The Copywriting Board

Many of the gurus suggest you stock your swipefile with a different kind of copywriter. It may be Joe Sugarman or Drew Kaplan. New economy marketing guru seth Godin is a fan of storytelling copy. I recall it was copywriting guru Dan Kenedy who turned me onto the catalog copywriting of J. Peterman. You quickly notice these examples are different from the normal formula: They’re stories.

The difference is using storytelling as copywriting. If you still aren’t familiar with the style, here’s an example.


People do want to make their life the way they wish it were. And those people use what they buy to change the story they tell themselves about their lives. J. Peterman customers aren’t just buying a shirt or a frock, they’re buying something to make their own story less ordinary.

How To Tell Your Own Story
Many companies tell the details they hope will win business the way a prisoner gives up a “name, rank and serial number.” Others drone on about things their customers could care less about. Clearly, it’s easy to go wrong with storytelling.

Tell your story from the customer’s perspective. Whether you’re doing an About Us page or writing catalog copy, think about the problem the customer is trying to solve. Message to market match is crucial, your copy must demonstrate your knowledge of the customer’s world view.

Drama, action, romance, challenges overcome. All those elements which make for the storylines you enjoy work to hold the reader’s interest long enough to tell your full story. An experiment also showed people remember details in story form much longer than other forms.

People tell the stories they like. Story-based copywriting is especially effective on the web, where people link to things they like and shun blatantly self-serving hucksterism. People will link, refer, and repeat a good story.

After all, everybody knows the Kebler Elves, Marlboro “Man,” the Snapple Lady. Well, there really is a Sandy, the Snapple lady. What could have been a sterile bureaucratic communication was given the authenticity of personal communication. And whether fictional or not, authenticity is crucial for telling your story. The persona of a J. Peterman can outlive the person with that name.

Excedrin Headache #214 isn't a medical condition, it's a story. But the scenario or situation is something which identifies the customer's pain in a way they can identify with, find credible and authentic.

Do You Have An Interesting Story Buried In Your Business?
Almost every business has a great story. Often it gets buried in policy, procedure, features, and buzzwords. Or the company is so into the storyline they tell themselves, the customer gets a little lost.

The first place to start is with your Unique Selling Proposition. The USP isn’t a story, but it can be the differentiator your stories should center on telling. And building a USP requires building some competitive advantage, the very thing you’ll want to tell customers about in your story.

Imagine your company as a superhero, with your service or product as your "super power." The basic storyline starts with you swooping in to save the customer from the status quo of your industry.

Being a storyteller myself I have to say great stuff here, john.

Everyone should give it a read. You're getting applause.

Thanks for duping this.

Loved it on Fortin's forum...I miss some of the great thread comments, though.

Here's one. The story behind the potato chip and one of very few well-written packaging examples...

We call them “Dirty” Potato Chips because we don’t wash off the natural potato juices, so they are crispier & tastier!

Once upon a time, all potato chips tasted good. Very good. They were very crisp. And they tasted like real potatoes. Then, good ol’ American mass production ingenuity took over. Bags of potato chips had to be produced by the millions. Every day. And that was a very sticky problem.
Because when you slice a potato, you know, the juice makes the chips stick together. Well, that was a real bugaboo for potato chip makers who had to cook ’em by the millions. If the slices stuck together you couldn’t send them down a lickity–split production line. So, the potato chip making geniuses solved the problem. “We’ll wash off those juices,” one said, “and then they won’t stick together.” Problem is, when you wash off the juices two things happen. Both bad. You lose a whole lot of crispness. And you wash off that natural potato flavor.
So, now you know our secret. We don’t wash off the natural potato juices. It means we have to hand-cook our chips one batch at a time. Stirring them so they don’t stick together. Are they really “dirty?” No. We just said that because we don’t wash off the juices. And it makes it easy to remember the name of the good one. We promise we don’t drop any of them on the floor.
And if you show the wisdom of a true potato chip lover you’ll tuck this bag on the top of your shopping cart. And you’ll never again eat one of those other, squeaky clean chips that taste like …well, they don’t taste like much of anything.

The headline was on the front, the body copy on the back of the bag. And this version was tried when the old version nearly bankrupt the founders. The copy was the only thing changed, and it turned the company around.

Great post! The potato chip story is awesome, too. Thanks for sharing. :)

Do you guys happen to have any recommendations for good books on how to tell a story with copy? Have gotten a few, am always up for hearing more. =)

Rachel, have you seen Vin's report on how to use story in copy? You can get it here if you don't have it: http://montellomarketing.com/secret.html

I'm not aware of any books devoted to the topic of using story in copy but if there are any, I'd love to hear about them.

Hey Anita,

I have seen that, and it's phenomenal. :)

Was given a few recs on storytelling that I'll be able to read once I get back to the states:

"Your Attention Please" by Paul Brown & Alison Davis
"The Power of Story" by Jim Loehr
"Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter)" by Garr Reynolds
"The Elements of Persuasion: Use Storytelling to Pitch Better, Sell Faster & Win More Business" by Richard Maxwell
"Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story" by Jerry Weissman
"All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World" by Seth Godin
"The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures"
by Dan Roam

Some look better than others, but figured I'd list them all for the sake of inclusion. :)

Thanks for those titles, Rachel. I'll add them to my list. Gave you some karma.

"Your Attention Please" is awesome and only $5 at Amazon. Its not copy specific but a great book on how to write simply to hold attention... Something all copywriters must do.

Is there anything you haven't read, Bruce? :)

LOL! Oh, there's plenty, but they're on my list :) I love reading anything that can make me a better marketer.

Hi Rachel,

Thanks for mentioning your list. Off to Barnes and Noble today.

You also may want to add Dave Lakhani- Subliminal Persuasion, to your list. He adds a unique perspective to his work as he grew up in a cult.

Check his storytelling secrets out for free-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu-Knzb8ozs

 

One more...

The Story Factor by Annette Simmons

OK, two more...

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Great recommendations Kevin. Which read would you recommend first?

I'm actually about to read Stephen King- On Writing.

But the Story Factor might have to come first.

I'd suggest Claude Hopkins work for Schlitz (http://www.copywriting1.com/2007/10/claude-hopkins-schlitz-beer-ad.html) gives a grounding on the purpose of these particular types of stories.

Bill Gates used to tell the story of a Lotus CEO who loved to tell stories. The Microsoft camp numbered them and whispered "here comes number seven," in anticipation ...of utter boredom.

Have your story include a punchline or purpose, preferably something about your USP.

That reminds me of a story. What happens when "The Millionaire Maker," Dan Kennedy meets "The Godfather of Cartoons"? (http://www.adtoons.com/clients/dan_kennedy/)

My swipefile includes the comic book mailer Boardroom Reports made up. In addition, I've seen comics sell such complex technologies as molecular filters.

Your buyers aren't always the technological people who are end users.

Finally, don't forget agencies use storyboards to sell clients. You can use stories with clients as well as their copy. Just make sure you don't start thinking you're Steven King; these are stories with a purpose beyond entertainment.

I'll give my vote for "On Writing" as a good book about writing stories.

Stephen King has a way of presenting his stories in a way that truly yanks you in and makes you listen.  And his philosophy behind writing is refreshing.  He doesn't make it mystical, he just says that he likes to tell a good yarn.

And he'll do it in a way that makes sense to him, using characters, situations and environments that he's familiar with.  He writes what he knows, and he describes it plainly.

And if you read through his books, you'll find short sentences. Targeted.  Fragments. The kind that your grammar teacher would have scolded you for in big red ink on your papers.

And he makes absolutely fantastic use of
(redrum)
repetition in all of his stories.

Check out Wendy the Snapple lady (http://books.google.com/books?id=PqfSW3zpvFoC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=wendy+snapple+lady+story&source=web&ots=lDTxdplONj&sig=Dmm9RAaQzXuaA6o2H7Ua4WbGWNY&hl=en&ei=UR2PSeW1CIiiNfv1uacL&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PPA32,M1).

A corporate conglomerate buys Snapple, fires Wendy, and sales plummet. Rehiring Wendy brought sales back to life.

The characters have to be authentic. This makes typical characters difficult, but doesn't rule out finding a Wendy Kaufman story to tell.

Authenticity is tough to craft when creating a character, not too difficult to find. You don't want to have to exhibit Steven King level writing to pull this off.

yeah, good choice. The King book incorporates the best of Strunk and White, plus Zinsser to complete the bad writing coup de grâce.

Plus, it's the only time he goes deep in describing the day he got plowed by a conversion van while walking a side road. Storytelling at its finest.

But do read the Story Factor... while the King book talks about writing in general, Simmons focuses on story writing exclusively.

Enjoy.

This thread has been sorta dead for months, but I wanted to bump it up again because I think it gets forgotten. Plus, we've had new members since then and they might benefit from further discussion on the subject.

And on that note, I wanted to add a suggestion with regards to story-telling.

One of the best ways in the world to learn how to tell a story... is to read them. And I'm not talking just novels. I'm talking short stories, mythology, children's lit, religious stories... anything where the tales are simple, short, and leave an impact.

Also, plays, improv theatre, and stand up comics (*cough* Vin and Kevin *cough*)provide an endless source of terrific story-telling examples.

I will personally log onto the Canadian http://watch.comedynetwork.com (http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca) and watch stand-up comics. They're funny, and often they're great storytellers.

Also listen to storytellers, if there are any near you. I live in storyteller country near the National Storytelling HQ in Jonesborough, TN. You can find interactive storytelling at Civil War or Revolutionary War re-enactments. they're also at historic attractions. Or you can check out the National Storytelling Festival the first weekend in Oct. Sometimes you can catch them at your local library.

Seeing them in action, as they "sell" their story to the audience shows you the elements of persuasion being acted upon live. It can also bring home somr of the skills we learn as copywriters.

So, do you want to know the most popular story copy that goes wrong for people?

My story copy.

How I quit smoking. How I lost weight. (Perhaps you've already spotted one flaw in this technique).

Aside from forcing the copy off "you," it's weak in credibility. You have one data point -- it's you -- and you're trying to fill up a whole letter with that one example. While most popular, telling your own story is probably why more people no longer write story copy.

Infomercials get this right by putting the creator or developer's story about two-thirds into the pitch. "I'm not just the owner, I'm a client." It's the eating your own dog food angle.

Tell client stories. Or, better yet, tell your story from the point of view of a client.

You want to know where these stories do well? In your ebook or short report. Stories are not just for copy.



Related:

Niche Detective: Don't Burn Down Your House This Thanksgiving (http://copywritingboard.com/marketing-montage/niche-detective-don't-burn-down-your-house-this-thanksgiving/) make a dramatic point in your story -- using video.