Why storytelling is important for your brand
Storytelling has been around since the time of campfires and caves; it is an age-old ritual. As children, we learned through being told bedtime stories and listening to the stories our family told.
In my opinion, the ability to tell a compelling story is one of the best bits of marketing arsenal your business can be equipped with.
Take the Catholic Church, for example, boy did they know how to tell a good story! Once they coupled that with a simple yet meaningful logo; the cross, and a communications strategy, they had set themselves up as the most compelling and recognisable brand of all time. If you don’t believe in the power of advertising just look where it took them.
Geoffrey Berwind author of Storytelling Success told Rodger Dean Duncan in an interview for Forbes, that he believes because we learned storytelling when we were young, that when leaders use storytelling it brings their audiences back to a natural state of primal listening. He says those who use storytelling to convey a message can deeply affect their audience.
A good brand can arouse feelings in their consumer and these feelings are controlled by the story that the brand tells. Advertising has the power to shape and change these feelings where needed.
Take Apple for instance. Apple was not always at the forefront of technology, but now they are seen as an innovator and pioneer in the technology field. The brand inspires a feeling of belonging and connectivity.
‘If you don’t have an iPhone, well, you don’t have an iPhone.’
Apple is a brand that has successfully inspired a movement. In his TEDx talk: Start with why - how great leaders inspire action Simon Sinek explains that this is because they know their ‘why.’ He explains that when Apple communicates with consumers they begin their story with their ‘why,’ rather than the ‘how’ or the ‘what’ as their competitors have.
Airbnb is a great example of a business with a compelling back story, who is using their ‘why’ in communications. Airbnb’s marketing says ‘we are a community. We are accepting. We are freedom. We are explorers.’
The compelling back story of the Airbnb brand compliments this. In 2007, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia needed to find money to make the rent in San Francisco. There was a conference in town, and all the hotels were booked, so they decided to rent out air mattresses in their apartment to attendees. Just a few years on from this they had created the hotel, and online booking disrupter: Airbnb
With a third co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk, at the time of writing this Airbnb has a value of 113 billion, which is higher than that of the Hilton.
Airbnb not only found a gap in the market and filled it, but they also have an engaging story and know their why.
Find your why
So, let’s take a moment to find your why.
Why is it that you do what you do?
What is your passion, or purpose?
Every brand should have a why. If you are an influencer and your brand is you, you should also have a why and stand for something.
Brand management
Your brand encompasses what you stand for, it is the quickest way you can communicate to potential customers.
Once you have built a successful brand, just seeing the logo, or hearing the name of the public figure, will incite the consumer to feel something. Brand management is how you ensure those feelings are positive.
Brand management is something ongoing that business owners or public figures need to be consistently aware of. What this means is maintaining consistency around your values, and always promoting a positive image to your customers.
For example, if you decide that you want to promote healthy living as your Instagram niche, then you post a story doing shots at the club, followed by you eating Mcdonalds at the end of the night your brand could be damaged.
Brand management means maintaining every aspect of the ecosystem which tells your story to reflect a consistent message, this includes the visual representations, product packaging, customer satisfaction, social media, public appearances, and marketing.
If you are doing your own public relations, you need to be always aware that your ad copy, partnerships, personal image, or staff are not coming in conflict with your brand or the story you want to tell.
Find your story
Stories give us the ability to connect with our listeners powerfully and persuasively.
When a marketer uses storytelling it is easier to ignite the audience's emotions and is known to provide higher brand recall.
Let’s put this into perspective by using Tinder as an example. The man’s profile you are hovering over, deciding to swipe left or right, is neither great looking nor unattractive.
He looks like a down to earth Kiwi bloke with sandy stubble and a khaki anorak. His bio says: ‘I’m Mick. I like fishing and my dog.’
You decide to swipe left for no.
Now imagine the same man, this time his bio says:
‘I’m Mick. When I was 20 years old, I suffered a head injury surfing. I was told I would not recover. With persistence and a bit of luck, I beat those odds. Now I spend every day living life to the full. I run my own businesses, but in my downtime, I like to go fishing with my dog.’
Suddenly swiping right for old Mick is seeming much more enticing. Mick has used the art of storytelling to convince you that he is worth meeting. Like Mick, you can do this with your social profile, or your brand.
Using your 'why' in marketing allows the consumer to develop an emotional connection with your brand. That is why knowing your brand story and your niche is so important.
Make sure you match your story to the tone of your brand. Ie. If you are a wealth management fund your story may be more serious and informative, whereas a yoga instructor might tell an emotional tale of what yoga means to her and what it helped her overcome.
Make it emotional, even if you are in a professional or serious niche like wealth management or accounting. Everyone loves a good business start-up tale!
Finally, as mentioned before, keep it simple and compelling. Make it the kind of tale people want to share with others, like the story of the Airbnb boys.
Activity! Let’s take a moment to find your narrative and keep it simple.
Take out a piece of paper and a pen and brainstorm the following:
What is my why?
What is my brand story?
What is my point of difference?
Why am I newsworthy?
What problem am I solving?
Where did I begin, and what do I see in the future?
These are some probing questions that you can use to brainstorm your brand story.
Once you have your notes try putting them together into a narrative.
Try and formulate a concise tale that has an introduction, a middle, and an end.
When you have found your story, imagine you are sitting around a campfire with some fellow campers. There is no technology or reception available so everybody is swapping stories. Now pretend that you have just told the other campers your brand story. Think about whether they would find it engaging. Did it evoke their emotions? Was it simple enough that they didn’t get bored? And most importantly, is it a story that they would want to pass onto others?
Once you have found your story, look at your competitors’ stories. Think about what you are doing that’s better and different, and then think about creative ways to let your consumers know.
Think about what you or your brand is doing that’s newsworthy, or how you could tell a powerful story to make it thus. Then be your public relations agent and take this information to as many media outlets as possible.
Storytelling has been around as long as humans have, it’s ingrained in us. Cavemen painted stories on the walls of caves, Egyptians used Hieroglyphics, the Catholic church used the bible, and today good stories can start worldwide phenomena, take Harry Potter or Game of Thrones as an example.
When you create your brand story the power to start a movement and establish a tale that can be retold over and over again is in your hands.
Modern technology has enhanced this and enables brands to be consistently telling stories. You may have one powerful overarching story, but you can feed smaller stories into this daily, and you have a surplus of communication means at your disposal.
Whether you are filling out the ‘about me’ section on your website, or talking to the media, or compiling a series of videos to make up your Instagram story the fundaments of good storytelling remain the same.
Keep it simple, make it emotional, and make it something people want to pass on.
