Storytelling is when you can make your prospects feel like they are watching a real thing. Yes, they know they are watching a piece of promotional content, but that there’s a larger mission and message that you are getting across. It’s like software that speaks about being more efficient, by saying that they help you spend more time on things that matter – like family.
At the core of every marketing content – is a story. Especially in the high tech industries like SaaS, AI, Web3 and other tech niches – it’s really easy to lose the mark and neglect this kind of storytelling in advertising.
But if you leverage a good story, that’s relevant to your customer base – you’ll be able to make an impact and command the attention, and live in the heart of your audience.
Narrative ads – when paired with motion graphics and animation become ideal mediums to carry the philosophy of your product.
In this article, we will explore how you can use video storytelling to accelerate your growth. We will also examine patterns in some of the most successful business videos. For more video marketing case study examples, visit Zelios creative agency website.
1. Creating Relatable Characters
In narrative advertising, your hero is always the core user of your solution – your customer. And you don’t even need to do filming or add live action footage – as clever use of stock footage, combined with engaging animation, makes it easier for your audience to relate to what’s happening on the screen, and visualize the challenges your audience faces.
Using relatable characters like this – helps to make your motion design resonate better.
Pro Tip:
Great storytelling videos use a clearly identifiable and easy to relate customer persona, and helps a lot with associating.
Here’s a good example of how a video, with a strong hook like that, could begin:
Visual:
Stock footage of a woman (mid-30s), casually dressed, in a modern office space. She’s juggling between a laptop, paper notes, and checking her phone — switching tabs, a Slack ping goes off, her brow furrows.
VO (Voiceover):
“Meet Jack. His team uses a bit of everything to stay on track… spreadsheets, Slack, Trello, emails.”
Example: Grammarly always shows the best in class examples of how you can use your target persona, combining them with crazy ideas like them literally being under water (both metaphorically, and literally). Commercials that tell a story are at the core of Grammarly’s video strategy – they know what sells!
And we found that shock value and humorous skits – are one of those effective storytelling techniques that they feature prominently across their videos that gained billions of views.
You might not think about the setting or actors when you watch the video – but these elements are chosen deliberately for the target audience to quickly relate to the context.
2. Showcasing Transformation Through Animation
One of the most powerful ways of doing great storytelling in video is showing a practical transformation, going from state A to state B. Rather than just reciting features and telling how cool they are – you are showing your audience how their workflows or old, inefficient approaches can change.
This ends up becoming a visually strong before-and-after effect.
Pro Tip:
After:
Example:
This great brand storytelling video example from Slack, using motion graphics and amazing kinetic typography – showing how all of your tech and day to day workflows, from communication, automation and AI – how it all literally “merges” and unites in Slack’s solution.
3. The Power of Visuals to Enhance Your Story
From bleeding edge, to simplistic, and only text based – the extent of video effects that can be possible is limited only by imagination and reasonable brand standards. Otherwise, if the idea is worth it – it can take many shapes and forms. This motion design, animated transitions, dynamic visual – and intuitive motion – can reinforce the narrative. If you look towards the biggest tech brands like Slack, Click Up, and others – at this stage, it’s more about telling a great story rather than showing off all of the features.
Pro Tip: Your content will benefit more from great visual storytelling than if you go ahead and start feature dumping and talk numbers.
Example:
This amazing example and story from Duolingo is exactly how you can use visuals to take your viewers on a journey through your product. Once the CTA rolls around – the only thing you can think of is why this masterpiece is this short.
Final Thoughts: Telling Your Story Through Animation
Storytelling in advertising across SaaS, AI and tech is not just about entertaining the viewers – but more about creating a memorable story that’s going to be easy to watch repeatedly. This allows brands to build connections and reputation with their audience. This includes creating stories about customer persona, talking about relatable problems and using emotionally engaging visuals.
Tech giants like ClickUp, Dropbox, and Mailchimp use video stories in marketing, and receive great returns in millions and even billions of views across their content.
