Storytelling sells: How to boost sales in your shop

Do you know the feeling when you’ve launched your online shop and optimised it as far as possible, but things still aren’t going as smoothly as you’d like? You’ve already done everything you can to optimise the conversion rate, improve the user experience and present the products in a great light – and yet the purchases still aren’t coming in at the desired rate.

Have you reached the plateau described above and simply don’t know which technique to use to optimise your shop? Then I have good news for you, because a highly effective and popular method for boosting sales is now usually the rock in the surf: storytelling.

This article is about what storytelling is, how you can integrate it into your shop and use it to enhance it and significantly increase the conversion rate so that the desired success finally materialises.

What is storytelling?

Before we talk specifically about the benefits of storytelling for your shop, let’s start with the definition. Storytelling is an English term and basically means nothing more than “telling stories”. Its origins are not in e-commerce or marketing, but in art and literature. It describes a narrative method that uses figurative and symbolic language, i.e. metaphors and leitmotifs, to convey content.

In contrast to traditional narrative methods, storytelling focuses less on data and facts and instead has to give way to emotions, imagery and a common narrative thread. The story told can be true or fictitious or based on a true event and embellished.

There are no limits to storytelling and due to the special excitement and attention it generates, the business world has increasingly recognised the potential of the narrative method. Today, it is one of the most popular marketing tools and an efficient method for increasing sales, especially for online shops.

Storytelling has these advantages for your online shop

Unlike conventional shop optimisations in terms of design, wording, product portfolio, checkout process and many other points, storytelling usually involves more time and creative effort. However, it brings a whole range of benefits that definitely justify the effort.

1. storytelling helps to build a brand

People love stories. That’s why we buy novels every day, read storybooks to children, stream films on Netflix and discuss the latest neighbourhood gossip with the people next door.

Stories give us the feeling of being alive and capture us with excitement and emotion. This element of storytelling also helps you to build your brand. If you manage to harmonise a storytelling concept with your branding, people will associate the story and emotion with your brand.

It’s especially great for new customers if the first point of contact is storytelling and you can capture their emotions and convince them of your shop. With storytelling, you don’t just win over random customers, but existing customers.

The whole thing still sounds very abstract, so let’s take a look at an example: During the coronavirus pandemic, many people who work in offices have been forced to work from home. The American technology giant Apple has capitalised on this and created perfect storytelling.

Apple produced a video called “The whole working-from-home-thing”, in which a team working from home tries to meet a tight project deadline. The employees “suffer” from the typical problems that lurk when working from home and have become a meme in times of coronavirus: Childcare, no scanner within reach, no organised workplace and distractions everywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_pru8U2RmM

The mini film shows the difficulties of working from home in a humorous and authentic way. Viewers can immediately identify with it and recognise the characters. To what extent is this a branding measure? Well, the only constant that helps the bright team to navigate through the home office quarrels is, of course, the reliability of Apple devices.

Storytelling is therefore ideal for creating a story that your target group identifies with. If you also manage to position your brand in the story with its values, this is a tremendous boost for your branding.

2. storytelling makes your product more valuable

On 1 July 2021, the Harry Potter glasses and wand used by actor Daniel Radcliffe in the famous films will be auctioned off in America. Experts estimate that the props will go for between 30,000 and 50,000 US dollars.

This is an extreme example of storytelling that conveys how a strong story with great emotional versatility can increase the value of a supposedly simple product. After all, why are fans prepared to spend so much money on “a bit of wood and a pair of ordinary glasses”? The reason is quite simply that they are not just buying a pair of glasses and a piece of wood, but an attitude to life. An attitude to life that defines a large part of their existence and represents their values and passions.

Don’t worry: you don’t have to become J.K. Rowling 2.0 to add value to your products with storytelling. If you manage to develop a story around your company that has a certain family of values and appeals to a clearly defined target group on an emotional level, you too will succeed in adding extra value to your products. These can be values such as sustainability, family, love, health and much more. Think about what values you and your company want to stand for and how you can package them in a story.

3. describe your product better with storytelling

A common mistake in marketing is to be too proud of bare figures and forget what is really relevant for customers. Nowadays, people are inundated with facts and figures, so it is all the more important to pick them up on a personal level.

This is where storytelling comes into play. Instead of simply listing bare data in your online shop’s product description, you can use figurative language, symbols and metaphors to show potential customers the added value of your product.

Is there a classic problem that everyone knows and has already experienced that is solved by your product? You can start here and spin an emotional story that your target group can identify with, similar to the Apple film. For example, create a fictional character whose everyday life is affected by this problem until they come across your product. Or tell the true story of how you came up with the product idea and what problem it solved in your life.

Depending on the genre of your shop, the emotions of the story can be conveyed in a humorous, touching or many other ways. Once you have achieved this, you remove any need to explain the product and thus shorten the path to purchase. With a product description based on storytelling, you will noticeably increase your conversion rate!

How to integrate storytelling into your shop

We’ve already talked a lot about what storytelling actually is and the benefits it brings to your shop, and we’ve also discussed two interesting real-life examples. But how can you integrate storytelling into your online shop to enjoy its many benefits?

There are many different storytelling methods and strategies that you can use to bring a story into your shop – from the type of story to the medium. Basically, it makes sense to make a distinction between fictional and real.

Do you want to base your storytelling on a true story or create a fictional story? Think carefully about what suits you, your shop, product and long-term planning best.

Fictional storytelling

A fictional story is ideal if you feel that the real-life events don’t provide enough information for a captivating story. But a fictional story is also ideal if you don’t want to put yourself at the centre of your shop and want to remain anonymous. Also remember not to confuse fictitious with “lies” in this context.

An example: You probably know the “two incomparable families” from the Check24 advert. It’s a prime example of (fictional) storytelling. The funny adverts usually show an average family with a lot of stereotypes. The father uses the comparison portal to save money for the family so that the daughter and wife can buy themselves something nice. The storytelling with the family was even such a success that Check24 added a second family.

You can also easily construct a fairy tale or an imaginary character that comes into contact with your product or service and always accompanies the product journey.

Storytelling based on a true story

Does your product have an interesting background? How was your company founded? What were the challenges? Are there any exciting anecdotes?

By illustrating the long journey from start-up to product and the first happy customers, you create the perfect foundation for solid storytelling. Think about how you can create a common thread that turns your experiences and adventures into a consistent story.

If you can present the hurdles and the path to finding your company in an interesting way, this will trigger emotions in potential customers that will be linked to your story. This will also increase loyalty and sympathy towards your shop. As a result, the likelihood of a purchase also increases considerably.

Colour and sound: your story comes to life

Have you finalised your storytelling concept? Great, now it’s time to implement it. There are lots of storytelling tools that help you combine different media such as text, images, video and sound to create your perfect storytelling.

Storytelling tools usually work very simply and according to the drag and drop principle. All you have to do is put together all the content that you have previously prepared for your storytelling (images, text, music, etc.).

Conclusion: Storytelling for your online shop

You now know all the benefits that you can bring to your online shop with storytelling. We have also clarified what storytelling actually means, discussed some best practices and how you can integrate it into your shop. Now it’s up to you: be creative and develop a captivating story that will boost your conversion rate!