Storytelling is about building the relationship between a business and their audience. Before talking about storytelling and how it attracts consumers, at the risk of sounding like a preachy lecturer, we must begin by defining what a brand is.
The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or any combination of them that identifies and sets apart a company/product/service/business entity”. However, every PR practitioner, adman, and marketer worth his salt knows that these string of words are just stand-ins; shadows on the cave wall that try their darndest, but ultimately fail. Because, really, the brand is anything and everything a company/product/service/business stood, stands, and will ever stand for.
When you think about a company, you don’t just think about your last experience when interacting with them nor the best/worst product they ever had. Instead, you think about how, as a whole, the company makes you feel. That is the brand.
It’s not about the PR stunts or PR disasters. It’s not about the best ads of that company nor the blog post that their website posted early this morning. It’s not even the product or service they sell. It’s everything all at once, all happening at the back of your mind when you see the logo or something that reminds you of that company. It’s the very soul of a lifeless entity that your audience tries to make sense of. Because if it’s not that, then it would all just boil down to the bare essentials like “Who has the best product?” and “Can I afford it?”.
That’s why storytelling is the most effective way to sell your company. Storytelling is about showcasing facets of your brand that your audience can resonate with. It’s not just the utils of your business, it’s also the values that your business reflects.
The consumers that buy your company’s products and services are often the ones that see that value in your brand. In a way, their stories with your brand show the value they see in it and legitimises your business to the people around them. Storytelling is about generating content that comes from both the company and their consumers. By curating those content, you create an image of your brand. Therefore, your storytelling should always involve and interact with your audience, otherwise what’s the point?
That leads to the next point: Effective storytelling should not prefer a specific medium. In fact, focusing on a medium handicaps your business. In showcasing your brand, a multidimensional and dynamic approach covers more ground, both in the sense of coverage and in the sense of exposing more layers of your brand.
Choose and match suitable media for your story. Use a combination of your website, blog, the social media, TV, radio, and print media. How do you tell your story? Produce content that resonates with your consumers.
Be it your consumer’s needs, wants, and interests, create content that your company can genuinely get behind. Storytelling is about showcasing your brand. Your company can’t and shouldn’t pretend to be something that it’s not. Decent storytelling also avoids talking about the business’ product itself. In this age of media saturation, talking directly about your product makes it more likely for your audience to categorise your message as background noise.
Good storytelling is about creating connections with your audience. In a way, it’s a technique that humanises your brand by forgetting about the metrics, sales, and everything that businesses often focus on. By creating real connections, your business stops being just a commodity and becomes a part of your consumer’s daily lives.
Need help in telling your business’ story? Schedule a free consultation with our team of experts and find out how we can help you.
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