Did you know that concepts or ideas illustrated within stories are up to twenty-two times more memorable than simply providing facts or making statements?

Your brain loves to learn through stories because they are relatable and easier to comprehend and learn from.

Stories can be just as impactable for humans as experiencing real live events. Stories can make you the same emotions and make your brain release the same endorphins as if you were experiencing it yourself. This is why telling your brand’s story is so powerful.

Here are five common story arc examples to give a try to connect better, engage and share your ideas or products with your audience:

Overcome the Enemy

This is the most common story arc that involves a hero and a guide who have a common enemy that they want to get out of the way. Eventually, with the education and guidance of a mentor and a few conflicts in-between as the hero learns, they save the day.

Poor to Extreme Wealth and Vice Versa

This is an emotional and encouraging story that continues to rise in a positive way that shows a character (your target audience) as going from having nothing to having everything they ever wanted. You can flip this story arc around, too, offering a wealthy character fall into tragedy and can’t seem to fight their way out due to being stuck in their own ways or events they can’t predict.

The Tragedy

This emotional story type shows the fall of relatable characters and the reasons for the struggle. It must be a story of downfall that ends without a positive solution. This story arc could be used to show your audience a life without your brand would be like.

The Long Journey

This story arc involves a long quest to achieve a certain goal while facing many obstacles along the way. Think of the movie Lord of the Rings or the popular Tootsie Roll Commercial that asks, “How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of tootsie pop!” The world will never know as the candy is too delicious to keep counting.

The Comedy

Humor is by far one of the easiest ways to connect with your audience. Everyone can use a good laugh as long as you know your audience well. A great example would be Old Spice. They use visual storytelling with a humorous twist to fully explain their product. It’s so funny there is no way you can look away. You are immediately attached and want to know more.

Keep the story arc’s in mind and your target audience when developing stories for your brands. Be sure the arc you pick is consistent with your goals and the values of your audience.