The traditional tactic of shoving your brand message down your customers’ throats are no longer relevant. According to research, only 1% of millennials trust advertising.
Buying is now social, self-directed, trust-based and transparent. Because of that, what your brand stands for, told through a compelling brand story is crucial to engage with your audience emotionally.
Your brand story is highly unique to your brand and should showcase what your brand believes in. The main character in your brand story is not you, it’s your customers. Your customer has to be the hero to make this work. Your brand is the guide.
There are a few characteristics to make your brand story truly compelling and intimate to those customers and users who will see and hear it.
Here are 3 effective ways to get you started in crafting your brand story.
Understand Your Customer Base
The first step to creating a brand story is knowing who you’ll be speaking to, and where they “hang-out”. There are many different demographics online & offline, on different sites, and these demographics will be interested in different aspects of your story and will want it told in different ways.
If you don’t currently know the details of your customer base, you can use online tools such as Google Analytics to procure a better, more thorough understanding of who you’re selling to and telling your story to. You can also work on a simple 2-column Customer Matrix to identify your customers’ needs and solutions your brand can offer.
Unify Your Content
Your brand’s story and message should be consistent across your marketing platforms, such as your social media, website and other resources you use to conduct business. If your company is utilising the attractive power of online articles and blog posts, these can be great ways to forward the values of your brand and give customers an inside look at what your company does and how you conduct business with integrity and innovation.
Social media and blog posts are perfect for humanising your brand. It works well for customers who are looking for something more casual in tone. It is also a great way to establish a personality for your brand and create intimacy. The goal is to make people feel as if they know your brand personally.
Know Your Story
There is no set story to tell for every brand. Each company will have its trademarks and journey through the ups and downs of the business landscape. Your brand’s story is unique compared to other companies. Journal the day-to-day behind the scenes struggles and delights. Grab onto the more human elements, emphasise the obstacles you’ve had to overcome, as well as the feeling of triumph created during your successes.
People want to hear the drama and strength inherent in creating and running a business, and creating a brand story is the perfect way to relay these elements to them. Your brand’s story is not a cut-and-dry rundown of projections and asset management – it’s a heartfelt communication of struggle and overcoming odds for what your brand stands for.
Conclusion
Brand stories are a great way to create intimacy with your current and potential customers, as well as developing a personality for your brand. It tells people all about your values and what you stand for, creating a foundation which you’ll build from for years to come. If you want to connect to customers in a way that matters and resonates, a brand story is what you need.
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