Stories have made the world go round since the beginning of time. They help us to connect with those around us, build emotions and empathize. To truly engage your audience in business, it is important that you are able to craft creative brand stories through your design and marketing strategies. This goes far beyond sales-driven content. This is about delving into the subconscious of consumers and leaving your mark.
The shift towards brand storytelling has been taking place across the board for both B2B and B2C markets, largely driven by the fact that the digital world is requiring brands to use increased creativity to fight for attention amongst the noise.
Brands are also waking up to the fact that customers are human beings that buy on emotion. Putting the sale second doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t happen. In fact, it can increase the chances of broadening your audience and gaining sales leads.
The art of brand storytelling is about finding a way of resonating with your audience. If you can’t or aren’t doing this, then you have to ask yourself what it is that you’re trying to achieve. Without a valuable and cohesive story, you will be failing to reach out to your audience and could be impacting upon your potential success.
It’s important that you are showing your audience why you are in business and what the inspirations are behind your product or services. Additionally, it is valuable to show them that your brand is a living, breathing company being run by real people who can help when problems arise or share in positive stories being shared. It takes skill and creativity to do this well, along with a deep understanding of what your customer is looking for.
A powerful brand story can also help your staff get behind your company, and build in their loyalty. When they feel strongly about what they’re doing and why, and they understand the motivations, this will help them work more productively and cohesively. It will help them sell your story to customers. This can help you get better results in both the short-term and the long-run.
Key things to consider
One of the most crucial aspects of brand storytelling is putting what you’re doing into some kind of context for your audience. They need to understand how your brand is positioned within the marketplace, and how it compares to other similar companies that they’re familiar with.
This includes things such as what the company culture is, who the key characters are, what the motivations are, and what sort of environment you’re operating in.
Innocent drinks are particularly great at crafting a brand story in which their company culture is very tongue-in-cheek, creative and fun. They often tap into topical events to share their ethos and inadvertently talk about their products. Virgin are also particularly good at crafting out their brand story, with much of it built around Richard Branson – but also with their witty one-liners and puns.
When thinking about the context of your brand story, it is important to consider who you are and what defines you. Similarly, where are you headed, and what do you believe in? Who or what is part of your vision, and how does this affect your brand? What is your place in the world?
It’s also important to think about the problems that your customer faces. In their world, and in your brand story, you need to be the hero against the struggles they’re dealing with. For it to resonate with them, you need to have a clear understanding of what these issues are.
This will come through listening to customers and gathering anecdotes, reading their reviews, and checking forums or social media. It will require you to understand how they have arrived at this impression, and what they want to see changed. Through story-telling and connecting to these emotions (negative and positive), you are in a position to start changing people’s perceptions and gain their interest in what you do.
Finally, it’s important that your brand storytelling helps your customers see how you are the answer they’ve been looking for. Your narrative needs to be strong, clear and decisive, showing how you offer an experience, service or product that no one else does, and why you are the company to buy from. It requires you to stand out from the crowd and distinguish yourself from any competitors. This is the final chapter of your story, so it needs to feel like a grand finale.
If you need assistance in giving your business the attention it deserves with thought provoking branding and want to tell the world about your brand through the use of creative storytelling then our graphic designers will provide you with innovation, creativity, boldness and quality. Take a browse through my portfolio for inspiration http://thecardiffgraphicdesigner.co.uk
