Telling your Brand Story

A universal truth is that your customers do not want to feel used or taken advantage of. They do not want to handle business with just a brand name. They want to have a connection with the brand, have an understanding of what the brand is all about and be able to relate with it in the way they choose to. Humans are both rational and emotional humans. Facts and figures connect to the rational part. Humour, music, comfort, love, etc. can appeal to the emotional part of humans. An outstanding tool that can be used to connect to humans, especially the emotional part are stories.

Stories are easier to remember and they create a connection between your brand and your customers. Your brand story will differentiate you. People tend to keep coming back to do business with someone they know and have a relationship with than going round meeting new people every day. The same with your consumers; they begin to care about the brand, feel attached and feel like they are part of the big picture. Telling your brand story has no formula that works for everyone. Each brand is unique, and so are their customers. However, in order to have a true understanding and proper direction, there are certain things to take note of:

1. You must understand that telling a personal brand story is not a one-off thing. You have to build a far-reaching story, one little story or experience at a time. It is key to know that as you tell your brand story, you must let your audience connect with it. You do not tell your brand story for yourself or just because you want to push that form of content. You tell it because you want your audience to connect and feel a certain emotion or understand a certain truth. To do this, recurrence and key targeting of touch points again and again are essential.

2. You need to create objectives and follow through with them. It is only when an objective is set afore time that something can be ascertained to be successful. Setting objectives guides your story telling strategy and provides guidelines on timing and approach. An objective could be to create understanding for consumers, build trust for the brand, product or service, create and maintain a relationship with customers, differentiate the brand from competition or whatever else is fundamental to your brand.

3. Your story goes beyond just telling, it is also about doing. All the experiences your consumers have at every touch point with your brand is crucial. Everything matters including brand name, logo, packaging, delivery, maintenance services, social media, website, customer care services, etc. These experiences your consumers face encompasses what your brand believes in and stand for. That is in fact your story. Do you want your brand to stand for quality and smooth service delivery, or inappropriate packaging and irritating product? That’s up to you.

4. Understand that your story will not always be told by you. Your product testers, customers, product/service users, loyalists, etc. have something to say about your brand. Like it or not, this is part of your brand story. It could be negative or positive but this is based on their experiences with your brand and elements that represent it. Customers tend to believe reviews and comments of users more than what the brand themselves say. This is why you should ensure your brand gives the consumers a healthy experience just like it is mentioned above.

Don’t forget that your consumers care about your brand more than you may even believe. They will support you when they see you doing things they can be proud to associate themselves with. Don’t fail them, give them a good brand story.

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Written By Precious Adeyemi.

Precious Adeyemi is the Brand Storyteller and Content Creation Strategist of Fireworks.