If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that the value of human connection can’t be underestimated.
Regardless of organisation size, industry, price point or purpose, customers place significant value on organisations that understand their needs and share their beliefs. But how do you communicate this effectively, and most importantly, authentically? the answer is brand storytelling.
Understanding your customer and having a strong brand story they can relate to is the best way to differentiate your product or service in a crowded market.
In this article, we break down the importance of brand storytelling and how you can implement a brand narrative that resonates with your customers to give you the competitive advantage.
What is Brand Storytelling?
Brand storytelling is the cohesive narrative that combines the facts and emotions that your brand evokes. Rather than just giving your customers reasons why they should buy a product or service, brand storytelling requires businesses to start sharing the story behind their brand, why it exists, and why this matters, consistently and authentically.
Basically, “at its core, brand storytelling establishes emotional connections with people based on the values you share with them and their needs, desires and aspirations. Innovative brand stories convey empathy, create experiences and demand urgency.”
In today’s fast-paced, overly-automated, and digitally-driven society, the human element is becoming the new premium, especially when dealing with large organisations and brands.
Businesses need to connect with audiences and engage with them on a much deeper level than before. That’s where brand storytelling comes in. By connecting with audiences through shared purpose, values and beliefs, brands can create a relationship that extends beyond the transaction. Essentially, it is the opportunity to turn customers into advocates and foster ongoing brand loyalty.
Along with creating a consistent and authentic brand experience for customers, there are commercial benefits to telling a brand story:
- Brand storytelling throughout a content marketing strategy can increase the value of a service or product by more than 20%.
- Customers are 71% more likely to return to and recommend a brand with whom they have an emotional connection.
- 79% Of consumers want brands to be more genuine
How to tell your brand story
There are a number of non-negotiable elements in creating a brand narrative that will resonate with your customers. Instead of being spoken at, audiences need to feel like brands have a genuine understanding of their wants and needs and how to solve them. A successful and customer-centric brand story must address the following:
Establish your purpose – understanding why your brand exists is the key element in communicating your brand story. If you’re unsure where to begin, start with the why, what and how
- WHY does your brand exist? What drives it forward?
- WHAT are you passionate about and how does this come to life through your business?
- HOW are you different from the competition? What is it about your brand that aligns with the values of your customers?
Understanding your audience – knowing the wants, needs and pain points of your customer is crucial to telling your story. An organisation that speaks only about themselves is an immediate turn off for the increasingly sceptical consumer. Take the time to do research; you may find that the audience you think you are targeting is not suitable, not responsive or not the key group you should be focusing on..
Questions to answer: What are their needs? Why have they come to you in the first place?
Acknowledging their needs – driven by their need for trust and understanding, customers are avoiding ‘Interruption Marketing’. In fact, research shows that 3 out of 4 people will actively avoid traditional advertising that is designed to talk at them, instead of to them. By incorporating ‘engagement marketing’ (brand storytelling), you can connect with your customers on their level, putting them at the heart of your communications.
Questions to answer: How can you make your audience feel validated and understood?
Authenticity and consistency – Authenticity is arguably the most important element of your brand story. It is the clear articulation of the organisation beyond the service; what is your purpose, your ‘why’, your core values, your history? If your brand comes across as tokenistic or inauthentic, your customers will switch off immediately. Avoid jumping on trends if they don’t resonate with your brand and ensure your marketing and communication is consistent.
Questions to answer: Why should they engage you? How do they know you care about the outcome?
How we can help
With experience in communicating the brand stories for a wide range of organisations across the world, we can help you to develop and share yours. It can be challenging to identify the essential elements that make your brand unique, let alone implementing them into a compelling brand story, so let us help you discover, embrace and craft your story.
