Beyond the product: How stories and emotions drive sales

*This article was written by Muhammad Ahmad, an SEO content writer for Enzipe.

Let’s start with a question. 

Suppose you are looking for a new pair of running shoes. You liked two products in an eCommerce store. Which one will you choose among the two:

The one that’s a new arrival or the one that is endorsed by your favorite athlete?

High chances are that you’ll go for the one that is endorsed. Because it’s a natural thing, emotions guide human choices. People nowadays don’t just buy a product. They buy feelings or experiences. This is the reason more and more eCommerce businesses are turning towards storytelling to market their products. It helps them build deep connections with their potential customers. 

In this post, we’ll explore how stories and emotions can help you market better and sell more products online.

The power of storytelling in branding

Emotions like desire, fear, trust, and nostalgia shape the purchasing habits of people. A touching story can trigger feelings of belonging, making customers feel like they’re part of something bigger. Seeing others love a product makes people think about the product as legit. Marketers are trapping people into these psychological triggers to influence their buying behavior.

The same goes for everyday products. 

Using stories, today’s eCommerce businesses are marketing their products so well that customers feel some specific items have an edge over others.

Examples of businesses leveraging storytelling

“Facts tell, but stories sell.”

People can forget a product specification with time; a story, however, they’ll always remember. That is why top brands are utilizing storytelling to create long-lasting impressions. 

The below examples will help you understand this notion better:

1. Tom Shoes: “One for one”

TOMS Shoes is a great example of how storytelling can drive sales. The company’s story is simple yet powerful. 

They attracted huge customers online with the slogan they use in their story, ״One for One.״ This means that for every pair of shoes you buy, they donate a pair to a child in need. 

This “One for One” mission resonates with people because they’re not just buying shoes – they’re part of a bigger story of giving. The brand has made their customers feel like they are contributing to a cause by buying TOMS products. 

This emotional connection not only boosted their brand loyalty, but also encouraged people to keep coming back. This means a huge increase in sales.

2. Coca-Cola: “Open Happiness”

If you have ever come across a Coca-Cola advertisement, you might have noticed that they talk more about people than they do about their product.

It’s their most iconic story. 

The message is spreading happiness and joy through sharing a Coke. They feature people from all walks of life coming together. This emotional appeal boosted their sales as customers feel they’re part of something bigger than just a beverage.

If popular brands like the above have woven storytelling into their DNA, what is stopping you from doing the same? Align your marketing strategy with a clear narrative, one that values the audience. When you make people feel something about your product, they’re more willing to invest in it; no matter if it costs more than competitors.

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How to craft a story that sells?

Now comes the big question: How can you create a story that resonates? 

Well, the short and sweet answer to this is to follow the steps below:

If you implement these steps the right way, you can bring your business to new heights in days. 

But… 

Implementing these steps requires a proper team; a team that will conduct research and then craft a perfect story for you. And for a team, you also need a budget. Keeping this in mind, we found a free solution for you – one that will save your budget that you might have to spend on creating compelling stories. 

The solution we are talking about is an AI story generator tool. A tool that will make stories for you in no time. Here are the steps you need to follow to make emotional stories for your marketing campaigns:

Step 1: Try AI Story Generator

For making a creative yet emotional story, first you have to find the right tool. There are so many options available in the market right now, so the simplest thing to do would be o open your browser and search “free AI story generator.” Choose the one that you feel is most feasible. 

Our suggestion, however, is to go for the one that helps you make personalized stories and offers features like story types, creativity, and custom audience age. Editpad.org’s AI story generator meets the above criteria, and we are going to use it for demonstration in the next steps:

Step 2: Input topic and choose filters

Once you land on Editpad’s AI story generator, the tool will ask you to input a topic and select some filters (optional). To show you we have inputted a topic into the tool and chosen filters that align with the audience. Below is what the output tool has provided us with. 

As you can see, the above story can be easily transformed into a marketing video. 

Step 3: Transform and launch

Next, give the story to your marketing team. Tell them to use it as a script and transform it into a video. Statistics shared by Optinmonster mentioned that businesses (95% of them) say videos have helped them increase brand awareness. 

Once your content is ready, just publish it and see how a story impacts your eCommerce business and brings you more sales.

Conclusion

Stories act as a powerful tool that helps businesses connect emotionally with their customers. People don’t just buy products; they buy stories – those that provoke emotions.

But compelling stories alone aren’t enough – you need the right financial strategy to scale those efforts. That’s where 8fig comes in. With flexible funding designed for eCommerce sellers, you can invest in storytelling-driven marketing without cash flow constraints. Because a great story deserves to reach the right audience.

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Have article ideas, requests, or collaboration proposals? Reach out to us at editor@8fig.co – we’d love to hear from you.

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