Well to answer this question in short… Because, people care more about your culture than you think.
What exactly is brand storytelling?
Brand storytelling is the use of narratives to better engage and connect with customers and one of the best ways to build a memorable brand. Just like all other good narratives, your brand story should have a solid setting, a conflict, gripping action, and climax.
More importantly, it should have a main character or characters that your audience can truly relate to. You read that right. It may be your brand story, but the hero of your story should not be your product but the customer — it should emphasise how your brand value is the same as theirs.
So, why should you care about brand storytelling?
Brand storytelling lets you stand out in a crowded marketplace and compete on value.
Why storytelling should be a part of your brand marketing efforts
Storytelling indeed has an important role to play in your marketing efforts. As you would craftily tell stories to make a business pitch land, you can use storytelling to introduce or reintroduce your brand, as Jordan did, to your target audience in the way that you want to be perceived.
Here are five reasons storytelling is important when you’re marketing a brand.
1. Stories turn the mind into a virtual reality tool
Who needs virtual reality technology when you have an imaginative mind? Stories are like fuel to your brain in the sense that they effectively activate parts of your brain that influence your perception of what you see or hear and helps provide your personal insight on things. Come up with a story that will stick on your audience’s mind and their brains will do the rest of the job.
2. It effectively showcases your personality
Brands are often viewed by customers as just that – brands that sell products. Now, you want to break that image and set yourself apart from your competition. Storytelling gives you the perfect opportunity – a platform that allows your brand’s personality to take the center stage. It’s the perfect way to give your customers a peek of what your brand is really all about.
3. Storytelling is the opposite of aggressive advertising
Consumers are tired of aggressive advertising and those hard-selling tactics are not as effective at holding people’s attention as they once were. What works really well when it comes to customer engagement is storytelling. Of course, your story needs to be good to catch your audience’s attention in the first place. As mentioned above, your brand story needs to touch your audience and spark their emotions.
4. Great stories trigger neuro-associations
Neuro-associations are what links your thoughts with your feelings inside your brain. They shape the way you think, how you react emotionally, and how you behave in certain situations. Stories help you become vulnerable and trigger neuro-associations so you better connect with brands and products.
5. Storytelling works well with your existing social media strategies
No matter what your current strategy is for your social media marketing, you can incorporate storytelling to improve it. Social media channels are a great place for you to create a buzz around your brand with shareable stories. You can also approach brand storytelling on social media by making use of user-generated content.
For instance, you can ask your audience to share their stories (that are related to your brand, of course) and offer prizes for the best ones! You can also get your audience engaged by posting in installments.
Every brand has a story; tell yours with purpose.
The whole point of standing out and owning your story is so people can connect with you, your team, and your culture.
In short, connection leads to engagement, which leads to activation. When people are activated, they actively seek out opportunities to join in and help tell your story—through their unique expressions, which is the really exciting part. And this leads to increased business through referrals, attracting additional like-minded talent, gaining press attention, and more. Depending on your threshold for buzzwords, these activated individuals are what we marketers refer to as “net referrers” or “brand evangelists.” These guys and gals are the holy grail of marketing.
Brand storytelling allows you to create a dialogue and establish a connection. Audiences want to feel a connection to brands and the people behind the brands, but many tend to focus their content marketing on product features, and showcasing their expertise—missing an important opportunity to humanize what they’re dedicating a big chunk of their life and time to building. If you want to build a strong and loyal community,including customers, who believe in your brand and want to be a part of what you are doing, you need to get personal.
