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How to develop a great brand story.
- August 18, 2023
The best marketing results start with a great brand story.
What is a brand story and why does it matter?
A brand story is the way you present your product or service to your customers. It’s the foundation for all of your marketing efforts. When done well, it can help you create a deeper and more emotional connection with your target market. But, ironically, your brand story isn’t all about you.
A great brand story doesn’t:
- Lead with your company history
- Revolve around your core values
- Take a deep dive into every product or service
- Make your company the hero
Instead, a great brand story starts with your customer’s internal and external needs and clearly, but simply, explains how your product or service will meet them.
Say your company sells kayaks. On the surface, your customer’s external need is finding a recreational product that allows them to float on the water. But if we go beyond your customer’s one-dimensional, external need, their deeper, internal need may be connecting more fully with their loved ones through shared memories…or it may be relieving day-to-day stress by being more present in nature.
The best brand stories appeal to hearts and minds by incorporating these deeper emotional needs.
Here are a few key elements to creating a great brand story:
It should include a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning introduces who the product is for and what internal and external needs or problem it solves. The middle explains what sets your brand apart (this is where those unique product or service features come in). Lastly, your story should tell your target market what to do next. Are their product brochures they can download, videos to watch, or blogs to read? Is there a special promotion they can take advantage of? What’s the next step in the customer journey?
Don’t guess on what’s important to your customers. Do your research. Conduct interviews and/or surveys and analyze the data to identify patterns and trends. Look for common characteristics or behaviors among different segments of your audience. This will help you create distinct customer personas that represent different groups within your target market.
Be authentic and unique. Your brand story should reflect the true essence of your business. Don’t try to imitate others or promise something you can’t deliver. Embrace what makes you unique and let that shine through in your storytelling.
Keep it concise and engaging. Attention spans are short. Customers want to know if and how you can solve their problem, not a long backstory about when your company was founded. Use language that’s easy to understand and keep the reader hooked from start to finish.
Remember, writing a compelling brand story takes time and effort. But if done well, it will help you create a stronger emotional connection with your audience and set you apart from the competition.