I love to read. Sometimes I’ll finish a book in a single sitting. It’s a trait I got from my mom, I think. I don’t recall ever seeing my dad sit down and read a book cover-to-cover the way I often do.
BUT, while he may not be an avid reader… my dad is a great storyteller.
Throughout my childhood, he would tell us stories. Some were old reliable tales we’d heard many times… and some were new. I have countless memories of my dad telling stories, and, whether I’d heard them before or not, I always leaned in to listen. The simple recounting of what happened on the way home from work… a “learn from my wisdom” story his father told him… the time he was party to stealing the light bar off a police car as part of a Halloween party treasure hunt…
On and on, story after story. Every story riveting, because my dad knows “the secret”…
Answer me this…
What do Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, Luke Skywalker, and Hachiko have in common?
We care about them, and, because of that, we care about their journey.
That’s the secret of being a great storyteller…
Make the reader care about something enough that they have to keep listening or reading to find out what happens.
In our world of digital copywriting, that means making the reader care about your message or your client’s message. When you can do that, it will make a huge difference in the results you deliver.
To tell such a story, it helps to know why that caring happens and how you can engage your audience emotionally. We’ll get into the “how” in Part 2 (which will run on Friday).
Before we do that, though, I want to share why you should care about storytelling in the writing you do for clients.
Help Your Readers Make Sense of the World
As humans, our brains crave stories. When a story begins, our brains light up. We’re hardwired to pay attention to narrative patterns — it’s how we make sense of the world. From cave drawings of prehistoric man to a TikTok by a gen-alpha influencer, stories grab attention faster than any other format, because they tap into deeply embedded neural circuits.
How do we know this?
Studies in neuroscience show that the brain releases dopamine — the feel-good hormone — in response to emotionally charged storytelling. This dopamine release heightens the reader’s or listener’s focus and memory. That’s why beginning with a story — rather than cold facts and figures or the sales pitch — grabs attention and keeps it.
Help Your Readers Remember What You Have to Say
Facts and figures are easily forgotten. But when provided through storytelling, even the driest data is instantly more memorable.
Why does memory work this way?
Because stories engage multiple brain regions, including the sensory and emotional centers, helping your message sink in deeper than bullet points of two-dimensional facts and data ever could. In one Stanford study, researchers found that 63% of people remembered stories — but only 5% remembered statistics. That’s a wide gap between forgettable marketing and messaging that sticks.
In Marketing, Stories Work!
Qualitative research, case studies, and a mountain of data show that stories work to make sales copy more effective. Stories increase engagement and persuasion. Marketing and sales messages told as stories outperform informational messages in brand recall, emotional resonance, and intent to act.
Numerous studies have found that storytelling-based campaigns increase brand trust and purchasing intent. In one study, A/B tests showed story-based landing pages outperform fact-only pages by up to 300% in conversion rate.
Why?
Because stories grab attention. Because they’re memorable. And because they create cognitive misalignment — readers imagine themselves in the story’s problem and crave the solution (your offer) to resolve it.
Whether you’re launching a product or refining a brand message, weaving stories into your messages can help you get the results you want.
So, how do you do that? Well, that’s what we’ll talk about in Part 2. So, stay tuned and check back on Friday to dig into the nuts and bolts of how to tell a story that will have your readers leaning in to hear more.
