8 Genius Digital Storytelling Examples (All New for 2023) [Infographic]

What does each good story have in widespread? OK — apart from having a starting, a center and an finish?

All of them have that particular “one thing” that makes the reader care.

As a marketer, you’re a digital storyteller. It’s all as much as you to weave a story that draws your audience and will get them to actually care about your model’s message. Once you do it proper, you’ll be able to keep away from creating simply one other advertising and marketing marketing campaign. As an alternative, you’ll construct a real, long-lasting connection along with your prospects.

Learn on to study 8 best-in-class digital storytelling examples and begin writing your model’s personal fortunately ever after.

Desk of Contents

Telling a Story: The Digital Marketer’s Most Highly effective Software

Like several good story, we’ll begin from the start: What will we truly imply once we say “digital storytelling?”

At its most simple, the digital storytelling course of entails utilizing a mix of content material and digital media to convey a story to life. These campaigns mix audio, pictures, animated clips and extra all to inform a single story.

As described by Forbes, 3 of probably the most extensively used digital storytelling techniques embrace:

• Buyer-generated tales: This class is mainly word-of-mouth advertising and marketing to the max. Right here, you give your present prospects a platform to discuss their expertise along with your model in an effort to attach with and educate potential prospects.
• Knowledge-focused campaigns: Through the use of compelling information and statistics to reveal the influence of your model, you’ll be able to appeal to the eyes of your audience.
• Minis: Typically, much less is extra. Brief snippets of teaser data can higher seize and interact the more and more shorter consideration span of the trendy client.

Don’t really feel as if your digital advertising and marketing marketing campaign must be constrained to only 1 of those methods. Relying in your goal market, utilizing a mixture of two multimedia components or pulling from all 3 could be precisely what it’s worthwhile to inform your model story. Simply keep in mind that all these components will find yourself as branded content material, which implies they should totally mirror your high quality and values. (Trace: Branded content material and content material advertising and marketing aren’t the identical, however they’ve a whole lot of overlap!

8 Greatest Examples of Digital Storytelling

OK — we all know what digital storytelling is. However what does it truly appear like in follow? Let’s dive into 8 of probably the most distinctive digital advertising and marketing examples from throughout completely different industries:

1. Modelo World Cup Advert-Sacrifice

“As a result of giving all of it in your crew is price each drop.” 

The drop in query? Not sweat that the soccer gamers of the largest soccer recreation of the yr are doused with, however the golden contents of a Modelo can. This quick and easy commercial tells a narrative effectively and in a method that’s most definitely relatable to anybody who sat on the sting of their couches, cheering their crew on. It’s a narrative as previous as time that faucets into the eagerness of followers and hopefully connects that feeling to their product as effectively … and it’s no large deal in case you spill a little bit of the drink alongside the best way.

2. Kia’s Robo Canine

This Kia advert is much from the primary time a model has used puppy-dog eyes to win our affection — however this time, issues are a bit extra electrical.

The driving force of an electrical automobile is fated to fall in love with an electrical canine, proper? Properly, that’s precisely what Kia is taking part in on on this narrative: love. They present us {that a} robotic pet is each bit as lovable as an actual one, after which subtly encourage us to use related logic to electrical vehicles. It’s a wise method to persuade gas-powered automobile house owners that the long run is pleasant.

3. The McDonald’s Conundrum

In the event you’ve ever been to a drive-thru, you’ve most likely skilled the second captured on this McDonald’s tweet: No ideas, head empty — only a menu with 1,000,000 choices.

This can be a notably sturdy instance of easy but sensible digital storytelling. Though it’s technically simply textual content, it turns into one thing a lot funnier — and extra relatable — by stretching the “uh” to fill a whole Tweet. (That’s known as “visible storytelling,” children.) Plus, it performs off of one thing that happens in drive-thrus the world over each day.

To place it merely, everyone knows this story — however McDonald’s was the primary one to place it in entrance of us.

4. Spotify and Harry Types

Spotify has positioned itself because the king of music streaming. Simply check out social media come December — your newsfeed is probably going flooded with screenshots of your pals’ yearly listening breakdowns.

Within the “Solely You” advert, the corporate performs on this narrative, comedically highlighting a listener who performed Harry Types’ tune over 15 instances in a row. By offering a personalised breakdown of customers’ listening habits, Spotify works to attach with its viewers by specializing in what units every of us aside.

5. Dove and the Reverse Selfie

Since first launching the “Actual Magnificence” marketing campaign in 2004, Dove has dedicated itself to tackling conventional magnificence requirements. With this advert, the model reaffirms that mission.

We watch in reverse as a younger girl will get able to take a selfie. The video unwinds as she takes a glamorous photograph, making use of picture distortion results, filters and heavy make-up to attain the look she desires. On the finish, we’re left with a younger lady staring sadly within the mirror. Dove shares a poignant message concerning the detrimental influence of social media, urging viewers to understand their pure magnificence.

6. Apple’s 911

In contrast to Mcdonald’s and FTX, Apple determined to place humor apart and take their nice digital storytelling down a chilling however highly effective path.

On this advert, we hear from a handful of people that discovered themselves in robust conditions. Fortunately, they have been all sporting Apple watches, which allowed them to succeed in assist shortly. It’s a narrative concerning the energy of connectedness, nevertheless it’s additionally a convincing purpose to go purchase your self a wise watch.

7. Bear 71

Whereas not an commercial, this interactive documentary by the Nationwide Movie Board of Canada is probably probably the most spectacular instance of how one can convey completely different media varieties collectively to inform story.

The narrative is informed from the attitude of a bear who’s rescued from a snare and launched into the wild with a tracker collar. As she tries to return to her regular life, she shares her new actuality with viewers — and we discover that our on a regular basis, human actions could be extra disruptive than we notice.

Video, pictures, an interactive map and different components come collectively to type this immersive expertise. It’s not simply an interesting story; it’s the most effective examples of how digital instruments can flip into one thing a lot greater than themselves.

8. The 1-Phrase Tweet Storm

Okay, this one’s taking place as we write this text. You’re listening to it right here first, of us.

This provides a complete new which means to “quick and candy.” The fascinating factor about this string of Tweets is that it might be a completely completely different digital story if 1 model did it 1 time, or if a single model was answerable for each Tweet. As an alternative, we’re seeing total conversations taking place via single-word posts and replies, and the result’s an internet-wide narrative. 

For instance, let’s say you replied to NASA or Amtrak like this: “what.”

Prefer it or not, you simply took half within the 1-word Tweet story, and now you’re interacting with manufacturers in a enjoyable, playful method. That’s the ability of digital storytelling: You’re not all the time simply the viewers; typically, you’re additionally the narrative.

The Advantages of Digital Storytelling

In 2000, Microsoft performed a research measuring how long people can focus on one factor for a selected period of time. The outcomes got here in at round 12 seconds. 

15 years later? It dropped to eight seconds. 

Though there hasn’t been an replace on the research since, researchers estimated that the quantity would solely proceed to dwindle.

Customers are uncovered to 1000’s of advertisements each single day. In the event you’re a digital marketer, reducing via the noise and really capturing your viewers’s consideration for that sacred 8 seconds (or fewer) goes to take a extra compelling narrative than a conventional advert might comprise.

Along with capturing the eye of your audience, digital storytelling presents your crew a number of different advantages:

• Real messaging: Clients are inundated with aggressive promoting and different gross sales practices on a regular basis. Leveraging a considerate model story might help you stand out among the many crowd.
• Cohesive content material planning: When you create a digital storytelling undertaking, the laborious half is finished. From there, you’ll be able to leverage elements of your story throughout social media and different channels to get the phrase on the market.
• Significant branding: Actions converse louder than phrases for at this time’s customers. Once you use a digital story to reveal how your organization is devoted to your mission in addition to your prospects, you show that you simply’re in for the appropriate causes.

In at this time’s market, digital storytelling is shortly turning into the brand new norm. Maintaining along with your prospects’ expectations and your rivals’ advertising and marketing will take some additional creativity in your half.

Placing Pen to Paper: Your Prime Digital Storytelling Suggestions

Now that we all know what storytelling marketing campaign appears to be like like and why it’s so essential, let’s break down what it is best to take into account as you develop your individual:

• Present, don’t inform: It might be tempting to over-explain your story. Nonetheless, attempt to lean extra closely on participating visuals and compelling audio cues to let the viewers come to their very own conclusion.
• Preserve it transient: Simply take a look at the campaigns we went over at this time — not 1 was longer than a minute. The perfect digital tales don’t want extra time than that to get their level throughout.
• Keep constant: Don’t pull a bait-and-switch maneuver and comply with an emotional private narrative with an outright advert. Ensure that your story flows via from begin to end.
• Search for inspiration: There’s inspiration available nearly wherever — particularly via Creative Commons licenses. This enables free use of copyrighted content material, which implies you’ll be able to scour the Inventive Commons database for movies, pictures and different media to make use of in your digital story. 

On the lookout for some additional pointers in the case of crafting your individual one-of-a-kind digital marketing campaign? Subscribe to the Brafton publication for advertising and marketing ideas, trade updates and extra!

Editor’s Notice: Up to date February 2023.