Estimated reading time: 5 minutes, 44 seconds

Are You Telling Your Brand's 'Story' the Right Way?

What do blockbuster films like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Avatar and Disney-flicks, such as Brave, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story all have in common? Here’s a hint: It’s in the powerful second word of the last movie in that list: STORY.

Beyond ambitious CGI special effects and first-rate actors, every one of those movies has a story that resonates across audiences. In the digital age, story has become a necessary and powerful component of a business or brand’s marketing strategy.

Why Story? Why Now?

Story has become such an important part of a digital and integrated marketing campaign due to the simple fact that “people are finally realizing that when it comes to selling (and marketing and branding), people buy from people they like, trust, believe, and feel like they know. That’s emotional. And data--features, benefits, and facts—cannot do that,” says Kelly Swanson, an award-winning storyteller, motivational speaker, comedian, and author who helps companies navigate how to craft all facets of a multidimensional brand story.

Story is the reason why, when we are looking for a restaurant online, we don’t just look at the menu and make a reservation anymore. We look at the reviews. Are they authentic, do they resonate with our needs for the occasion, for meal preference, for atmosphere? “Reviews are part of a story that brings facts and data to life,” Swanson says.

“People don’t buy products and services, they buy the story of what that product or service will do for them--or rather they have their own story and, if the product fits the story they want, they buy it," Swanson says. "In a competitive market, where the consumer has so many choices, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. The key is not just being heard, but being trusted. Story helps you do that.”

An important element of story is genuineness or authenticity. If the story you share does not resonate with the intended audience--if it comes across as fake--then it fails out of the gate much like those high-budget special effect films that crash at the box office.

So, what elements of story can make yours resonate with customers?

Emotion Reigns

Content is still king, but it only reigns if it makes an emotional connection with the intended audience. According to Cristin McGrath, founder and CEO of Vyzionary, a social-first marketing agency, “a story resonates when it conveys humor, affinity, shock or surprise, a sense of pride, or makes a connection to a cause.”

For brands, storytelling has to achieve a delicate balance between authenticity and the goal to sell a product or service. Marketers have a tricky path to navigate: to craft stories about the brand that aren’t about the brand.

It’s Your Story, But it Ain’t About You

Stories have to be crafted carefully for them to work. Ask any author or screenwriter—good stories aren’t hiding under rocks waiting to found. They’re deep and you’ve got to dig for them. Good stories arise out of experience. For example, what is the experience that brought the brand (its product or service) into being? Why does it exist?

And, because it’s so important, we’ll say it again: good stories aren’t even about the brand, per se. Making your brand (or yourself) the hero of the story, every time, is a mistake.

“We really don’t give a hoot about your story,” Swanson says. “We care about ours. But if your story fits ours, then we care about yours.” A company’s or a brand’s “about us” story should mention the customer—after all whatever you’re selling is intended for the customer in some way, so how does the customer fit into the story?

Swanson explains another common mistake: not giving a face to the brand. “[People] don’t just do business with products. We don’t do business with a 'system.' We do business with people. We connect with people. A story is about people and human experience. It’s important that a company has a face.”

This doesn’t mean hiring the biggest celebrity and paying them five figures to post a few #sponsored tweets. You can begin simply, such as “when a company shares the stories of the people who make up their team (not just their job titles),” Swanson explains.

For example, your CEO is a triathlete, or your Social Manager enjoys trekking National Parks. Someone else sews quilts for the homeless. Those small details shared in a genuine way send a subtle message about your team, your culture, and even your products–-and that message creates connection with customers.

Justify the Love

The best way, (as of now) for brands to capture the customer’s journey as part of the brand story is testimonial. “Testimonials [work well] because…we believe what others say about you more than what you say about you,” Swanson says.

In her business, Swanson has always tried to let her audience tell her what they need from her. So, she asks a lot of questions: How did you find me? Why did you pick me? What made you connect with me over someone else?

Brands can expand on this in the numerous ways they can learn about their customers—the people whom their business is intended to serve. What is the common problem your customers face? What are their challenges? What have they tried and why hasn’t it worked?

Swanson goes even deeper than that, genuinely and gently inquiring into her customers' psyche to understand the things “they want and wish for in life–the pains they face–and what, at their very core, do they need.”

Stories That Work

Some stories have a formula--the formula that made Lord of the Rings work also underlies modern genre stories like Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and even Brave. But these stories are not formulaic. Their themes, characters, and atmospheres resonate on different emotional levels. What’s that got to do with how you “story your brand?”

“The best way to use storytelling is to begin by studying why story works and how–its impact to do what facts can not,” Swanson explains. “Once you understand why story works (emotional context, thematic aspects) you have to show, not tell, it to your reader/customer. This means you use language that paints a vibrant, detailed picture—an experience in words—concise words."

The brand story, the customer story--for any of it to work as a business tool to connect and engage with customers--requires that marketers understand what the story has to do (it’s purpose) and why it’s relevant to the customer. Just like a bad movie or book—one that promises one experience and delivers another—your customers will know immediately if your story is trying to dupe them. 

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