Branding is the lifeblood of a business. From the second you launch your startup, you should be thinking about how you will brand your products and services to appeal to your target audience. The right branding can make your business go viral.
The key to creating a brand that resonates with your audience is to tell a unique story through your marketing. Brand storytelling is the most powerful way to get people talking about your business. In this guide, we’ll cover 15 creative ways to master brand storytelling for a unique business identity.
1. Know Your Brand’s Origin Story
The first step to mastering brand storytelling is to know your brand’s origin story. This is the story of how your brand came to be, and it’s the foundation of everything else you’ll tell about your brand.
If you’re a new business, you may not have a long history to draw from, but you can still tell a compelling origin story. And if you’re an established business, you may find that your origin story has evolved over the years.
2. Learn the Art of Business Storytelling
Business storytelling is a marketing strategy that has been around for centuries. The idea is to use stories to create an emotional connection between your brand and your target audience. This emotional connection is what drives customer loyalty and repeat business.
There are many different ways to use business storytelling in your marketing. You can tell stories about your brand, your products, your customers, and more. The key is to find stories that are relevant to your target audience and that will help you build a strong emotional connection with them.
For example, if your target audience is people who care about the environment, you could tell stories about how your company is working to reduce its carbon footprint. If your target audience is parents, you could tell stories about how your products have made parenting easier for your customers.
No matter what kind of stories you choose to tell, the most important thing is to be authentic. Your target audience will be able to tell if you’re not being genuine, and that can backfire on your brand.
3. Create a Brand Character
Brand storytelling doesn’t have to be limited to your company’s founding story. You can create an entirely new character to represent your brand. This character can be a hero, a villain, a mentor, or a sidekick.
Creating a brand character is a fun way to make your brand more relatable to your target audience. You can use your brand character in your marketing campaigns, on your website, and on your social media channels.
The key to creating a successful brand character is to make it as human as possible. This means giving your character a name, a personality, and a backstory. You can also use your brand character to share your company’s values and beliefs.
For example, the brand character for the Dollar Shave Club is a man named Mike who is a member of the Dollar Shave Club. Mike is a fun, relatable character who is meant to represent the target audience of the Dollar Shave Club.
4. Understand Your Audience
When creating your brand story, it’s important to remember that your story is about your audience as much as it is about your brand. You need to understand who your audience is and what they want to hear from you.
The best way to do this is by creating buyer personas, also known as ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles). Buyer personas are fictional, generalized representations of your ideal customers. They help you understand your customers (and prospective customers) better, and make it easier for you to tailor content to the specific needs, behaviors, and concerns of different groups.
If you’re not sure how to create buyer personas, HubSpot has a free tool to help you get started. Once you’ve created your buyer personas, you can use them to guide your brand story and content creation.
5. Use Social Media to Tell Your Brand’s Story
Social media is a fantastic place to tell your brand’s story. You can use a variety of media, like text, images, and video, to give your audience a taste of your brand’s personality.
One of the best ways to tell your brand’s story on social media is by sharing behind-the-scenes content. This gives your audience a look at the people and processes that make your brand unique.
You can also use social media to share customer testimonials and success stories. This is a great way to show your audience that your brand is making a positive impact. You can later track the impact of each channel with dedicated tools for social media dashboards.
6. Share Customer Stories
Your brand story doesn’t have to be confined to your “About Us” page. You can share the spotlight with your customers and their experiences with your brand.
Customer stories are a powerful form of social proof that can help you build trust and credibility with your audience. Plus, they provide a unique opportunity to showcase your brand’s personality and values through the lens of your customers.
For example, you could create a video series featuring customer interviews, or share customer testimonials on your website and social media profiles. You could also create a case study that tells the story of how your product or service has helped a customer achieve their goals.
7. Use Visuals to Tell Your Story
Visual content is a powerful storytelling tool and most of your audience will be able to easily understandyour brand’s story. Plus, it can increase engagement and help you stand out from the competition.
There are many ways to use visuals to tell your brand story. You can create an infographic that highlights key points about your business. You can also use photos and videos to show your products in action.
8. Be Authentic
The most important rule in brand storytelling is to be authentic. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Be honest about who you are, what you do, and why you do it. This will help you build trust with your audience and create a strong, authentic brand identity.
Your brand story should be a reflection of your company’s values, mission, and vision. It should also be a true representation of your business. Don’t try to create a brand story that doesn’t align with your company. Instead, focus on what makes your business unique and share that with your audience.
9. Share Your Brand’s Values
What are your brand’s values? Sharing your brand’s values is a great way to bring your team and your customers together.
One way to do this is to share your brand’s origin story. What inspired you to start your business? What are your company’s goals and values? Sharing your origin story is a great way to connect with your audience and build trust.
If you’re a new business, you can still share your brand’s values. What do you stand for? What makes you different from other businesses in your industry? Sharing your values is a great way to build a positive brand identity and attract new customers.
10. Use Emotions to Connect with Your Audience
The best stories are those that make you feel something. By using emotions in your brand storytelling, you can create a strong connection with your audience.
Whether you want to make them laugh, cry, or feel inspired, using emotions in your brand storytelling can help you create content that resonates with your audience on a deeper level.
One of the easiest ways to use emotions in your brand storytelling is through video content. Video is a powerful medium that allows you to tell a story and evoke emotions in a way that other types of content can’t.
11. Use Conflict to Create a Story Arc
Conflict is a key ingredient in any story, and brand storytelling is no exception. Conflict in brand storytelling doesn’t have to be a negative thing. It can simply be the challenge or problem that your brand helps your customers overcome.
In the brand story above, the conflict is that the business owner has a big idea but doesn’t know how to turn it into a business. The story arc is that she finds a solution and becomes a success.
In the brand story below, the conflict is that the brand’s founder struggled to find a high-quality, affordable mattress. The story arc is that he created his own mattress company that solved this problem for others.
In both of these examples, the conflict is the problem that the business solves. Conflict is a powerful tool in brand storytelling because it creates a story arc and a sense of progression.
12. Use Humor in Your Brand Storytelling
Humor is a great way to connect with your audience. It can also be a great way to stand out from your competition.
People are more likely to remember a funny story than a serious one, so don’t be afraid to let your sense of humor shine through in your brand storytelling.
Just make sure that the humor you use is appropriate for your audience. If you’re not sure, test it out on a few people before you share it with the world.
13. Make Your Brand Storytelling Relatable
If your brand’s story is too complex, it may not be relatable to your audience. This is why it’s important to keep your brand story simple and relatable. Your customers should be able to see themselves in your brand’s story.
One way to make your brand story more relatable is to tell the story of your customers. Use your brand storytelling to show how your customers are using your products or services to solve their problems. This will help your audience see how your brand can help them.
14. Share Your Failures and Successes
Finally, don’t be afraid to share your successes and failures. This is a great way to humanize your brand and show that you are just like your customers.
Sharing your successes can also help you to build trust with your customers. When you show that you are successful, you are more likely to get new customers.
Sharing your failures can also help you to build trust with your customers. When you show that you are not perfect, you are more likely to get new customers.
15. Have a Clear Message
Your content should have a purpose. If you’re creating content for the sake of creating content, your audience will be able to tell.
Before you start creating, think about the message you want to convey. What is the main takeaway you want your audience to have?
Once you have your message, you can start creating your content.
Conclusion
Brand storytelling is no longer a nice-to-have –– it’s a must-have. Consumers are becoming more and more skeptical of traditional advertising, and they’re growing to expect more from brands. They want to know what a brand stands for and how it can fit into their lifestyle, and the best way to do that is by creating a compelling brand story.
Happy storytelling!
