People love stories — and customers aren’t an exception. For this reason, a lot of brands today are taking on the role of storytellers to reach out to their target audience. The only problem is, there’s an abundance of narratives out there, thanks to competitors and other industry players. The goal then now for any business is to cut through the noise and let their brand be heard. How exactly do you do that? By telling better stories than the rest. Here are specific strategies to help you:
Create a hero for your brand.
Every story has a protagonist. And what makes narratives compelling are the characters people can relate to. Just think about the superheroes and fairytale princesses you’ve followed since your childhood years. You look up to them not merely because of their intrinsic beauty or powers, but more so on their ability to rise above their situations. The nerd, limpy Peter Parker saving the world in the form of Spiderman. The poor chimney sweeper Cinderella marrying the most handsome prince in the land. This is the most important lesson in profiling your brand’s character: fill it up with pain points and aspirations — similar to your target audience. This way, you can easily bring your brand hero closer to your market, even before you tell your story. This humanizes your company, giving it a recognizable, relatable face. So, before drawing up your hero, ask yourself, ‘what are the biggest frustrations and hopes of my target audience?’ Refer to your customer profiles and market research for accurate insights.
Spark emotions.
It’s easier to convince people about something when you’re able to tug at their emotions. That’s why every brand story you tell should trigger sentiments, which largely hinge on the voice and image of your brand. For instance, if your brand leans into a more playful personality, like in the case of most cosmetics or fast food joints, then joy and surprise should be your primary target emotions. If your identity, on the other hand, takes on a more serious stance, say in the case of automobile products, perhaps fear can be used to a certain extent. Align the emotions that you inject in your story with your brand’s persona. From there, use different media and platforms to spark emotions. Use photos and videos. Put them in billboards, social media networks, in video series, or chatbots. If you’re still starting in business, and aren’t too familiar with various types and hosts of content, you can have an outsourced marketing agency handling these efforts.
Build conflict and resolution.
Stories become more interesting when there’s a conflict. The hero of your brand has intrinsic conflicts, as mentioned above, but there must be other factors beyond your character that should be injected in your brand story for it to become more compelling. Take for example those hilarious poop commercials. Those stories get more convincing and interesting not just because the main character experiences ‘bodily struggles’ themselves, but also because they’re in a situation where heeding Mother Nature’s call is embarrassing, say, they’re in the middle of a date or they’re in the office. The plot thickens as the conflict grows, in other words. Once you achieve that, your resolution, the introduction of your product, will then be seamlessly weaved into your story.
Better Brand Stories
How are you rising above the many conversations about different brands in your industry? If you want to be heard, it’s simple: tell better stories.
