Stop being marketers... Start being storytellers!

Aleksandra Surogina, head of operations & content, Special Effects Media South Africa says we need to stop being marketers, and start being storytellers (Image supplied)

That’s a lot. Our brains are not wired to handle so much.

In some way, social media and the content that it offers have become so distant from what makes us human, fundamentally.

A space that was designed to connect human beings, has become the core reason why we feel further away from each other than ever before.

That makes me question why we still log onto it every day. But, thanks to you reading this article; you and I will change this narrative.

How business can harness video content to to achieve its marketing goals

Essi Koster  4 Mar 2025

Core content decides

For social media, specialists have been preaching about the importance of the first few seconds of a video as it serves as a hook.

The idea is that if you can successfully hook your audience at the beginning of a video, you’ve got their attention for the remainder of it. That’s not so much the case anymore.

At Special Effects Media South Africa, we have now realised the importance of the body of the video, and not so much the hook. The core content now decides whether the viewer stays or scrolls.

And sjoe, the core content is the hardest part.

Because how do you convey a message that is in your brand's marketing objectives without a viewer realising you’re trying to sell them something?

Right there, is exactly what we need to change. The focus should not be on what you are trying to sell (which is completely against the theoretical grain of what we, as marketers, understand our roles to be). We need to stop being marketers and start being storytellers.

#BizTrends2025: Special Effects Media’s Kelly Kaimowitz - Creating a lasting impact through influencer marketing

Kelly Kaimowitz  3 Feb 2025

5 Steps to telling brand stories

We have to tell more stories, even as brands.

What does that look like in practice? Here is a storytelling checklist to work into your next content strategy and content plan.

What’s The Story?

Even though counterintuitive, don’t try and sell something so directly. Focus on pinpointing what story you would like to tell. What character does your product relate to? What interesting series of events could surround the experience of your product? Is there a relatable story there? Perhaps you could even tap into gathering real stories and experiences to inspire this.

What’s the story format?

The hook still matters but the body matters more. When considering the format of your story, each beat should be as important as the hook. Once you have grabbed your audience’s attention, how are you going to keep it? And this leads us to consider the format of your story. Here you have many options! Not all stories need to be told linearly. Perhaps your story starts with revealing the end and then the body unpacks the insightful journey of how we got there.

What is the reason for the story?

Stories without reason can also fall flat. So ensure that you ask yourself why a certain story needs to be told. These reasons could range from being directly linked to objectives in your marketing or social media strategy e.g. increasing brand trust to answering more immediate questions that me be coming up in your digital community like showcasing how versatile your product can be.

What should the story make people feel?

To drive a story into that limbic brain, ask yourself what the story should make people feel. Remember that we complex humans have a range of emotions, and successful stories don’t necessarily always need to trigger soft emotions like sadness or love. Successful stories can also trigger emotions like amusement, relief, wonder etc.

Visuals and sound to support your story

Touching on some core-filmmaking fundamentals; your visuals and audio should be used to enhance aspects of your story. Consider things like the setting, camera angle, the pace of editing, the music etc. and how all of these creative elements enhance or numb aspects of your story. Use visuals and sound tactically.

Local brands doing it

Two brands I’d love to spotlight for storytelling inspiration are iKhokha and Joko. Both brands have taken scenarios that their customers could experience when interacting with their products and have created incredibly relatable story-driven content. It’s also fabulously entertaining!

Have a look at this example by The Smile Bar as an organic piece of content.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nadia Jaftha (@nadiajaftha)

A reframe of mind

Although this requires a reframing of mind, I believe we’re in such an exciting space as marketers. We’re forced to strip ourselves of focusing on what the algorithms prefer and steer our focus back to what our human communities prefer. Perhaps over time, social media will be experienced differently too.