Stories are what make individuals unique, and the same rings true for brands. Marketers use brand storytelling to sell a narrative that puts a brand in a good light, inspiring actions from its audience.
In this article, we’ll examine:
• What Is a Brand Story?
• Why Is Brand Storytelling Important?
• How To Write a Brand Story
• More Storytelling Techniques and Tips
• Brand Storytelling Examples
But first, what is a brand story? And is it really that important?
What Is a Brand Story?
A brand story recollects the past events that ignited the founding of your brand while echoing that narrative as the incessant driving force of a business to the present. It encompasses the how and why: how your brand started and why it’s still going.
Why Is Brand Storytelling Important?
For some, a brand story isn’t a straight narrative but akin to brand reputation — consumers’ collective perception, experiences and feelings toward your brand. Imagine an old small-town cafe that doesn’t have a website or social media pages. Even without crafting and marketing an ‘official’ brand story, customers attach stories, based on their own experiences, to the cafe, leaving the business less in control of the narrative.
Digital storytelling in branding allows you to take control of your narrative. The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals how consumers are increasingly becoming more and more belief-driven. Based on values and beliefs, 58% of consumers advocate for or purchase from brands, while 64% invest. As such, writing a compelling story allows you to convey who you are as a brand and connect with consumers based on shared values.
Building a story brand is a way for businesses to set themselves apart. All businesses, even those in niche industries, have competitors who offer similar products or services. Therefore, a story is what earmarks a brand’s uniqueness.
How To Write a Brand Story (Digital Storytelling Techniques for Building a Story Brand)
A compelling story is one that’s emotional, inspiring people to take action. But where do you begin? From looking back at your “why” to search engine optimization (SEO), let’s look at some storytelling techniques or steps you can take to nail that quality content.
Reiterate Your “Why”
Before we touch on how you should incorporate brand storytelling in your SEO content strategy, it’s time for introspection. Trace the events that led your brand to the now and remember your purpose. As you do this, you should look past the purpose of merely making a sale, instead ask yourself these questions:
• What spurred me on to launch my business?
• What is the goal?
Your introspection should reignite your brand purpose, inspiring your brand story’s flow. For this, you can refer to GoPro’s quality content story below.
Understand Your Offerings
However, having a pivotal brand inception is not always the case because, if we’re being honest, some launch their businesses simply to earn — and that’s not a terrible thing. As such, you can always instill a new purpose to add a spark to your brand story.
So, you’ll want to understand your product or service by asking yourself the following:
• What problems does my product or service solve?
• How has my business been making a difference in the world?
The highlights of your product or service and how it’s impacting your customers’ lives can either be added to your developing story or become its starting point.
Involve Your Customers
While you’re analyzing how your offerings are changing lives, why not go straight to the source and ask your customers? Asking customers presents you with different perspectives to deepen your storytelling in branding. You can make your customers the hero in your narrative, and you, their sidekick. Here, you want to:
• Ask select customers to share their stories with your product or service.
• Note common struggles that customers have before discovering your brand.
Making your customers the hero of your narrative makes your story even more relatable, appealing and relevant. Your customers’ stories become the hook.
Decide Your Call-to-Action (CTA)
Whether your story is to share your brand values, invite partnerships or simply inform, you must have clarity in the exact action you want your audience to take. Your CTA would also help in shaping the course of your story. Similar to any other SEO content strategy, your CTA in storytelling in branding can be the following:
• Buy a product or service
• Register for a free trial
• Subscribe to a newsletter
• Give back to your local community
Remember, a CTA is your story’s signpost to convert viewers. Without a clear CTA, your audience won’t know the next step and will likely leave without taking action.
Choose a Medium
While you can select a single medium to tell your story, for instance, a video, we recommend utilizing all mediums to share your story. Every digital storytelling medium, from blogs to podcasts, can benefit your SEO content strategy if executed cohesively. Additionally, you have the opportunity to partner with other brands or influencers for branded content to expand the reach of your story. With this, you can:
• Work with an SEO content writing services agency to ensure your story’s development, from pre- to post-production and marketing, is flawless.
• Connect with influencers that are highly relatable to your industry and audience. Your reach from branded content should lead to lucrative results.
However, it’s understandable that your chosen story medium highly depends on your budget. So, be sure to communicate this to your SEO content writing services specialist.
More Storytelling Techniques and Tips
Learning how to write a brand story is not an easy feat. As stories come in different shapes and sizes, so does the process of building a story brand differ. Before we look into a couple of brand storytelling examples, here are quick staple tips to guide you in selling your narrative:
• Stay on-brand. Although brand storytelling opens doors for creative juices to flow, remember to stay on-brand with every element you put into your story. Brand consistency conveys reliability.
• Be authentic. Get inspiration from your competitors, but don’t be boxed by them. Highlight what makes your brand stand out, from your team to offerings. Authenticity will set you apart.
• Evoke emotions. While your audience may not remember every aspect of your story, how your story made them feel stays with them for longer. Emotions are proven to help with recall.
• Employ digital storytelling tools. Knowing your options helps you work within your budget. Digital storytelling tools have features that can make production easier for your brand.
Brand Storytelling Examples
To inspire you, here are three brand storytelling examples. Both of these examples evoke emotions and incite actions from viewers; see for yourself.
GoPro
In its latest brand story, celebrating its 20 years in the business, GoPro recalls its roots. GoPro founder Nick Woodman tells an inspiring tale of how it all started for him back in 2002 and the company’s evolution 20 years later.
Whole Foods Market
The Whole Story, fitting to the supermarket’s name, shares the humbling beginnings of Whole Foods Market. The video runs over 30 minutes, sharing the founders’ feats and struggles through the years, dating back to the 1970s.
Start Crafting Your Story With Thrive
Want to produce a brand story similar to the examples above? Let Thrive help. We offer video and SEO content writing services that help you craft and tell your story. To help businesses have a more solid online presence, we incorporate local SEO and explore branded content opportunities in our approach.
Let our team help you tell your story.
