Creating A Brand Story
Written by our intern Lindsey Polak
The real key to social media marketing is storytelling. This is how you can truly set yourself apart from the rest and connect with online audiences. Developing an interesting brand narrative for social media requires knowing your purpose and finding a unique way to express it.
Let’s get into a few different ways that you can create a brand story to connect with your audience.
Clarify the reason for your brand's existence
Identify the core values. What does your brand represent? Describe your goals, aspirations, and beliefs.
Know your “Why”! What was the reason you started your brand? What’s a problem that you’re offering to solve? People don’t care about what you’re selling, they care about why you’re selling it.
Understand who you are writing for
Determine Your Target Audience. Who are the people you are trying to reach? What do they like, what bothers them, and what is important to them?
Empathy Mapping involves figuring out what your audience is interested in and finding ways for your brand to form an emotional connection with them.
Create your brand narrative
Craft an interesting introduction that quickly grabs the reader’s interest. This might be a story about yourself, valuable information, or a bold statement.
Introduce the important people or elements that make your brand special, like founders, customers, or the community.
Discuss problems your brand has had and how you overcame them. This helps to build authenticity and makes your brand easy to connect with. Everyone loves a good underdog story!
Highlight the importance of values and the impact they make
Demonstrate your values in action. Show how your brand represents its values with specific examples. Show the audience how your brand has made a positive difference in the lives of customers or the community by sharing stories where your brand has made an impact.
Add pictures, graphs, or charts to your channel
Utilize images! Connect your story with top-notch pictures that show what your brand is all about. This helps retain the audience’s attention and adds more value to what you’re saying.
Make sure that your tone writing style and colors match your brand's image all the time.
Connect with Your Audience
Connect with the people you are talking to. Use call to action: encourage your audience to interact with your brand by leaving comments, sharing posts, or tagging their friends.
Encourage customers to share their experiences with your brand to build a community feeling.
Test, and test… and Try Again
Track how your audience reacts to your brand story by using analytics.
Be willing to listen to criticism. Adjust your narrative based on how your audience reacts and the suggestions they give you.
Be true to your brand
Stay true to yourself… Being authentic is vital! Your readers can tell when a story seems unnatural or not genuine. People love realness and someone they can relate to or connect with in some capacity.
Remain loyal to your branding. Make sure your story matches and is consistent with your brand’s main beliefs and communication style.
To summarize, here’s a simplified, six step checklist you can follow:
Begin with an enticing hook or ask a thought-provoking question.
Share a short story about how your brand started.
Clearly define what your brand represents; your mission.
Talk about any obstacles you have successfully overcome.
Showcase successful projects or customer experiences.
Encourage your audience to get involved or tell their own stories.
Your brand story will continue to grow and change as time goes on. Make sure to keep it up to date with any new changes, projects, or success stories from customers. By keeping in touch with your followers and being authentic, you can build a solid group of brand supporters and loyal customers. Consistency is key!