“Facts tell, stories sell” (marketing adage)
“Facts tell, stories sell” is a popular marketing adage. A story that pulls all of the facts together helps to create a memorable sales presentation.
“Facts tell, stories sell” has been cited in print since at least 1996, although a 1999 book called it an “old sales adage.”
Metroactive
October 3-9, 1996
Shaking the Money Tree
From Amway to Equinox, multilevel marketing schemes have won 7 million devotees on the promise of unlimited wealth and freedom. But when the numbers don’t add up, distributors lose more than their dreams.
By Ami Chen Mills
(...)
Von warns against logic—“What sells is feeling and emotion. Facts tell, stories sell”—and encourages the audience to remember what it was like when they first joined by comparing the feeling to that of buying a new car.
Google Books
Network Marketing:
How to Play by Your Own Rules and Win
By Charles F, Amick
Upublish.com
1998
Pg. 50:
Summary Network marketing companies seek to sell their programs by ignoring facts and appealing to your emotions (“facts tell, stories sell”).
Google Books
The Guide to Financial Public Relations:
How to Stand Out in the Midst of Competitive Clutter
By Larry Chambers
Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press
1999
Pg. 69:
Remember the old sales adage: Facts tell, stories sell.
Toyota Tundra Forums
v8Toilet
09-17-2002, 03:52 PM
(...)
Have you ever heard the cliché facts tell but stories sell?
12 November 2007, The Daily Times (Farmington, NM), “Incubator companies in the spotlight” by Cornelia de Bruin, pg. B5, col. 2:
“Facts tell, but stories sell,” he said.
(Matt Rix, of Texas-based MATTRIXX Competitive Technologies—ed.)
Google Books
42 Rules for B2B Social Media Marketing:
Learn Proven Strategies and Field-Tested Tactics through Real World Success Stories
By Michael Procopio, Peter Spielvogel and Natascha Thomson
Cupertino, CA: Super Star Press
2012
Pg. 26:
There is an old sales adage: “Facts tell while stories sell.” This means, you must engage your audience with memorable and compelling content that they will remember.