Delighting audiences with your brand story seems like a fairy tale that is only possible for top companies with million-dollar marketing budgets. Sure, you’re unlikely to be hiring McG to direct your videos or buying massive Superbowl ads anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tell your brilliant brand story in other ways and on other mediums.
Some of the world’s “master memorizers” (aka people who are really good at remembering things) have said that weaving details into stories in their minds will help them to recall even the smallest detail. It has been repeatedly proven that stories help people remember important details and can dramatically increase brand recognition. That being said, there is an art to brand storytelling.
Problems
Every great story starts with a problem. From Grimm’s fairytales to Nike ads, there will always be a problem that the protagonist will face. Your clients have a problem (a need) which you are able to solve. If you were H&R Block, your clients need their taxes done professionally or they could lose their hard-earned money. Every great story has a problem, that being said, you don’t want to be overly negative, so don’t dwell on the problem for too long. Keep it subtle.
Hero
The other common denominator in every story ever told? There is a hero. Sure, the hero isn’t always a good guy, like Dexter, but every story has a hero. In this case, the hero should be someone from your primary customer persona. Audiences tend to respond well to stories if they can put themselves into the shoes of the hero. Want to build a client base through storytelling? Inspire your audience to feel like the protagonist and you’ve got them.
Length
There is a misconception out there that all stories have to be a certain length. That is entirely not true. Commercials can tell entire stories in 30 seconds, so can you. Intersperse images with your captions on social media and you have a multimedia delight for your audience. Think of Ernest Hemingway’s shortest story ever told, “For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Worn.” His is a story capable of breaking your heart in 6 words.
Clients
Do you know who the best brand storytellers are? Your customers! You don’t have to do all of the heavy lifting yourself. Not only can your customers tell a great story for you, but they are usually more than happy to do it. Encourage happy clients to spread the word on Google, Facebook, Yelp, or any other review site that works for your industry and then use their stories (or snippets of their testimonials) across your website, social media, blogs, and wherever else you think it fits.
Of course, this is simply scratching the surface of what you can do to regale potential customers with the story of your business. If you are finding spinning your brand story across multiple channels a little bit daunting, Don’t Panic! We are here to help! Get in touch, we can have a coffee and a convo to get you going.