What is the story behind your brand? In business it’s so easy to get caught up in graphs, data points, and lengthy presentations that consumers may not actually feel that strongly about or truly understand. That’s where having strong storytelling for your brand can help you stand out against your competitors and form strong emotional connections with your clients.
A brand story, by definition, is a cohesive narrative that expresses the facts and feelings created by your brand. What is most important here, however, is that your brand story creates a strong point of connection and emotional reaction with your audience. This is because emotionally-invested consumers are shown to have a greater lifetime value for brands than those that don’t have any emotional connection.
And the thing is, this narrative around your brand will exist whether you create it or not. So it’s important to be able to tell people just who you are, what you do, and how you became what you are today in an authentic way that will stick in people’s minds.
So when it comes to developing your brand story, keep in mind just what makes people connect to such stories. Where do you even start? Let’s take a look at the factors that make brand stories built for either success or failure.
What Makes a Successful Brand Story:
Obviously, we have already stated that a strong brand story is one that will create an emotional reaction in consumers. But how exactly do you do that? A successful brand story will clearly explain a problem that your audience experiences, and how your brand has chosen to solve it; that is, just what your brand does for people or society at large. In this way, your audience should see themselves in the situation you describe, and thereby form an emotional connection to your problem, solution, and brand.
Another important facet of your brand story is tp make it short, sweet, and to-the-point so that people can quickly and easily understand it. If consumers start feeling overwhelmed with information, they will start to lose interest. And in a world where so much information comes at us so fast all the time, people make their minds up about brands very quickly. That’s why being able to share your story quickly in a way that audiences understand is important when it comes to making your story stick in people’s minds.
Finally, you need to make sure that how you express your brand through storytelling is truthful and authentic. Your brand has values, and the story you build around it should reflect these values and clarify your brand mission. Sharing what drives you is relatable to people, and therefore another way that you can build emotional engagement with your brand. Furthermore, authenticity in your brand makes it easier for people to resonate with it on an emotional level, as it will feel like real people are behind the brand that they are connecting with, and not just some faceless business.
Why Certain Brand Stories Fail to Connect with their Audience:
The easiest way to lose your audience is by sharing a story that is unclear. If people don’t even know what you are talking about, how are they expected to understand your business or why they should care? If a clear purpose has not been indicated, consumers are not likely to see themselves relating to the problem that your brand solves. And without a feeling of relatability, they are not likely to form that all-important emotional connection.
Not only that, but if you go on and on and get too caught up in the little details, people are likely to find this information irrelevant and tune out. I’m sure we have all experienced a presentation or speech that has gone on long past it’s point of interest and is now simply boring people who can’t wait for it to end. The same goes for your brand story: if it’s not to-the-point, you may lose people along the way. There’s just too much other information coming at people these days that is begging for attention!
When building the story of your brand, knowing who you are and what you stand for is the first step in developing a connection with your audience. Your brand values are sure to strike a chord with a certain audience, so sharing this is a great starting-point to build off of.
Taking the time to develop a strong brand story may be just one part of building your successful brand strategy, but it is an important one that can make a big difference when it comes to connecting with customers in a meaningful way.
Looking for more marketing insight and news? Sign up for the Fox & Forth newsletter.
Comentários