Don’t Make Ads…Tell Real Stories: The 5 Powers of Storytelling on TikTok
In the late 80’s, one single movie made by Tony Scott has generated an increase of 500% of applications in the US Navy. TOP GUN starring Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer was one of the first blockbuster where the Pentagon got involved in the movie production. According to Donald Baruch, the Special Assistant for Audiovisuel media at the Pentagon “We [The Pentagon] couldn’t buy the sort of publicity films give us.”
When you are watching a movie, you don’t ask yourself if you are watching a long commercial or just a movie right? You are entertaining yourself with the story screened in front of you. And somehow, you end up with Star Wars or Marvel toys under the Christmas tree few weeks after the movie release.
That’s the power stories has on us, that’s the power of entertainment!
As TikTok is not a social media but an entertainment platform, we should apply the same rules to contents, mostly if you are advertising your brand or products. If you are a company, a creator or a regular user, the key for success is to be able to tell a real story. By “real” I mean authentic and strong enough for the user to stop scrolling, watch it until the end and even take action (share, comment, replicate or buy). Real, doesn’t mean true!
Telling a story is not an easy task within this context where the attention span is shrinking. So, I’ve identify 5 pillars to help you tell a real story on TikTok. Each of them are separated from the others, you can choose to either use all of them or just focus on one of them.
Before we jump in those 5 pillars, let’s talk about the common ground each good story should have: The Storytelling Guideline.
How to tell a story on TikTok?
Now, you can share contents up to 3 minutes on TikTok. The length doesn’t really matter, only the what you have to say and how to say it does. The ideal amount for an ad is 15 seconds, but if what you have to say should be longer, say it, but make it interesting enough for us to go beyond 15.
Every good story has 3 major parts: Start, Middle and End. On TikTok it works the same way. Here is the story arc you should follow:
Start high with a “thumb-stopper” moment, something that will make the user stop scrolling to give you their curiosity.
The Middle is the critical moment because once you’ve got their curiosity, you need to have their attention. Expand your story and give more details about yourself, your idea, your product, your values… anything you want.
Finally, the End that you shouldn’t neglect. Ask yourself why are you telling the story? Is it for people to join your website? buy your product? Follow back? No matter the reason, say it clearly.
Now that you have the guidelines, let’s deep dive into the storytelling process through the 5 Powers of Storytelling on TikTok.
1/ Personality: Who is your brand?
Think your brand as a person and always ask yourself, “If my brand was a human being, what kind of person it could be?”. Think about it, when you see a logo, you can recognise the brand name behind it. Now, ask yourself if Nike, Apple, Netflix or even TikTok was a person who it would be? Not easy hein?
If you are curious, Audrey Hopkins tried to answer to the question “what if TikTok was alive?” and this the personality she gave to the brand.
Back to you! So, who is your brand? A buddy, and advisor, an inspirer ? Maybe a mix of all these? Also, who is going to bring your logo and values to life? A movie star, a Pop Star, a Creator?
Sometimes, the best persons to talk about your company are the people working in it. A 2020 Nielsen Study conducted in the US said that 54% of consumers think the best way of learning about a company is through its employees. Before reaching out to creators or celebrities, ask around “who wants to be the face of the company on TikTok?” you might be surprised!
Your personality doesn’t have to incarnated by a face most of the time. Take Ryanair for example, they mainly choose not to show a face (per say), but their brand personality on TikTok is sassy, sarcastic and funny.
Finding your brand personality is the first step on TikTok. Once you found it it will be easier for you to attract more people to your content. They will come to you because of your personality and your contents.
2/ People: TikTok is Personal
From the moment you wake up, to the moment you go to sleep, your eyes might see at least 3000 ads in a day (Mobile, tablet, TV, outdoor, theaters.) You don’t realise it, at some point your brain is trained to recognise and avoid ads. It’s called banner blindness.
On TV, the interaction is different. Ads are made to reach many versus few. The tone is generic, neutral and/or plural, the advertiser goal is to be mainstream and reach whomever is in front of the TV.
Mobile is personal, the distance between your mobile and your face is about 30cm. So the message has to be personalised and made for your eyes only. That’s why on TikTok, you have to remember that your message has to be personal for the viewers.
Take a look at these two videos, the first one is the TVC and the other is a TikTok
These 2 videos are about the same subject but the treatment is different. One is quite generic and the other one looks more personal. It uses TikTok’s codes and trends, it looks like any other video you’d see on TikTok. If you ever wonder how it would be if Eva Longoria was your besties, the TikTok one is a good start.
A personalised approach is important on TikTok. You should be at the same level as your audience, instead of having a top down level of conversation. You need to put something authentic in your TikTok to make it work, to make your story believable.
3/ Purpose: The Controlling Idea
A story is useless if there is no goal behind it or has no effect on your audience. You shouldn’t be numb when you tell or listen to a story. That goal is like a seed you are planting in your audience’s mind. That seed is your controlling idea.
A controlling Idea is defined as a one-sentence statement of the story's ultimate meaning expressed through the action and aesthetic emotion of the last act's climax. More specifically, a controlling idea: Is the main takeaway from the film or show, expressed through the action and aesthetic emotion of the last act's climax.
If we translate it in the ad business, the controlling idea could be “Think Different” or “Deliver from A-toZ” or even “Don’t Make Ads, Make TikToks”. You don’t hear these sentences from Apple, Amazon or even TikTok’s commercials, but they are in them on every single frame.
In 2015, Toyota release this news about their cars sold in the US“ 80% of Toyota’s Vehicles Still on the Road Today”. Clearly the controlling idea Toyota is trying to put in our mind is “our cars are reliable, strong and our customers are happy about that.” Wouldn’t be easier to show it? What if we take a Toyota, scratch it, throw it against walls, trees, throw it on fire, plunge it under water, make it fall from the top f a building and later put the keys and see if it’s still working?
On TikTok you don’t have time to tell us how “incredible, reliable, innovative, unique” your product or brand is. Show it and the audience will decide if they bite or not. .
Let’s say, you are a Retailer, and you would like to show how easy you can deliver goods, how you can deliver big, medium and small packages, let’s say during a busy season like Xmas, and how all this makes your customers happy. Would you do a commercial stating the obvious? or something more like this?
Remember this on TikTok as in a good movie, “Show, don’t tell”
4/ Product: Tell me about your Product
Speaking of something to show, I heard these many times, and I am sure you did too or said them once: “We can’t see the logo” or “we can’t see the product correctly…long enough on screen”. On TikTok, when you create your video with the sole intention of giving the full attribution to your brand and logo, you are missing the whole point of the platform.
The audience will feel like Jim Carrey facing Laura Linney in The Truman Show, lost and confused. Put your product naturally, as part of the story not as something you want people to see and buy right away.
Think your content more like a movie where you do product placements. Your product should be placed naturally, be part of the story. “Can I get my iPhone” would sound more natural than “Can I get my brand new iPhone 13 Pro with a 4K 60FPS camera?”. No one speaks like that in real life, same goes for ads.
Here is an example on how your story can help for the product placement:
5/ Perspective: Tell me another story…but differently
We saw how TikTok can be personal, how important it is to have a brand personality, why your story should have a purpose and the importance of a subtle product placement. Now let’s talk about the last part, Perspective.
In 2013, Doug Dietz a Designer at General Electric realised that kids were terrified when they had to take an MRI. The banging noise and the look of that machine was way too scary for them. So he decided to change the perspective for them. Instead, he changed the design of the machine. Making it look like a Pirate boat. The banging noises became pirate’s canons, so the kids can feel like they are part of a real adventure rather than being examine from an MRI.
For you videos, think about the perspective, the behind the scene. People want to know more about your company, your products. Take the camera where we all want to go but can’t. By changing the perspective, your brand looks open-minded, inviting and mostly authentic. Take Ryanair earlier, they use perspective to change the perception you might have on them. They know they are a low cost airline company, but like it or not, no one else can offer you a 9.99€ flight around Europe. So instead of trying to appeal you to a fake idea they want to put in your head, they embrace who they are and put the perception about them right in the center of their stories:
To sum up…
On TikTok or in general, Storytelling is the they to everything. How do you tell your story will matter. Steven Sondheim, the composer says it better: “The best stories are those in which content dictate form, not the other way around”.
On TikTok, storytelling is about people and authenticity. Your communication is not top down but should be on the same level as your audience.
Define who your brand is or want to be? Think your brand as a person and your content will define that personality you want to reach
A good story has a purpose, if you are telling a story, what’s your objective? think about the controlling idea behind it. Show, don’t tell.
Product placement as in movies also works on TikTok.
Bring the audience where they are not use to go. Show the behind the scenes of your TV ads for example, use the rushes to tell a different story. Perspective works in pair with perception, use it.
Next time you wonder what to put on your TikTok or how to create contents on this platform, remember this “Tell a story”
