8 Tips to Become a Better Brand Storyteller

What is brand storytelling?

Brand storytelling is a marketing strategy that involves using authentic narratives to connect with your audience and build genuine emotional connections. It’s more than just promoting what you sell — it’s a way to share your values, purpose and background in a way that resonates and sticks.

Michelle Gamble, an award-winning author and public relations and marketing expert, emphasized that brand storytelling isn’t about listing features or pushing ideas. “You’re creating an entire world around the concept and then putting it into a story that everyone can relate to,” Gamble explained. “People would much rather hear a story than a bullet point.”

Brand storytelling can also be the simple act of having a company mission and narrative that resonates with your audience, according to Grant Aldrich, a startup advisor and CEO of Preppy.

“Brand storytelling is important for any company but, specifically, it is critical for startups,” Aldrich noted. “Infinite sums can be sent down the drain on failed marketing and it can crush a small company’s finances. People become advocates for you because they share or genuinely love your ideology, philosophy or mission. That’s where your brand storytelling comes into play. Is your mission relatable? Does it connect your company to your audience? The better mission you have and the more authentic you are, the more your customers will want to speak about your company and help you on your journey.”

Content marketing vs. brand storytelling

Megan Bennett, president of Light Years Ahead Public Relations, stressed that brand storytelling is different from content marketing, a common strategy used on social media and other online platforms:

• Brand storytelling: Brand storytelling is a tool for creating other marketing materials; it’s almost the backbone. Most advertising or marketing efforts are usually derived from the brand story and used in intriguing ways. “Brand storytelling is the overarching strategy that imbues every aspect of your business, down to the copy on your 404 page, to the style of the newsletters you send to customers,” explained Amy Suto, CEO and co-founder of Sutoscience. “It informs every decision your brand makes, as every piece of content or decision made by the brand plays a role in the large brand story.”
• Content marketing: In contrast, content marketing is a strategy that involves creating and sharing online material your target audience will find relevant. “Content marketing is the act of creating content relevant to your brand to spread the word about your product,” Suto explained. 

Elements of a compelling brand story

A company’s brand story should include certain key factors: 

• Simple and meaningful language: Potential customers should be able to easily read and understand your brand story in all its forms. Don’t exclude your audience by using words, phrases, buzzwords or jargon that won’t authentically resonate with them. Instead, use meaningful language designed to evoke emotion and build brand intimacy.
• A mission statement: Your brand’s story should state your company’s mission. You want people to love your company and what it stands for, not just the products you sell. Ensure your company’s mission statement is easily accessible on your website. 
• Specifics: General language won’t get your brand’s story very far. For example, if you reference good customer reviews to show how highly consumers think of you, don’t say something like “many people love our products.” Instead, reference a customer’s name and specific language used in their review, such as, “This product saved me money and made my life easier.” Similarly, if your business has a sustainable business model or supports a charity, be specific about what you do and why it matters. 

How to improve your storytelling

Here’s some concrete direction, advice and best practices that can significantly improve your brand storytelling.

Talk about the struggles as much as the triumphs.

Authenticity is an essential element of successful brand storytelling. You’ll never gain your audience’s trust if you aren’t honest and direct. Current and potential customers will spot exaggerations, evasiveness or outright lies easily, and you’ll risk losing their trust and loyalty.

In contrast, admitting to your failures, discussing hardships and explaining how your company got through challenging times can promote business transparency — a crucial part of authentic marketing and customer trust. Sharing your hardships helps people relate to you and highlights excellent qualities like perseverance and grit. People want to get to know the real you, so make sure the brand stories you tell are personal and honest.

Use customer testimonials to bolster consumer confidence.

When you’re telling a story with the ultimate goal of selling your product or service, you can’t just tell people how great it is — you have to show them. Bragging is unconvincing when there’s nothing to back it up.

Instead of listing your product’s good points, reveal your brand’s most compelling aspects through real-life examples. For instance, share how people have genuinely benefited from your offering. Rather than saying, “Our product is the best,” say something like, “Our customers have shared with us that our product has drastically improved their lives,” and back it up with specific stories.

Demonstrate your value with detailed examples. Don’t just tell people how they should feel. That’s what makes you a more effective storyteller.

Determine a customer’s need and have your story solve it.

Humans seek out stories for many reasons, but they often connect to a story because it resolves a need or challenge. We know good products fulfill needs and the same goes for good stories.

Business-to-consumer companies have long been telling stories that address their customers’ needs and business-to-business companies can do it too. Identify your audience’s needs and consider how your offering can meet them. Then, craft stories around those insights. Everyone thinks about how a product will improve their life before they buy, so help them see that clearly through your storytelling.

Stay focused on the important details by removing fluff.

A good storyteller never wants to bore their audience, so don’t bog your story down with unnecessary details. Get to the point quickly so you don’t lose your audience’s attention. When writing your company history, for example, no one needs to know what time of day you thought of your big idea or how many times you changed the business’s name. If it’s not relevant to the point of your story, leave it out.

Another trick is to start your story in the middle. Many people default to telling stories in chronological order, but that often leads to too many unimportant details. Plus, all the exciting stuff usually happens in the middle — so start there and you won’t put your audience to sleep.

Use meaningful language to spark emotions from your audience.

Nobody likes a dry, play-by-play account of events; you need to inject emotion into the stories you tell. Evoking feelings in your audience makes them more likely to form a strong connection with your brand and remember you. Think about how you feel when you watch a good movie. Whether you laugh or cry, you’re immersed in the story because it makes you feel something.

Consider what emotions you want your audience to experience when they hear your story. Do you want them to feel inspired, sympathetic or empowered? Include details, information and scenarios that will encourage those emotional responses.

Test your brand’s story with honest feedback.

There’s no harm in writing a few different versions of your brand story and testing them to see which one resonates most. Businesses hold focus groups to test products and you can do the same with your messaging. Try A/B testing email subject lines or headline variations to see what gets the strongest response from your audience.

Prospect and customer feedback is often more valuable than input from business experts. What grabs an expert’s attention may be very different from what appeals to someone considering spending money on your product or service.

Incorporate your brand story in other areas.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule that says your brand story has to be a written narrative. You can tell your story in many other ways, such as through your logo, website layout, visual design and even your emails.

Part of brand storytelling is maintaining a consistent brand image across platforms. Consistency reinforces your story and helps your audience recognize and remember you.

Ask questions to understand your audience, then act on the answers.

Suto explained that developing a brand story starts with understanding your customer persona. “Who are they? What are their values? From there, it’s about creating the stance of your brand on relevant topics, such as how you source your sustainable materials,” Suto said.

At this point, the storytelling kicks in. What tone of voice do you use in your copy? How dramatic are your new product launches? Do you casually drop a whole clothing line or build hype for months through artistic Instagram posts? Your brand story should be cohesive and the more you focus on the big picture, the better you can define your narrative.

Why is brand storytelling important?

Brand storytelling helps you create positive brand associations by consistently weaving your brand’s design, content and identity into a cohesive narrative. Your business can benefit in the following ways:

• Increased brand loyalty: By injecting compelling stories into your content marketing efforts, you can connect with your audience on a deeper level. Over time, this helps build both brand recognition and customer loyalty by showing you understand and address your target audience’s pain points.
• More respect through transparency: Consumers appreciate it when businesses share information, such as how products are made and take responsibility for their actions, even when they make mistakes. The more transparent you are, the easier it becomes to earn trust, gain respect and grow your brand.
• A unique, memorable identity: Standing out in competitive markets can be difficult. Storytelling can help differentiate your brand and captivate your audience. A relatable, memorable identity makes your business more recognizable and can ultimately drive sales and growth. 
• A more positive image: Consumers want to support companies that make a difference in their local and global communities. A brand story that highlights your company’s mission, values and charitable efforts can shape a positive image in your customers’ minds and help build long-term loyalty. 

Examples of powerful brand storytelling

Here are some real-world examples of great brand storytelling. 

Warby Parker

Warby Parker states in its brand story that every idea starts with a problem — one of the central pillars of good storytelling. Identify a problem or need and show how your business solves it. In Warby Parker’s case, the problem was that glasses were too expensive. A key aspect of its business model is offering stylish, well-made frames at a lower price, along with free try-ons.

Nike

Hitting on another pillar of brand storytelling, Nike has taken a clear stance on social justice issues. Its Equality campaign aims to use people’s love of sports to motivate them to act on issues such as racism and pay inequality in sports. By donating money and encouraging people to become mentors in their community, Nike can impact generations of people, creating a powerful brand story.

More recently, its “So Win” campaign spotlighted elite female athletes and challenged societal expectations with the bold message: “Whatever you do, you can’t win. So win.” By donating funds, encouraging mentorship and championing underrepresented voices, Nike is creating a powerful brand story with the potential to impact generations.

Burt’s Bees

Burt’s Bees makes its mission clear by championing all-natural products and has also hit an emotional note by introducing Burt to its audience in a series of videos. These clips feature words of wisdom, fondly dubbed “Burtisms.” These communications help consumers connect with the brand as a whole, not just individual products.

Kimberlee Leonard contributed to this article.