Think about it.

Apple. Dos Equis. Old Spice. Procter & Gamble. Ram Trucks. Jack Link’s Beef Jerky. GEICO. GoDaddy.

At some point, all these companies told compelling stories that grabbed our attention — and held it. Not just for thirty seconds, but longer.

And as they repeated their stories over and over again, they got under our skin. Through simple stories, these companies won our allegiance and business.

Tell the right story and you can capture attention, entertain, enlighten, and persuade all in the course of just a few minutes.

As author Jonathan Gottschall said:

We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.

Some argue you can even ignore essential advertising principles and still grow a business through stories. That may be true, but only if your story follows a certain structure.

How to structure your marketing story

More than a year ago, Sonia Simone wrote the defining piece on the subject — a summary of what it takes to write a meaningful marketing story that people can’t ignore. The article summarizes what we believe here at Copyblogger.

So, Copyblogger Media designer Lauren Mancke and I thought it was high time we honor Sonia’s article with a sleek infographic in the style of the outstanding storytellers from the era of silent films.

Print it, pin it, but whatever you do … use it. And don’t miss the additional storytelling tips at the end of this post …

Want to publish this infographic on your own site?

Copy and paste the following code into your blog post or web page:

<a href="index.html"><img src="../cdn-origin/images/650/anatomy-of-a-meaningful-marketing-story.png" alt="The Amazingly Simple Anatomy of a Meaningful Marketing Story [Infographic]" title="The Amazingly Simple Anatomy of a Meaningful Marketing Story [Infographic]" width="650" /></a><small>Like this infographic? Get <a href="http://newrainmaker.com/register/">content marketing training</a> from <a href="../index.html">Copyblogger Media</a> that will give you an unfair business advantage.</small>

Click here to download a PDF of the infographic, which is suitable for printing and hanging near your workspace when you need to see it most.

If you’d like more information on the five elements a great marketing story needs, read these posts:

• The 5 Things Every (Great) Marketing Story Needs
• How to Craft a Marketing Story that People Embrace and Share
• 3 Simple Storytelling Methods that Can Do Your Selling for You
• The 3 Core Elements of Good Storytelling (And Why Your Business Needs Them)
• A Crash Course in Marketing With Stories
• How to Tell the Stories Your Audience Wants to Hear

What’s your marketing story?

How does your marketing story capture your audience’s attention?

Why is it meaningful for your readers?

Do you use these five elements or additional principles?

Let’s continue the discussion over on Google+ …