In the ever-changing and fast-moving world of digital marketing, brand storytelling carves out a niche for itself by building bridges between brands and customers. Here is A Simple Guide to Brand Storytelling and Why it’s so Important in Your Branding Stage.
In today’s digital-oriented world, people tend to feel the absence of human relations, which leads them to attach importance to sentimental elements.
According to a study in 2015 by Headstream that shows evidence of the power of storytelling. “If people really love a brand story, more than half (55%) are more likely to buy the product in the future, 44% will share the story and 15% will buy the product immediately.”
The study also explains:
“From our own experience at Headstream, we understand that marketers and consumers interpret the discipline of brand stories in different ways. There is no consistent definition of what ‘brand storytelling’ entails and no one-size-fits-all approach that brands can adopt. The only constant is that every brand, quite rightly, believes it should be doing it.“
By using brand storytelling, brands create a connection between their customers and get the chance to introduce their products. But how is that connection established and what exactly is brand storytelling?
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What Is Brand Storytelling?
While the wide usage of the term brand storytelling in the marketing industry sometimes leads to confusion, its meaning is quite simple and literal.
By using narrative, brands share their values and the important milestones of their journey with their customers. This exchange creates a connection between the brands and their customers, which strengthens the commitment between the two parties.
When executed properly, brand storytelling enhances the brands’ impact, and profit as well as their recognition. In such a crowded marketplace, brand storytelling gives brands a chance to stand out and make a memorable first impression on customers.
The Importance of Brand Storytelling
With brand storytelling, brands can share insight into their business and their products with their customers, allowing them to better understand their business and product value.
Because the market is increasingly competitive, quality and outstanding publicity will help brands connect with their audience.
Through brand storytelling, businesses use their story as a marketing strategy to connect with their customers and reach out to potential customers.
Through this connection, brands get the chance to identify their target customers and get their attention with the help of their shared values.
Substantial Factors of Brand Storytelling
In brand storytelling, there are some crucial points every brand should consider before taking any action. Outlining a few baseline facts about their businesses before beginning is a great start for brands that are new to brand storytelling.
Defining the company’s vision and history will make a remarkable start and give the customers a chance to learn about the values of the brand and its mission.
Following the history of the brand with the introduction of their products or services, brands can now describe their products or services in detail.
At this point, it is of great importance for brands to add some anecdotes and share the interactions that a product creates.
These anecdotes and the stories of the interactions can be used to reflect the difficult parts of the company’s journey, creating a sentimental bond with the customers.
Giving examples of who the brand helped with their service or product and sharing customer success stories is another significant factor of brand storytelling in terms of guiding the target audience.
Giving insight into the development and creation process of the product is also a substantial factor of storytelling that helps customers to understand the value of the product.
Finishing off, explaining the future of the product and the company in general makes a great end to the story as well as informing the customers about upcoming events and products.
Successful Brand Storytelling Examples
Spotify’s original stories can be shown as one of the most successful examples of brand storytelling, differentiating the brand from others in the most fun and customer-oriented way. By collecting data about their users’ choices, Spotify creates original content for their Insights blog and provides unique stories as well as reflecting the company’s values.
Airbnb’s animated video for New Year 2015 takes its place as another remarkable example of effective brand storytelling.
In the video, the company announced the number of travelers who chose Airbnb in 2015 and highlighted the most popular Airbnb choices. By telling the story of their company and sharing successful customer stories, Airbnb set a great example of brand storytelling.
An effective brand story creates a deep connection with the audience and creates long-term relationships with customers.
It is a perfect way to bring human values back into the marketing world as well as create important opportunities for brands.
In a digital-oriented world like this, sentimental values can go a long way and brand storytelling holds the key to successful and valued customer relationships.
FAQ
What is Brand Storytelling?
It’s a popular method of marketing that emphasizes the customer as the main character in the narrative, not the brand or the products and services. Brand storytelling taps into the basic human need to connect through storytelling.
Why is Brand Storytelling Important?
In order to establish a relationship, brand storytelling is essential as it evokes emotions in your audience and sets you apart from your competitors. Brand storytelling ensures you are memorable, which ultimately leads to devoted customers and increased sales.
What are the Elements of Brand Storytelling?
As a brand, you are responsible for five essential elements: consistency, authenticity, identifying your audience, communicating their pain points and the problems your brand solves, building a brand character, and interacting with the brands audience.
What are the three P's for creating a brand story?
We recommend defining your “3 P’s”: Purpose, Promise, and Personality, whether you’re starting out or thinking about who you are as a business and a brand.
What should a brand story include?
There are usually four parts to a brand story: its origin, mission, purpose, and its values.