Brands and individuals post thousands of content on social media every minute such that users have to filter through content to spot the interesting posts. Knowing how to tell your brand story to capture interest within seconds will help you rise above all the noise.
If you want your followers to react to your content, it has to be intriguing. One way to do that is to use storytelling — the oldest yet most effective technique for capturing people’s attention.
Let’s discuss how to create a brand story that captivates your target audience and builds a relationship that potential leads to sales.
What is Social Media Storytelling and Why is it Important?
A brand story is a well-crafted narrative that depicts the series of events that triggered your business’s formation and demonstrates how that narrative drives your mission. A well-crafted story evokes your customer’s emotions and gives them a reason to trust your brand.
An authentic brand story informs your target audience of your company’s values and purpose in an engaging, inspiring way. Some benefits of storytelling in your brand story include:
- Allows you to create meaningful connections with your target audience
- Enables you to tap into the emotions of your target audience
- Initiates a call to action
- Creates customer trust
Here is how your brand story works to enable you to achieve the above benefits.
Elements of a Great Brand Story
Your brand story has to be impactful to generate enough interest from your target audience. Incorporate the following elements in your story to create a desirable effect:
Utilize a Narrative Technique
Incorporating a narrative technique in your story creates a rich picture that captures the emotions of your target audience. Use these literary elements to narrate your story:
- Plot
- Character
- Setting
- Conflict
- Climax
- Tone
- Theme
- Imagery
Tell an Authentic Story
The brand story you share reflects who you are, how you intend to help your target audience, and what makes you different from all the other brands. All these aspects are why customers trust and build connections with your brand.
The three steps to create an authentic brand story include:
- Define your story
- Design your brand
- Craft the message
Nike develops long-term relationships with their customers by narrating stories that reflect their values and aspirations.
For example, Nike shared the “Dream Crazier’ brand story” on YouTube to remind customers of its value of advocating for equality in sports. The video shows women in the sporting space and how they overcame adversity to achieve their goals.
Make the Story Emotional
A quality brand story raises emotions and empathy from your audience persuading them to take action. It makes customers in the consideration stage understand that you are the ideal brand to help them address their unique needs.
For example, the Nike “What Will They Say About You?” campaign was a brand story about Nike’s commitment to promoting equality for women in sports. The campaign created an emotional connection with the audience by showing Arab and Muslim women athletes training and competing. This campaign aimed at triggering the Muslim and women athletes to buy Pro Hijab, a head covering designed for female Muslim athletes.
Associate the Story With Your Target Audience
Associating your brand story with one of your target audience’s unique needs establishes personal connection. It draws your audience’s interest to the target story.
How To Tell Your Brand Story
Follow these tips to deliver a brand story that stands out:
1. Organize Your Brand Story
Knowing your brand means being aware of who you are, what you do, what you care about, what you offer, what makes it unique, and why all this matters.
Define the following aspects of your brand to determine how you will tell your story:
- Define your brand heart: The core principles (mission, vision, values, purpose) your brand stands for. It shows that you are clear on what you want to achieve with your story.
- Define your brand positioning: People hold views about your brand. Start by understanding what these preexisting views are and why people hold them. Your brand positioning will influence the plot and theme of your story because you can either reinforce these views or seek to change them.
- Define your brand messaging and voice: Your story should be consistent with your previous brand voice and message.
2. Define Your Market
Identify your target audience and tailor the story to their unique needs — create a buyer persona showing their characteristics. Knowing your audience will enable you to create a story that triggers a real emotional connection with your brand.
3. Define Your Brand Story Ideas and Message
A brand story should be authentic but not necessarily a collection of business facts and features. Instead, it is a narrative that relays a specific message and triggers an emotional connection with your target audience.
Your core message should address a specific target audience’s needs and improve your brand positioning.
For example, Nike’s core brand story idea in the “Dream Crazier“ campaign is to show women’s achievements over diversity in sports. The story features Serena Williams with a simple story about pursuing your goals after having a baby.
4. Show and Tell
Imagery is one of the most influential literary devices for creating an intriguing story. You want to take your target audience on a mental journey that remains vivid in their memory.
Visual content is the future of storytelling — on average, your target audience will retain 55% more information when it’s accompanied by visual content.
91% of consumers prefer interactive and visual content over traditional, text-based, or static media. Video content alone accounts for 82% of internet traffic, making it an ideal format for marketers to disperse a narrative like a story to their target audience.
Another advantage of showing and telling is that your story becomes sharable. Visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared on social media, improving your brand story’s engagement levels.
5. Share Your Brand Story Widely and Encourage Feedback
Your brand story serves its purpose if it gets to your target audience. Perform keyword research to determine the hashtags that will make your story trend and reach a bigger audience.
Invite your audience to participate and give feedback on your brand story. For example, use polls, contests, customer questions, and customer reviews to encourage their participation and feedback.
Let Us Help You Create Your Brand Story
Do you want your brand story to trigger an immediate emotional connection with your target audience? Get in touch with us now for help crafting a brand story that your customers relate to.