What You Need to Know About Brand Storytelling
Humans love to tell stories--it's a way to pass along knowledge, to teach lessons, to entertain, to build connections with each other and to help us remember. In a marketplace that's heavily saturated with content and ads, brand stories and storytelling can help your community-minded organization stand out and be seen, heard, and remembered if done correctly. The first step to successful brand storytelling is to define your organization's brand story.
An organization's brand story is the starting point of the organization, the reason it exists, and where it wants to go. Your brand story may only be a few sentences long, but is should incorporate your organization's mission, vision, and goals. Most importantly, it should be rooted in the truth of your organization's who, what, where, when, and why.
An organization's brand story is the starting point of the organization, the reason it exists, and where it wants to go. Your brand story may only be a few sentences long, but is should incorporate your organization's mission, vision, and goals. Most importantly, it should be rooted in the truth of your organization's who, what, where, when, and why.
The definition of brand storytelling
Brand storytelling brings your brand story to life through familiar storytelling elements like characters, setting, conflict, action, climax, and conclusion. Remember, the customer is the main character of your story and your organization is working to solve a problem for them (the conflict). So, before you get started, take the time to understand who your customers are in order to develop the stories that will connect with them emotionally. Each customer has a unique persona that is motivated by different needs. An audience analysis can help!
Storytelling paints a picture of your brand that a customer can identify with and see themselves participating in. It also demonstrates the authentic values of your organization, which is important since consumers today want to know that a organization stands for something, cares about their community, and shares similar values. Storytelling brings all this to life.
Storytelling paints a picture of your brand that a customer can identify with and see themselves participating in. It also demonstrates the authentic values of your organization, which is important since consumers today want to know that a organization stands for something, cares about their community, and shares similar values. Storytelling brings all this to life.
Why brand storytelling is important
Now more than ever, consumers want transparency and authenticity. They are looking for companies that align with their values, morals, and lifestyle. A brand story is how an organization shares that information and demonstrates how a product or service can add value to a customer's life. Genuine and truthful brand storytelling can help build relationships and trust with your consumers, creating product and service loyalty (since customers will unabashedly recommend you!).
It's no secret that people purchase based largely on emotion. Using brand storytelling to create an emotional connection with your customers can help your community-minded organization stand out in a crowd of competitors.
It's no secret that people purchase based largely on emotion. Using brand storytelling to create an emotional connection with your customers can help your community-minded organization stand out in a crowd of competitors.
How to craft a successful brand story
In order to be successful, brand storytelling should:
Your goal is to build a community of advocates and purchasers based on connection and shared values.
- Build an emotional connection between your customers and your organization: focus on the problem you solve, not just the product or service you provide.
- Focus on the unique needs and wants of your customers: stay close to the truth and keep your customers in mind throughout each step of the journey.
- Be engaging and draw on the imagination of your audience: test out some tried and true storytelling tropes for added familiarity.
- Be truthful and authentic: remember, there's only one "you" with a unique story to tell!
Your goal is to build a community of advocates and purchasers based on connection and shared values.
Share your brand story
If you're stuck, Perch Communications is here to help you develop brand messaging to share your story with the world. Contact us for your free, 30-minute consultation.