By Kailynn Bowling, co-founder of ChicExecs PR & Retail Strategy Firm.
Every business is different. From your company history to your products to the customers you serve, your story is unique to your business. A brand story goes beyond your “About Us” page—it includes facts about the business but packages them within a narrative that tells the world about your business’s values, culture and personality.
But capturing the true essence of that story and sharing it with the world isn’t always easy. It requires nailing the facts, tone and format to tell the world who you are as a brand. Brand storytelling is an art, but here are seven tips that can help you successfully share your story.
1. Include the elements of good storytelling.
Every good story follows a pattern. Including these elements in your story will help other people quickly understand your brand’s challenges, triumphs and purpose in the world. Here are a few elements to keep in mind.
• Character: Assign a main character in your story. That could be your target audience, your founders or a made-up hero.
• Tone: This is the personality of how you write the narrative. Are you looking for something professional and buttoned up or something more casual and hip?
• Plot: Remember, a brand story isn’t the same as a biography. This is a creative endeavor that should make people feel something. Consider using the hero’s journey framework to write a strong plot for your brand story.
2. Be relatable.
Humans love stories because we see elements of ourselves in a character’s struggles. As a brand, this isn’t the time to sugarcoat your failures or struggles. These components will make your story more believable, which is key to resonating with a wider audience. Remove the smoke and mirrors from your story and include a few raw, vulnerable moments to connect with people on a human level.
3. Niche down.
Brands often make the mistake of trying to be everything to everyone. But you aren’t trying to sell to everyone on the planet: You’re catering to a specific audience that’s the best fit for your products. Your brand story should be specifically for your ideal audience, not for the world at large.
Do a little research to better understand your customer personas. Ensure that your brand story positions your audience as the hero of the story and introduces your product as a cure for their biggest pain points.
4. Test your story.
Your brand story will live on your website, social media and more. A brand story positions your brand in the market, so it’s a good idea to test your brand story before sharing it with the world.
Write a few variations of your story and review them internally. After choosing your favorite options, run them past a focus group. Ensure that the story is clear and that the plot makes sense.
5. Show and tell.
We love written brand stories, but the future of the web is in multimedia content. Once you’ve honed your story, it’s time to share it in multiple formats.
Feel free to share the text on your website and social media bio. However, it’s also good to convert this story into a visual infographic, bite-sized social media graphics and a YouTube video. This helps you appeal to more users across the web and on different platforms.
6. Live your story.
Consumer trust is at an all-time low. As a brand that’s trying to thrive in an age of skepticism, don’t make claims if you can’t back them up. Your brand story needs to be a work of nonfiction. For example, don’t claim to be a company that values work-life balance if your employees routinely work late nights and weekends.
A brand story won’t be effective if your company doesn’t live by the values in that story. In fact, it risks coming across as ingenuine and tone-deaf. To write an accurate brand story, define your business’s values and practices first. From there, write a brand story based on how you actually operate.
7. Incorporate feedback.
The world is always changing, and that means your brand’s story will likely need to change at a certain point, too. You don’t need to change your brand story every year, but if customer or industry feedback is telling you it’s time to make a change, listen. For example, if you’re in the auto industry and your shoppers care about the environment, it might be time to rework your practices and brand story to align with that expectation.
Nailing down your brand’s story is often not an easy task. The best brands understand their employees and customers to craft a complete story. I hope these seven tips will help guide you in successfully building yours.
