How Beyoncé Slays Storytelling Marketing

originally written 7/2022 - LinkedIN

It comes to little surprise that Queen Bey would execute storytelling marketing to the highest level of creativity. She has employed the strategy at least three times for album releases. Let’s review three renowned instances where Beyoncé slayed storytelling marketing and how you can implement storytelling into your own marketing.

Queen Bey first dazzled her loyal fan base with the no-promo drop of self-titled album Beyoncé in December 2013. When I say no promo, the album skipped teasers, interviews, press junkets – you know, the glitz! She exclusively released it on iTunes only and every song had an accompanying music video. Historically, music videos have always told a story for the song it represented, which typically covered a single or two. While this may not be new to the industry, it was a pleasant surprise for the BeyHive.

The Lesson: You don’t need an elaborate launch to pique the interest of your audience, if you offer value and use storytelling to display this value – your audience will convert.

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The next instance was Lemonade (2016), and honey Beyoncé did not disappoint!! Lemonade told stories that vibrated with our personal experiences, hitting home, and the album did not sacrifice the quality of the music. Here she played the exclusivity card yet again; however the music was still accessible. Premiering on HBO as visual stories, pacing between experiences of unconditional love, motherhood, and infidelity; they were all beautifully displayed. To be honest, there was a wave of new Tidal subscribers due to the limited release — as a matter of fact, I’ve had a Tidal subscription ever since!

The Lesson: You can limit where you tell your stories to the channels where your audience is most engaging or you can drive them to a channel you are building.

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Personal favorite and the final is Homecoming (2018). The story of the Black College Experience - it’s the story we didn’t know we needed until Queen Bey gave it to us! Nostalgia for HBCU Alums, envy for the alums of PWIs and non-college attendees alike! Not to mention this story was performed and streamed live at the Coachella Music Festival, which was the largest performance ever in Coachella history. Furthermore, it was filmed for TV and licensed as an American Film to Netflix to the tune of $20M. The HBCU experience not only paid homage to the experience through bands, drum majors and majorettes but it celebrated the nuances of Southern influence in music, mostly originating from Texas and Louisiana hence Beyoncé’s familial roots.

The Lesson: Repurpose stories you’ve already told! There’s no old story, only new listeners. Your brand’s history and journey may resonate with a new audience but guess what? – you can tell the story you want to tell!!

In all three of these examples, Beyoncé grasped the importance of customer experience, being memorable, a hint of exclusiveness, and she owned her story and told stories that her audience could relate to.

Now let’s discuss how you can implement storytelling in your own marketing. Use these five elements to craft a story that connects with your audience.

• Build and define your main character.

Your customer should always be the main character or hero of the story. Your product or service is the weapon they can use to slay the dragon, which is the problem your service/product solves.

• Grab their attention early with the best elements of the story.

You don’t have to use bait headlines but you do want the juicy part of the story to make a cameo before it gets to the good part, like a bomb movie trailer!

• Create Conflict.

Emphasize the pain point as conflict but don’t forget you are the hero’s weapon of choice to save the princess.

• Understand the relationship between listening and telling.

If you’re telling the story and no one is listening, your story may not be that good - that's the surface. Practice telling your story in different ways to see which technique or method is most effective and you can assess that by the engagement received.

• Stay authentic.

Your brand should have a personality and whether that’s comedic and irreverent or professional and assuring - it should come across in the content you create. Don’t try to be something you’re not.

Storytelling is an age-old art. Be authentic, listen to your audience, you’re the sword not the hero, cultivate a customer experience, and exclusivity can all help you master storytelling for your brand.