By Kailynn Bowling, co-founder ChicExecs PR & Retail Strategy Company.
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 business facts, but packages them into 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. You need to define the facts, tone and form to tell the world who you are as a brand. Branding 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 things to remember.
• Character: Assign a main character to your story. This can be your target audience, your founders or a made-up hero.
• Sound: 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 is not the same as a biography. This is a creative endeavor that should make people feel something. Consider using the context of the hero’s journey to write a strong plot for your brand story.
2. Be related.
People love stories because we see elements of ourselves in a character’s struggles. As a brand, this is not the time to give away your failures or struggles. These elements will make your story more believable, which is key to resonating with a wider audience. Take the smoke and mirrors out of your story and include some raw, vulnerable moments to connect with people on a human level.
3. Niche below.
Brands often make the mistake of trying to be everything to everyone. But you’re not trying to sell to everyone on the planet: you’re targeting a specific audience that best suits your products. Your brand story should be specific to your ideal audience, not the world at large.
Do a little research to better understand the characteristics of your customers. Make sure your brand story places your audience as the hero of the story and presents your product as a cure for their biggest pain points.
4. Test your story.
Your brand story will be alive 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 revise them internally. Once you’ve chosen your favorites, put them through a focus group. Make sure the story is clear and the plot makes sense.
5. Display and say.
We love written brand stories, but the future of the web is in multimedia content. Once you’ve perfected your story, it’s time to share it in many forms.
Feel free to share the text on your website and on your social media bio. However, it’s also good to turn this story into a visual infographic, social media graphics, and YouTube videos. This helps you to attract more users on the web and on different platforms.
6. Live your story.
Consumer confidence is in one all time low. As a brand trying to thrive in an age of skepticism, don’t make claims if you can’t back them up. Your brand story should be a work of non-fiction. For example, don’t claim to be a company that values work-life balance if your employees typically work late nights and weekends.
A brand story will not be effective if your company does not live up to the values of that story. In fact, it risks coming across as inauthentic and tone-deaf. To write an accurate brand story, first define your business values and practices. 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 story will likely need to change at some point as well. 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 up. For example, if you’re in the automotive industry and your buyers care about the environment, it might be time to rework your brand practices and story to align with that expectation.
Capturing your brand story is often not an easy task. The best brands understand their employees and customers to create a complete story. I hope these seven tips help you successfully create your own.
