Unlock the magic of storytelling in our distraction-filled world: Transform fleeting attention into lasting engagement with spellbinding tales on social media.
“The human mind is a story processor, not a logic processor.”
The incomparable Rory Sutherland uttered those words during one of his legendary presentations, eloquently capturing a profound truth about human nature.
While logic and facts have their place, a masterfully spun tale trumps them all when enchanting an audience.
In today’s age of ever-dwindling attention spans and endless distractions battling for our focus, storytelling has evolved from an option to an outright necessity. And what better stage to weave a mesmerising story than the boundless world of social media? But given the minimal real estate and split-second window to make an impact, it takes a special kind of magic to leave users spellbound before they vanish into the void.
Before exploring the practical craft of spellbinding storytelling, it’s worth understanding why we humans are so enthralled by stories in the first place. Fascinatingly, science indicates that listening to narratives literally alters our brain chemistry. When engrossed in a story, neurons start firing, releasing dopamine that triggers a surge of engagement. Cortisol and oxytocin levels also shift, influencing our emotions and bonding us to characters.
Essentially, stories hijack our deepest mental circuits. A skillfully crafted tale feels intimately relevant as we identify with particular characters and experience their emotional journeys first-hand.
Lisa Zunshine, a scholar of literature and cognitive science, observed that humans possess “an insatiable appetite for insight into other people’s hidden, private mental states.” Stories feed this primal psychological craving.
Adding to their appeal, video narratives immerse us by showing rather than just telling a story. As rich visuals, sounds, and motion unfold on-screen, more of our senses are activated, compounding that feeling of total absorption into a tale.
So, how can we translate such irresistible appeal into spellbinding social ads? Read on.
Given the hyperactive pace of platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with auto-playing videos competing for attention as users scroll, you have seconds to hook your audience before they dismissively swipe on. In these channels, attention spans flicker faster than a viper’s tongue.
This demands an opening scene that instantly intrigues. One proven tactic is to thrust viewers in media res - Latin for “into the middle of things” - with an unfolding scenario that presents a problem begging for resolution. The tension this generates naturally makes viewers eager to discover how things resolve, forcing them to watch on.
After hooking them with a gripping opening, the next step involves ushering your audience deeper into the story’s gravitational pull.
Within moments, you must introduce empathetic characters, establish relatable settings, and stir conflict. Raising the emotional stakes makes viewers feel right there amidst the action, sharing in those on-screen feelings and experiences.
Visuals and music serve a supporting role here, amplifying tension, humour, or pathos to reinforce the escalating drama. For example, Apple’s iconic “Misunderstood” ad portrays a moody teen totally disengaged from his family’s Christmas joy. Sombre piano notes echo his isolation until the climax reveals he’d secretly filmed the entire occasion on his iPhone as a loving surprise gift. The atmosphere flips in an instant from melancholy to heartwarming, punctuated by a soundtrack of carolers.
Lastly, as your ad crescendos towards its finale, this represents a pivotal branding moment to crystallise your central campaign message. The ending should feel like a gratifying full stop, rewarding viewers for investing their precious time.
One practical approach involves demonstrating how your product or service resolves the tension established earlier in the storyline. Alternatively, an uplifting conclusion can inspire hope or a new perspective—like WaterAid’s “Long Walk Home” campaign, which spotlights young girls embarking on distant daily journeys just to fetch water. The campaign spotlights less fortunate regions still lacking infrastructure we take for granted. While sobering, it galvanises sentiment around supporting their charity’s clean water initiatives.
While brilliant storytelling enthrals in the immediate term, social ads also enable your brand’s tales to ripple organically through viewers sharing content with their networks.
This viral potential lies in crafting stories laced with such poignant resonance that audiences eagerly become your narrative’s evangelists—of course, overtly prompting viewers to share risks coming off as gimmicky or salesy. Instead, bake in what Jonah Berger calls STEPPS: make content more Social, Trigger emotion, make it easy to Pass on, give people public visibility, and tap into the power of Stories. By incorporating these drivers, your campaign’s impact can scale exponentially.
So beyond just directly viewed videos, these hidden storytelling elements unlock cascading organic diffusion across social spheres.
At its core, spellbinding social advertising embodies artful storytelling - instantly hooking attention before ushering viewers deeper through escalating drama that ultimately resolves, resonates and ripples—experiment with thrusting audiences into media amidst relatable characters and settings. Raise emotional stakes layering in visuals, music and tension that pays off with an impactful resolve. Embed empowering messages that compel sharing within viewers’ social circles. Do these things, and your brand’s tales will live happily ever after in the minds of adoring audiences.
