The Art of Storytelling in Branding: Creating Authentic Connections in a Crowded Marketplace.

Since the history of human existence, storytelling has been the medium cultures use to pass on beliefs and tradition. Telling a story makes information memorable. Nothing tickles the imagination like a properly crafted story. We’re customized to be drawn to stories. Admittedly the tales by moonlight may have fade away, however our inner core yearns for stories. That’s why we appreciate movies and fictions with good plot, gists with our friends, the news, etc. Every human, regardless of age, craves a story. Some plot to ride with. We want to feel the pain and joys of others as they pass through varying phases.

Before now, companies were just near lifeless establishments that supplied goods. All they had to do was provide goods and services that met needs. Businesses were not generally interested in connecting with their customers on a level beyond buying and selling. However with the increasing number of manufacturers of goods and providers of service came stiff competition. Customers now possessed the power of choice. This resulted in people buying as a result of emotional sentiments. The monopoly in certain goods and services was removed. Customers had to buy from brands they could connect with, even though such connection might have been unintentional at the time. This prompted brands to seek out ways of connecting with their customers. Storytelling became a very effective means of communicating with their customers.

The Art of Storytelling in Branding: Creating Authentic Connections in a Crowded Marketplace

Brands realized that when it comes to promoting a business – audiences are much more inclined to connect with a good story than a good product. It is not enough to get people to engage with your brand. Instead, customers are attracted to brands they can relate to, brands that interest them – brands with a compelling narrative to tell.

What is Brand Storytelling?

Brand Storytelling is a marketing means of using engaging narratives to communicate a message which differentiates a brand from others. It is simply the means a brand uses to communicate her uniqueness in such a busy business world. The goal is to make the viewer feel something – enough that it’ll inspire them to take action, and to increase their brand loyalty. Storytelling in marketing helps consumers to understand why they should care about something, and it works to humanise your brand.

For every brand today, couching compelling stories is an essential part of distinguishing from competition. As competition for customers continues to grow intense, more buisness teams and marketing heads have learnt to devote time to thinking about curating captivating brand stories.  In the following post, we’ll outline a few ways you can tell your brand story on your website in order to help prospective customers understand what makes your business, products, and services unique

A successful brand story helps you achieve the following

Distinguish Your Business: Everywhere we turn today, there’s more than a dozen brands producing the same goods or delivering the same service. Today’s market is brimming with similar goods and services. What makes your business distinct is your brand story. This prompts buyers to purchase from companies that share their core values. An original and compelling story helps attract customers with similar values.

Build Customer Trust: Your brand story establishes your brand promise and explains how you deliver on the expectations. Following through on brand promises deepens your business’ connection with its customers and builds customer trust.

Maximize Resources: The interesting thing about brand storytelling is the fact that it doesn’t necessarily require a large budget. Small businesses can use their brand story to attract new customers, even without a big marketing budget. Besides the regular online publishing of brand stories, loyal customers help to spread brand stories. This gives small businesses the edge to maximize local relationships and boost their customer base.

Develop a bond with your Audience: Modern buyers look beyond price tags and comfortable deals to the heart of a Business. Customers are now inclined to brands that resonate with their values and ideas. This makes a business’s reputation depend entirely on her connection with her customers. Brand loyalty now arises as a result of some emotional connection with a brand, which is always a result of a captivating brand story.

Where and In What Medium Can I Create My Brand Story?

• On Your About Page: The first place you go to whenever you visit a website is the “About Us” section. This is a very good place to position a story that will reveal the goal and purpose of your brand. Your About page is a nearly perfect place to include information that will help visitors understand what your brand does, the why behind what your brand does, and why they should care.
• In Videos: This is commonplace as well. Top brands as Disney, Coca Cola, etc have created incredibly captivating brand stories in videos. Creatively find a plot that reveals the spirit of your brand. Turn the plot into a compelling video that will leave your audience emotionally connected to your brand! You may also have videos of your employees in action, your staff narrating what is to be loved about your brand, satisfied customers expressing their satisfaction, “behind-the-scenes” videos that give prospective customers a glimpse into how your business operates, etc. All these are video concepts that can reveal the story behind a brand.
• In Pictures: A brand story can be told in pictures such as photos of employees interracting with customers, photos of employees off the job, highlighting their other passions and hobbies, photos that illustrate how your business, products, or services have evolved over time, historical photos that help visitors understand what your business was like in the early years of establishment, etc.
• Your brand story may also be contained in blogposts, newsletters, etc.

How To Write A Good Brand Story

A brand story has to contain certain elements in order to appeal to the emotions of your customers.

1. A Brand Story Must Have A Status Quo: The status quo is an outline of how things are done usually. Your brand story must contain events and happenings as they are at the moment. What obtains in the industry your business operates? What is the regular state of events associated with your product or service? For example, if you’re creating a brand story around an automobile brand, you should create a story around what obtains currently in the transportation sector. Your brand story must have a plot which starts with the way things happen in the industry your brand operates.
2. Your Story Must Have A Conflict

At their core, stories are about overcoming challenges. Absence of conflict means there’s no drama or emotional journey for people to relate to. Such story won’t hold attention, much less resonate and inspire. The conflict phase of every brand story may be used to achieve two purposes

Expose the flaws with the status quo in the industry or sector your brand operates. Recall that your plot must have set out the status quo. The role of a conflict in this regard is to point out the achilles heel in such status quo. The conflict in your story disrupts the status quo and puts something at stake, forcing the protagonist, your brand, to actively find a solution to the problem.

Secondly, a conflict may be used to further humanize your brand. Have you ever felt that jolt of compassion when a character you love in a movie experiences harmatia? It’s as though you want to get in the movie and help such character through the pain being experienced right? That’s what a well-positioned conflict can achieve in a brand story. Brands might shy away from revealing any adversity or conflict because a blemish-free story about growth seems like the best way to convince people they’re the best-in-class solution, free of imperfections. In truth, this is a serious misconception because everything has flaws. In addition, as a human, we all appreciate the fact that life comes at us all in various ways. So when a brand reveals their flaws, it evokes feelings of compassion which makes customers connect faster to a brand. The more honest you are about your brand’s shortcomings, the more people will respect you and relate to your brand.

3. Your Story Must Have A Resolution

Every brand story must show a resolution. The resolution is how the protagonist solves the conflict. The protagonist, your brand, must show how she overcomes the conflict with the status quo or otherwise. Without a resolution, there’s no emotional payoff for the audience. Hence every good brand story must have a resolution.

4. Your Story Must End With a Call To Action (CTA)

Think about your brand story as it is right now. What is it you want your customers to do? Buy a product or service? Sign-up for a newsletter? You customers need a compass and push to take action. Is the customer’s path to take action precise? You know you are the best choice to solve your customer’s problems. But do your prospective customers know that? If your story struggles to tell your customers what you want them to do, they’ll make their own decision. As always, that decision is to leave and not come back. This is the essence of a call to action. A CTA basically directs your customers towards the necessary action they should take after you’ve shown how your brand resolves the conflict with the status quo.

Tips To Create An Effective Brand Story

• Find your why: Every brand has a reason for existence. This is the primary message a brand must communicate in her story. Find out the “why” behind your business. What is your brand’s mission? What problem does your business seek to solve? These pertinent questions must be asked and answered succinctly in your brand story.
• Know your product: Sound understanding of your product is very necessary while crafting your brand story. How does your product relate to your “why”? What is the unique feature that sets your product/service apart from it’s counterparts?
• Understand and be in harmony with your audience: It would be a bad move to create a brand story without knowing and understanding your customer base. How does your product relate to them? How does it take away the pain or need they feel? Why should your audience care about the “why” behind your brand? It is necessary to identify these while crafting a brand story.
• Tell your brands’s actual story: Don’t just spit out some reels. Most brands come up with just about any reel that “informs” prospects about their presence. This is what a bland reel does. It just informs prospects. It doesn’t create any connection, neither does it leave an imprint. When crafting your brand story, tell the actual story behind your brand in a creative way and realize the magic it works!
• Your story must captivate attention: We already know that the marketplace today is brimming with brands. This leaves buyers with a difficult task of selecting a brand that aligns with their values. You story must be catchy enough to capture and hold a prospect’s attention.
• Your stories should be imaginative: However you choose to tell stories, as long as you run a good plot with compelling characters, and plenty of emotion – you’ll keep your audience captivated.

In conclusion, your brand story is what inspires your customers and keeps them emotionally connected to your brand. It is a very strong marketing strategy that turns prospects to customers, and customers to loyalists. Study the brand stories of top brands as Coca Cola, Disney, Guinness, etc and observe how their stories inspire their customers to stay loyal and connected to the brand.