If you want to establish a personal brand that people will remember, storytelling is the most crucial quality you can have. If you want to make a difference in the lives of other people, expand the exposure of your business, and experience what it’s like to have people clamouring to work with you, then this is the opportunity for you.
The craft of storytelling entails organising a collection of life events around a certain topic, goal, or desired result in order to convey a message to an audience. It takes some time for it to mature. If you lack patience, you’re going to have a difficult time dealing with this situation. Just like running a business, learning how to construct a story takes time, effort, study, and plenty of trial and error.
The importance of storytelling in marketing and business
It has become increasingly difficult for businesses to hold an audience’s attention as a result of intense competition. Customers’ attention spans are getting shorter due to the daily exposure to hundreds of pieces of material and advertisements. We all read things with our eyes first, despite the fact that our hearts are involved. Including stories as part of your content marketing strategy is the most effective way to accomplish your goal of making customers feel a certain way.
Yes, you are correct. It is possible that the power of storytelling will assist you in increasing engagement and developing closer relationships with your customers. Instead of outlining basic features and data that are intended to elicit a sales pitch, make an effort to develop content that is value-driven and is enhanced with tales.
How to Create Stories that Shape a Brand Identity: Brand Storytelling
Recognize Your Audience
In order to generate content that converts, you first need to have an understanding of your audience and the demands that they have. Foremost things first, you need to identify your target audience. Despite the fact that you write stories that are exciting and interesting, you are unable to grab the attention of the audience that you plan to read them.
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Who exactly is your intended audience?
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What are they looking to improve their knowledge of?
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Where do the aches and pains come from?
When you’ve finished answering all of the questions, it’s time to start thinking of ideas for topics to write about and narratives that will define your brand.
Write in an uncomplicated and obvious manner
For a higher level of engagement, it is necessary to maintain clarity in your narrative and make it easy for the audience to follow. If there are fewer words in a story, it will be easier to comprehend and keep in your memory.
Avoid:
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acronyms used only in a particular language
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Repetition within more complicated sentence structures
Outline the Problem You Solve and Solution You Offer
Consider illustrious companies such as Procter & Gamble, Apple, and Microsoft. Which characteristics do they have in common? They make clients feel better while also fixing the concerns that they bring to them. Apple has radically changed the way people think about mobile phones with the release of the iPhone, which is a versatile smartphone.
Microsoft made a big contribution to the advancement of computer technology with the release of the Windows operating system. In order to lay the groundwork for a successful branding strategy, it is vital to outline the key problem that you fix and to disseminate the message through a variety of different ways.
Think of your brand as a person
Do you think of your company as if it were a person when you consider it on its own? If that is not the case, you need to start thinking about it in that manner.
Imagine the company as a living, breathing individual who upholds a set of core beliefs and philosophies. Do the same thing with your brand; explain why it exists and what you are trying to accomplish, and then think about the steps that will help you get there on your own.
On the other hand, much like people, brands have both an emotional and a logical side to them.
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Reasonable, and it must address the problems and the difficulties.
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A temperament and a manner of behaving that is emotional. Describe the ways in which it both entertains and instructs its audience. This sentimental aspect of them will be expressed both internally (inside the culture of the business) and externally (during communication with customers)
People are like brands, and brands are like people. Just like people, different brands can have vastly different personas. Consider the traits of character that best describe your company and how you would use them to describe it. Do you like to have fun and be entertaining, or are you more of a reserved person? Do you place a higher value on providing excellent items than on satisfying your customers?
As soon as you have a firm grasp on who your brand is and is not, you can move forward with the creation of marketing materials that are geared toward conveying that persona. Be sure that the manner you communicate with them creates a connection with them and gives them the idea that they are getting to know more about the person who is behind the logo.
It is important that the design of your website captures the essence of your company’s identity. When everything is tidy and polished, customers may get the impression that you are unapproachable and stiff. On the other hand, if your website is one of a kind and entertaining, you will want to communicate that impression.
Examples of Storytelling in Marketing
When a company wants to build relationships with its consumers and establish the groundwork for long-term loyalty, it tells those customers tales. Here are some examples of great narratives that may be used to establish relationships and customer loyalty to a business.
Just Do It by Nike
During the course of the Just Do It campaign, which was launched by Nike more than three decades ago and continues to this day, well-known athletes shared their experiences, including their triumphs, goals, and feelings.
The Just Do It campaign, which inspired regular consumers as well as celebrities working in the sports sector to give everything they had for their goals, received a positive and enthusiastic response from the global sports community.
The concept of overcoming obstacles and developing oneself was the driving force behind the creation of the Nike brand. Customers of this business are people who, both mentally and physically, strive to be the best versions of themselves that they can be.
For the purpose of appealing to consumers in this market, Nike incorporates narratives into their various marketing communications (videos, advertising, photos, etc.). Through the use of this strategy, Nike was able to establish relationships with customers that extended beyond the mere act of selling shoes.
Twitter and Instagram are two of the social media platforms on which Nike engages in conversation with its audience. On these platforms, users are encouraged to discuss their individual experiences, including the ways in which they have found that Nike items have assisted them in accomplishing their goals.
Think Different by Apple
As was noted earlier, Apple is a firm that ushered in a new era of innovation in the field of marketing. Their “Think Different” campaign was one of the most successful marketing methods they employed. Apple creates a compelling brand narrative by telling engaging stories and developing the brand as a whole.
“You always have to be a little peculiar to buy an Apple computer,” Steve Jobs was quoted as saying regarding the concept that served as the inspiration for this novel advertising campaign.
Martin Luther and Albert Einstein were two of the campaign’s most prominent figures.
Anyone Can Be a Star by Manchester City
Anyone Can Be a Star is an initiative that was launched by Manchester City with the goal of establishing links with fans and athletes from all over the world so that they may all take part in the club’s celebrations of its victories.
Manchester City has been running a series recognising notable players of the squad, and they recently highlighted Georgia Stanway, the player with the most goals scored by a female player. In addition to presenting her most recent accomplishments or gaming statistics, the narrative highlights how an ordinary young girl climbed to notoriety throughout the world. This message is conveyed alongside the narrative’s focus on the girl’s gaming statistics.
Readers will be able to relate to Stanway’s account of her childhood and the struggles she faced, which lends credence to Manchester City’s brand positioning, which asserts that the organisation is committed to the advancement of women’s sports, encouraging young athletes, and working to broaden access to athletic opportunities for all.
What If? by Ikea
The entertaining videos that Ikea creates are enjoyed by the audience that the company intends for them to reach. The Swedish company takes an approach to its material that emphasises demonstration rather than explanation.
The “What If” commercial does an excellent job of capturing the brand’s dedication to innovative and environmentally friendly characteristics. As part of this strategy, Ikea provides products that will make it possible for people to live in a more pleasant environment.
Conclusion
You’re probably telling yourself a story right now, and hopefully, it’s one about how to include stories into your marketing approach. Everyone, from well-established tech corporations like Apple to new businesses just getting their feet off the ground, tells themselves falsehoods.
