We love a great story, and the greatest brands in the world know how to tap into that and connect with us on an intimate level. Commercials that make you cry, laugh, or feel some other emotion are proof of that. So how do you transform your story into your brand story?
It’s a lot easier than you think!
Brand storytelling is the reason why your company and how your products and services came to be. It is the heart of your company and why your team is motivated and excited about coming to work every day. Your values, relationships, and web presence are all wrapped up in a nice, neat package so that your customers will know exactly what they’re giving up their time, consideration, and money for.
It’s Your Story
Brand stories aren’t ads or sales pitches. They’re not marketing tools. They are, however, the humanization of your brand and business. This “human factor” is what builds a solid build of trust between you and your potential customers and clients. You may have seen this also listed as “brand authenticity”.
A brand story begins with the idea you had to form your company, its products, and/or its services. This is your broken world, the place where you noticed there was a need that had to be filled. You stepped up and took action. What was it?
Your Audience
Your audience, the customer, is the hero of the story. This is their journey of discovery. You can use your ideal client as a model or you can use real-life testimonials to tell this story. It’s completely up to you.
Your Mentor
Your company is the mentor that guides the hero. You’re the key to helping your audience succeed where it might have otherwise failed. Your company points out the struggles and embraces every failure as a stepping stone to success. A mentor can’t solve the problems for the customer, but it can guide them onto the right path.
And how do you do that? With your product or service. You can become their armor or weapon. You can be the light of their path or help them forge a new one.
So what are the key takeaways?
1. Include a beginning, middle, and end. Establish the story setting and characters first, then set up the problem they must overcome. Finally, you’ll show how they were able to overcome their trouble with your help.
2. Include a call to action with every brand story you tell. It can be worksheets, downloadables, quizzes, and more. Just make sure it’s one action item per iteration of your story. A web page, for instance, should have one call to action. An article should have one. It goes on and on.
3. Finally, your story might not be important to your clients. Don’t let that discourage you. Instead, identify pieces that are more important than others. Those pieces can be expanded and focused on in future content.
Still have questions about your brand? Pick up our Brand Guide Workbook, our free resource to help small business owners build an exceptional brand.