How to Tell an Effective Brand Story

The Power of Storytelling

We live in an era of information overload. Every day, consumers are flooded with choices and information. Finding your audience and getting heard in all this noise is only the first step. In order to stand out from the crowd and build a successful brand, you need to connect with people emotionally, and storytelling is the best way to do that.

How to Tell a Brand’s Story

Telling brand stories can be challenging. You may have to do a little brainstorming to discover the story behind the facts. Before you begin, lay out some facts about your business. The deeper you dive into this exercise, the more ideas will come up.

Having a long-term story arc, being consistent, and showing people what you’re passionate about will keep them interested. These are the best ways to keep their attention. Here are some ideas and questions to inspire you come up with a great brand story:

• Who you are: What inspired you to start your company? Share your company’s vision, mission, values, and culture. Tell us what kind of people work for your company.
• What you do: What is the product or service you offer? 
• Who you do it for: Who do you help? Case studies and customer success stories are powerful brand storytelling tools. They can help customers see how you can assist them in the same way that you have helped others.
• What motivates you: What is your long-term goal? What led your company to offer the products and services it does? What are the benefits to the customer?
• How you create your product or service: What is the process of creating and delivering your product or service? Make your production process visible to your audience so they can appreciate the care and craftsmanship you put into it.
• What you plan to do: What’s next? Will your product change and evolve? Are you planning to expand your customer base? Will your philosophy or vision change?

Check out these tips to help you craft an engaging and effective brand story:

1) Keep it simple

Brand storytelling doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep things as simple as possible. The story should begin with the problem at hand. In the middle is the solution and ends with a success. It helps you to follow a conventional narrative model without straying too far from the most important parts of the story. 

2) Don’t just tell, show

Focus on how your brand helped a specific person rather than just listing off vague qualities. You want your audience to relate to this person and know how your brand changed their lives for the better. People will tune out if you just blab about how great your brand is because they hear these pitches all the time and won’t relate to them.

3) Write a long-term storyline 

Create an ongoing, long-term story arc, rather than a short story. You want to build relationships with your audience, which means you want them returning again and again.

Create a list of challenges your story’s hero may face but ultimately overcome. Generally, it’s hard to connect with a character you’re introduced to, see a short challenge, and then never see them again. It’s important to keep people coming back to see how the character, who they are emotionally invested in and interested in, is doing. It leaves the audience wanting more and curious about what happens next. 

4) Be consistent

Keep your brand consistent with the values it represents. People are exposed to a lot of advertising, and, as a result, they can recognize a brand that is not authentic. Keep your promises. If your brand embodies a value, make sure your behavior doesn’t contradict that value, otherwise you will lose customers.

Make your brand values part of your story. Explain why they are important and how you intend to uphold them. Keep your brand’s message consistent across all your marketing platforms. 

5) Attract and keep your audience’s attention

You need to be able to grab people’s attention so that they are invested in your story. To do this, you need to know your audience. Who are you targeting? What motivates them? What are their likes and dislikes? Focus your characters and storyline on things that will interest your audience. 

You can also grab people’s attention by using the right language. Find out how to best communicate with them. Track your links to determine which social posts receive the most engagement. It is your goal to convert interest into emotional investment. 

6) Tell the brand story clearly and effectively

However you choose to tell your story, it’s critical to ensure that your efforts are yielding the desired results. Track how effective your story arc is at bringing traffic to your site. You also want to be aware of things like grammar, as a poorly written story will greatly reduce its effectiveness. Sites such as My Writing Way, ViaWriting, or State of Writing can help ensure your grammar is correct. 

The quality of video and audio content is equally important, especially if you want to evoke an emotional response in your audience. Freelance sites are useful if you don’t have the resources to create video content in-house. Be sure to write the script first so the finished product will reflect your brand values.

7) Increase the reach of your stories

• Use social media to grow readership – Social media stories perform well. Use snippets, quotes, and anecdotes to give viewers a glimpse into each story. This can help develop a strong sense of familiarity with your brand.
• Tell your story wherever you go – Share your brand’s story anywhere you can, such as in speeches, interviews, podcasts, and guest posts. Find ways to incorporate the most interesting stories you have into another form of media to increase their reach.
• Allow your customers to tell your story – People love attaching stories to the brands they love. For them, a brand is more than a product. A brand is something that the founder started in their garage, or that only uses 100% recycled materials to be green. Making your stories part of your brand identity encourages customers to share them.

What’s Your Story?

A brand’s story has always been a part of marketing, and it will always be. It’s a great way to demonstrate your brand’s identity and values, build loyalty, and make your brand more human. Hence, storytelling is vital.

I understand how overwhelming marketing initiatives, noise, and competition can be. As a StoryBrand Certified Guide, I help health and fitness brands clarify their messaging to attract their target audience, increase sales, and grow their businesses.

So what’s your brand story? I can help you tell yours!