There’s of ton of advice and opinions floating around about how to appeal to audiences on a more emotional level. For example, building a dialogue on social media or investing in live content that makes you appear more “real” and trustworthy. These are great strategies, and there’s even more out there that get the job done. However, few build brand authenticity as well as personal storytelling.
The fact is it just isn’t enough to be engaging and consistent. Audiences today want to feel like they know the businesses they interact with as if they were trusted friends. Right now, storytelling is all the rage and brands that are hesitant to jump on board are faced with the possibility of losing the audiences that they’ve worked so hard to grow.
While many small businesses are already aware of the power of storytelling to build authenticity around a brand, few actually know how to do it. You’re far too busy to waste time crafting a story that’s anything short of compelling and convincing to your audience, so here are 3 tips for powering up your brand storytelling game.
Start by building a brand persona
Storytelling is a craft, and to really build authenticity you need for each element of your story to build upon the previous ones. Think about your favorite book series. Would it make much sense if the stories were random with inconsistencies with the characters or plot?
The same philosophy applies to brand storytelling. You want to start by creating a persona for your company that serves as a foundation for you to build your story around.
The key to building a persona is thinking of your brand as if it were a person and not an entity. To illustrate this point, think about the way you interact with your audience on social media. Sure, you might be a very real person but they’re seeing only words and maybe a logo. Building a persona helps them view you as an actual person that they can build a relationship with.
It might sound a little silly at first but try figuring out what kind of “person” your business is. Are you male or female? How old are you? What makes you interesting and separates you from your competitors?
Develop a case of the feels
If there’s one thing that resides in the cornerstone of great brand storytelling, it’s emotion. Think for a second about the massive amounts of information that your audience is presented with every day on social media alone. A simple 5-minute scroll through their news feed and they’ve managed to catch up on the lives of hundreds of friends and skimmed some stories from a few of their favorite brands.
This is the exact type of overstimulation that can leave a person feeling unenthused when they finally get around to your post. This is why it’s crucial to appeal to them through emotion.
Emotion is great for marketing purposes because it grabs attention and encourages sharing. But in the arena of storytelling, it helps brands develop a more intimate connection between themselves and their customers.
Take for example, what Dove soap did with one of their recent videos. As a brand that has a strong association as a product for females, they tapped into the powerful aspects of emotional storytelling that not only appealed to women, but also a new audience of men. Brilliant brand storytelling at it’s finest.
Share the love
Brand storytelling only goes so far in building authenticity if it’s only one sided. This is a common mistake that many businesses make. To create authenticity, you need a dialogue between you and your audience.
With each piece of content that you publish as you build your brand story, make a point of encouraging others to share their experiences and insights. But, don’t let it stop there. Take the time to engage with them and have real, meaningful dialogue that forms lasting impressions about the value and authenticity of your brand.
More secrets to be learned
There are so many amazing ways of building authenticity through brand storytelling, and this is only the beginning. We don’t want you to miss a single opportunity to connect with your audience and build the type of relationships that work to grow your business. When you’re ready, get in touch with a marketing professional to help you craft your own, personal brand story.
