We’ve already taken a look at how Santa Claus generates leads by providing a great offer and capturing data. Now we’re going to take a look at how he harnesses the power of storytelling to capture the hearts and minds of consumers.
Every good marketer knows that it’s the stories they tell that have the biggest impact. Stories allow us to convey a brand’s personality in a manner in which people can relate to. Storytelling has been growing more and more important for years, and you can see it in the evolution of television advertisements. Social networking and the internet went on to take it to a whole new level.
Storytelling is arguably particularly important for B2B brands because it’s often difficult for them to articulate their offering. If you’re selling spreadsheet software, it can be easier and more effective to talk to people about what they could do with the time it could save them than it is to extoll the virtues of any one piece of software over another.
How Santa Uses Storytelling
Storytelling is a part of Santa’s entire constitution. His backstory is known to millions and he comes with a whole set of traditions that people follow to engage with his brand, whether they’re writing letters or leaving out a mince pie and some sherry. Traditions are great because they spread from person to person like memes and keep them coming back as repeat customers. And while it might be difficult for brands to start traditions as powerful as Santa’s, they can at least create consistency by providing content on a regular basis, even if that’s only by doing Throwback Thursdays and Follow Fridays.
Santa is also a reminder for B2B marketers that the right to tell the story belongs to the consumer and not the brand. He focuses on living up to the expectations that he sets and delivering the perfect customer experience. He knows that if he does his job well, he won’t have to worry about marketing because his happy customers will do the job for him.
One final thing to note is that he’s even embraced new technologies. Just look at Google’s Santa Tracker and all of the iPhone apps you can download to allow your kids to receive a personalised message from Santa Claus. He’s all over social networking sites and you can bet that whatever the next big thing is, he’ll be quick to adopt that too.
Conclusion
By now, you should have realised that Santa has a surprising amount to teach us when it comes to storytelling, and you should also have a few ideas of how you can follow in his footsteps to make your brand just that little bit more magical. Let it stew in your head over Christmas so that when you’re back in the office, you’re ready to take action. Happy holidays.
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Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.