Using Storytelling to Lift Up Every Sort of Brand
Stories are central to the human condition itself. They bind us together, connect us, and in a way that simply works better than anything else. No matter what your objective, if you choose to use storytelling to your advantage, you will reach it. This is true in both your personal life and when you bring it into the business world, and plenty of brands have long recognized the truth of this power of storytelling.
The Power of Storytelling
It can’t be denied. Stories are absolutely incredibly powerful things, with the ability to draw others in, make them feel the emotions of the story right along with you, and provide a lasting memory. As a social species with a core need to communicate, we all love stories. As a brand with a mission to move customers towards your goals, you can use the power of a good story to your benefit.
Stories Resonate with People
Stories have had a perceptible power among humans since the time of our origins, telling tales that warn others against our same mistakes and relating the story of the hunt on cave walls. With such deep roots, story has been ingrained in us as a human race and it’s never going to go away. We think in stories. Always listening out for the next story that will meet our ears, nothing resonates more than quality storytelling.
Stories Benefit Brands
Any brand that recognizes this can benefit from it. Many, such as Disney and Apple, have already been doing so. They know that the marketing that resonates the most is that which uses story to drive its messaging forward. They intentionally choose to make storytelling their strategy, and truly reap the rewards for doing so.
Through story, inspiration is unlocked and motivation can also be found. For a brand looking to reach customers and put out a message that truly resonates with them, story is what achieves this. Even more, story is what can truly drive these customers to change their path to one that aligns with a brand’s ideal consumer journey. Story is what can lift up every sort of brand.
How Your Brand Can Put Storytelling to Use
Your brand too can benefit from the use of storytelling. It isn’t hard to make stories a central factor in your marketing and see the rewards for doing so. After all, we are all, as humans, drawn to stories and may easily find ourselves to be excellent storytellers. The challenge is only taking that natural storytelling ability and using it to pull customers in and rise as a brand.
Tell the Story of Your Brand
The first important story you don’t want to neglect giving consideration to is that of your brand itself. Why you chose to go into business, how you started, and what in the history of the business has shaped the brand can all make for a great story that you’ll want your customers to hear. With brand storytelling, you can craft a narrative that propels your brand to the forefront of customer minds and forges a connection with them that will mean sales for you.
To get started telling your brand’s story, you first need to discover it yourself. Take a look back at the company history and pull out the points that will most resonate with others. You can use these to weave a compelling narrative to market to the target audience. If you tell it right, your brand can become a powerful entity all its own.
Include Stories in Your Advertising Messages
With one major story already driving you forward, you’ll still want to make sure that there are no limits to what stories can do for your marketing. Every marketing message you work to put out can certainly be amplified by saying it as a story. So, don’t just give customers a data-driven rationale for purchasing, which doesn’t really move most people to act. Actually pull them into the purchase decision with narrative-driven advertising.
It has long been known by advertisers that the way stories really resonate can be used to their advantage. Winning brands put their advertising spend into commercials that tell a story, whether it’s in showcasing events in the story of life that the product plays a part in, telling the stories of real customers, or simply using this as another avenue for sharing the brand story. Whichever story you choose to tell, never neglect to include it in the advertising plan.
Share Stories That Are Truly Engaging
Of course, for any of this to work, the stories do need to actually be good. They need to be engaging and memorable. If you can hook the audience, carry them through all the emotions you want to convey, and drive it all home while leaving the message strong in their mind, you will have it. Yes, there’s a lot that needs to be checked off, but bringing that narrative into being is not impossible. With some focus, you will be able to hone your natural storytelling skills and put them to use for your brand.
You might start by analyzing all of the various stories that have touched and resonated with you, whether they were in the pages of a book, up on a movie screen, or told to you directly by another person. The elements that enticed you and now continue to stand out long after you have heard the story are likely the same elements that would resonate with others. Focus on the essentials of storytelling in any medium to find what will also make for a good story to tell for reaching your marketing objectives.
Reap the Rewards of a Storytelling Strategy
If you find those stories you want to tell for the benefit of your brand and share them, you’ll be glad you did. When you tap into emotion as narrative allows and connect with customers in the way stories make possible, you can find real success for your business. With storytelling at the heart of your marketing strategy, your brand will find itself launched to the top.
Dmitrii Kustov is founder of Regex SEO. Currently, as Internet Marketing Director for Regex SEO, he is helping businesses and entrepreneurs grow their presence online. Due to his experience and background, he has been able to share hands-on knowledge about the following topics: Internet marketing (SEO, paid advertising, social media, content marketing, etc), statistical analytics, web development, and entrepreneurship.
