The premiere of the highly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens has indeed awakened many a Star Wars fans around the globe. With an opening weekend that raked in over $517 million worldwide and damn near eliminating the desire to peruse the internet prior to viewing the movie for fear of spoilers – I’d say the force is strong in Lucas’ Films.
Much you can learn from Star Wars.
In the spirit of this phenomenal movie premier, let’s have a look at what Star Wars can teach us about content marketing and why content marketing and the user experience are so very important.
1. Tell a impressive story
For nearly 40 years now, we have felt somehow connected to the characters and stories that take place in a “galaxy, far, far away.” We have come to know and feel a personal connection to characters such a Luke, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Yoda, R2-D2, and many many more. We have watched them throughout many quests, travels, and battles. We have all the time rooted either for their demise or for them to succeed. And yes, we have (well at least I have) even cried with they lost or regrettably died.
The Lesson: Many people, including famous celebrities, feel deeply connected to this franchise. Why? Because George Lucas took the time to create such a compelling story that easily pulled all of us in, even 40 years later.
When it comes to your brand, one of the most effective aspects of your marketing strategy is to tell a story that is not only worth telling, but one that compels the readers to know more. Weave your brand’s story into your company’s website, blogs, social media feeds, and email blasts. Ways that you might tell your brand’s story would be to include product showcase photos, testimonials (real ones!), or advice and assistance to your potential customers on how your product will help alleviate their problem.
2. Connect with your community
Star Wars’ official website is full of tidbits of fan gold. TV shows, Games and Apps, Celebrations, Fan Organizations, Blogs and even Podcasts centered around everything old and new Star Wars.
Not to mention the countless hashtags related to the movie series, including the new Star Wars Emojis recently introduced by Twitter.
(Image Source: Twitter)
The Lesson: As your audience grows, encourage them to naturally become brand spokespeople leading them to help with your story creation. You can do this by building and maintaining a strong online presence via social networks that actively creates, shares and publishes content regarding your brand online. Examples of such: debates, fan art, or even memes.
3. Give your audience (fans) what they crave
One of the classic dialogues in the history of not only the Star Wars movies, but possibly in the world of cinema: when Princess Leia finally tells Han Solo that she loves him, and he nonchalantly responds with “I know.” Goosebumps!
Princess Leia: I love you.
Han Solo: I know.
The Lesson: Your content marketing efforts should be delivering content that makes your readers fall in love with you. Whether you are publishing industry news such as how Facebook Live Video is not Just for Celebrities Anymore or What trends to expect in Internet Marketing in 2016, you should continually be striving to win over your audience’s desire for more. Aka: Love
Just how will you know that your audience has fall into deep love with you? In the content marketing world, love can be measured in several ways: social shares, views, clicks, likes, click through rates, etc. Remember to keep an end goal in mind and keep striving to reach it.
Conclusion
It is certainly no coincidence that Star Wars has had such a huge impact on pop culture. It has been said that the film series changed the fundamental perception of the sci-fi genre, which was the lift off point for a perfectly constructed and successful hit. Even forty years later people are scrambling for tickets, merchandise, and even new catch-phrases to hold on to. Hell “May the force be with you,” once spoke by Luke Skywalker turned into a whole day of celebration, May 4th.
This pandemonia didn’t happen overnight though, it took careful storytelling, brand building, and even social networking to get it to where it is today. You too though could use the force to provide value to your audience.
The power is in your hands.
