What Tech and B2B Marketing Can Learn From Hollywood Blockbusters
After many years in the entertainment biz (yep, I was an actor-screenwriter-multi-passionate), I made the pivot into marketing for tech, B2B, and SaaS (among others). And let me tell you, there are so many juicy, maybe even obvious, storytelling takeaways that are being constantly overlooked in these industries. Here are a few of my faves:
The Hero’s Journey is Still Relevant
Your all-time favorite films, the ones that have really stuck with you, all have a hero/shero who faces challenges, consequences, and ultimately, transformation. No one ends up where they started.
But your company ain’t the hero here. Your customer is. It’s your job to be their guide, take them on a journey that helps transform something in their life. Big Hint: the transformation itself isn’t as important as what they get out of the transformation.
Emotion First, Logic Second
Hollywood knows moviegoers show up because they want to feel something: excitement, joy connection, relief from the neverending days of fall break with 2 kids.
Even in tech and B2B, your customers are humans who want to feel something. Who already feel something. Let that exploration be your first step, then allow the data to follow.
Characters Over Features
Do you ever remember every single plot point from a movie? Ok, maybe cuz you’ve watched Bridesmaids like 82 times. But other than that, what really sticks? Characters. We know Walter White, we know Miranda Priestly, Princess Leia and The Dude.
Launching immediately into the features of your new product isn’t going to grab your audience. Humanize your brand by highlighting the people behind the product, the people who already love your product, the people who will soon love your product.
Keep ‘Em Hanging, aka Coming Soon…
Everyone (I mean, everyone) loves a good cliffhanger. It’s what keeps us binge watching. It’s what kept so many of us begging for the next season of Severance for nearly 3 years!
Ok, 3 years is extreme. But, you can keep your audience coming back with open loop marketing techniques like teasers, product stories or even well-designed road maps. Invite and inspire your audience into the next chapter.
I had a long-time SaaS client who did a great job of letting their audience get sneak peeks into what they were developing behind the scenes and the new iterations coming soon. It kept current custoners engaged and feeling heard while building trust with prospects and demonstrating their innovation.
Now that’s great storytelling.