As humans, we're hardwired to demand storytelling. Traditional stories involve relatable characters achieving some degree of success or closure. We enjoy these stories because we can empathize with the plight of each main character and want them to be successful.

Marketers are finally talking about storytelling. A lot, in fact.

The frequency of "Why Use Storytelling in Marketing?" blog posts and articles has gone from occasional to ubiquitous over just the past few years.

It's no coincidence that I attended three sessions at INBOUND 2019 alone about how storytelling can be used to improve marketing messages and strategies.

It's likely a daily occurrence. You visit a website. You immediately become confused. You leave the site and never look back.

If you had bothered to stick around for more than a few seconds, you might have found yourself asking:

• What products and services are being sold?
• How do I benefit from them?
• What can I expect to experience when engaging with this company—and how do I engage in the first place?
• Why should I care about any of this?

But why would you stick around? There's not enough time in the day to read unclear value propositions, decode confusing processes, stumble through industry jargon or—worse yet—deal with companies that talk at you and tell you about how amazing they are.