene you're describing the main character you're building tension and then just as the reader suspects everything goes terribly wrong and the second is what I call the storm where you start your story right in the middle of chaos making your reader go wait what how did we get here what happened and how do we get out you'll see this technique used more and more nowadays because people want trouble right away or else they get bored and they bounce the key though is to draw your prospects into that story world and then turn it upside down with trouble so this can be done by describing color emotions season time texture activity geography mood sound or even smell this technique is conceptualized by Blake Snyder in his best-selling screenwriting book save the cat now this is one of the first books I recommend if you want to become a copywriter to learn the other five you can watch my video right here alright and here's a bonus tip Perry has even used real-life stories as inspiration for his copy because let's be honest true events work even better to make your story believable and relatable so a good thing the media loves trouble just as much as your readers do it's not hard to find a calamity to write about and of course use these stories for inspiration only everything you write needs to be your original work alright so let's move on to storytelling technique number five db4 after bridge not up for a Hollywood drama that's okay this báb technique is one of the simplest copywriting tools that has been used in advertising since the dawn of the Mad Men era the before after bridge works because it moves your prospect from focusing on features and tools to how it will help them improve their life so here's a quick breakdown in the before you show your reader the world before your solution the key is to get them to identify with the problem you're presenting a company that uses this technique really well is mm Lafleur a wardrobe solution for professional women who guess what don't like to shop it goes something like this you're bored of wearing boring pants suits but you have better things to worry about than what to wear you want to take the work out of dressing for work if only there were a practical inspired wardrobe for professional women you then move on to the after which is where you show your readers what their world will look like after your solution mm Lafleur describes the after like so but imagine if you could instead just focus on succeeding in the workplace and harnessing the power of your self presentation while dressing with ease so now you've created a gap between these two worlds the before and the after that your prospects want to fill so now all you have to do is bridge that gap enter your product or service mm Lafleur bridges the gap by saying fill out a brief survey and arrive to a dressing room curated based on your fit and style preferences work one-on-one with a personal stylist while enjoying coffee or Prosecco our goal is to treat you to the most productive personalised and stress-free shopping experience of your life to their practical target audience that sounds heavenly they feel heard they feel understood and they're given an easy solution to solve their problem and so there you have it those are my top four storytelling techniques for copywriting I hope they give you a good idea of how you can engage your audience with story so as I always show me some love below if you found this video helpful and if you want to find out more about these storytelling techniques you can check out the links that I've added in the description below here are some videos for you to check out next and I'll be back next week with a brand new video so be sure to hit subscribe so you don't miss it as always thank you for watching I hope you have a great week I'm Alex ciao for now [Music] oh my gosh laughs yeah I have such a hard time saying that