How To Create A Compelling Brand Story
The word story can confuse marketers and business owners because it sounds a bit too creative and not focused on practical matters like dollars and cents. However, storytelling can be one of the most effective ways to boost your brand and business, because it connects with your target audience in a much more meaningful way than simply trying to sell to them.
Know your audience
Go to any bookstore or library and you will see the novels organized by genre, such as romance, mystery, horror, or westerns. Look at the non-fiction, and it will be organized via the Dewey decimal system. People tend to have strong reading preferences, so they will usually stick with one or two genres. When it comes to reading how-to books, they will usually look for ‘brands’ they recognize, that is, authors with recognizable names like Guy Kawasaki.
In the case of romance, it might be Harlequin books or Nora Roberts. It gets to the point where the books seem to have a ‘formula’ for success because they are all so similar. In a sense, this is true. Readers write reviews, so writers need to stick to those formulas or else their story will get panned and readers won’t buy it.
In the same way, knowing your niche, that is, the audience you are creating products and services for, can make your marketing more successful because you will seem to be a mind reader who really understands what they want and need.
Tell them the story they want to hear
There are two kinds of stories needed for effective marketing of your brand. The first is your own-how you got started and what your mission is. The second story is the story of their lives based on what you know of your niche. What are the main problems they have? What solutions are they trying? What are the (poor) results they are getting? And how can your brand or product change all that?
Write an exciting story with a happy ending
A good story has a beginning, middle, and end. The ending is also usually a happy one. Structuring your story in a clear, uncomplicated way, means they can follow along easily. In the case of a marketing story, think of it as problem, solution, resolution.
Telling the right stories
The best way to create stories that resonate is to actually look for real ones online. Check out blogs, discussion boards, forums, groups and social media sites. People are always talking about themselves. By searching for keywords, you can find people talking about your niche and the problems they are having. You will also see word-of-mouth marketing in the form of recommendations they might make if they had a problem and were able to solve it. Do their stories apply to your products? Re-write the stories telling about how John and Mary were able to get the results they wanted thanks to YOUR product or service.
Get your staff to help
Your staff should use your product or service or have a good understanding from working with customers about just how valuable a solution it can be. Ask them to help you write stories.
Ask your customers to help
Testimonials are stories, too. Ask your customers for before and after stories in relation to your product. Choose the best to share online.
Stories are all around us in marketing-it’s just a case of harnessing them to connect with customers and the media on a whole new level, so that doing business with you will seem like a logical choice that will get the results they are longing for. This will create a powerful media presence that will grow your brand.
Call us today to speak to one of our PR specialists: 1-800-713-7278
