Storytelling is a good way for brands to connect with their customers. Today, more prominent brands use storytelling to transform their identity and improve their position on the market. More companies now understand the importance of brand narrative to the growth of their businesses.
So what is a brand narrative, and how do you build one? This article will guide you on creating a compelling brand story that will draw your target customers in.
What Is a Brand Narrative?
A brand narrative is a story that relates to your company’s values, humble beginnings, and goals. The story can be about why you started your company or the journey into how the business was founded. A brand narrative can also be about a project you did that turned into a profitable business.
The narrative is bigger than yourself and the company. It reverberates with your customers and employees, cultivating loyalty among them and creating a community behind your brand. Such a community advocates for your brand and stands behind your company, supporting your story.
Why Is Brand Narrative Important?
According to science, there is great power behind storytelling. The human brain processes stories and the emotions and feelings behind these stories. By understanding a story and how it affected the characters, humans can empathize.
Stories create an emotional connection with the characters, which, when utilized, could turn into trust and loyalty. This concept is used in brand narratives where trust and loyalty are turned into revenue by companies.
According to statistics, customers who trust your brand are twice as likely to buy your brand’s newly-released products. That’s why it’s essential to learn how to create a brand narrative unique to your business.
If you have never thought about a brand story for your company before, below is a step-by-step guide on how to build a brand narrative:
1. Start With the Reason Behind the Foundation of Your Company
When creating a brand narrative, always start with a reason why you are in that business. Why are you in the soft drinks business? What attracted you to that market?
Below are other questions that will help you create a unique story:
- Why does my company exist?
- What was the motive behind my business idea?
- What’s my company’s mission and goal?
- How does my company contribute to the world?
Think about the purpose behind your company and the story behind it. Take a step back and recall the passion you had when joining your industry. If you started the business to solve a particular problem in the market, turn that into your brand story.
No customer buys from you so that your business can make money. Most consumers purchase products out of necessity or to make their lives easier. Your job as a business owner is to ensure that your products and services touch your customers’ lives.
Your brand story could also be about any contributions your business is making to the world. If a percentage of your profits fund an NGO or a charity organization, you could turn that into a story. People want to be part of a brand community where they can see passion.
2. Understand Your Products and Services
Your products and services should also fit in your brand story. A narrative with no relationship with the product could attract an engaging fan-base with little to no sales.
You can’t sell a product if you don’t know everything about it. Ask yourself the below questions to determine how your product fits into your narrative:
- How have I priced my product?
- Does the quality match the price?
- What problems does my product solve?
- How does it make the consumer feel?
- What’s the difference between my product and my competitor’s?
There should not be a disconnect between your brand narrative and your product. For example, if your narrative is about how you started a tomato paste company in your grandma’s kitchen with fresh ingredients directly from your kitchen garden, but you sell a mass-produced version of the initial paste, your story and your product don’t match. If your company’s story and the current product crash, the consumers will have a problem with your brand.
3. Understand Your Target Audience
Before creating a story, you must know your audience. Knowing who you’re talking to is an essential aspect of creating a brand narrative. Knowing their frustrations, passions, and pain points will help to curve the story to fit their day-to-day lives.
Below are four questions you should ask yourself to better understand your audience:
- Who is this product made for?
- Who are my current customers?
- What do my customers like about my product?
- What happens if the consumer does not purchase my product?
Narrowing down your target customer can be a nerve-wracking process. However, it helps you create a brand narrative that resonates with your ideal customers. Most new business owners try to make a product that pleases all customers instead of sticking to their target consumer.
You can’t be everything to everyone. Targeting all consumers leads to a low customer satisfaction rate and can turn off ideal customers.
If you have a problem trying to appease all customers, start by writing down your values. Think about all the values your ideal consumer would resonate with. Most consumers prefer purchasing from brands with values and a good backstory.
4. Keep It Simple
One of the greatest tips for creating a brand narrative is keeping it simple. Make your story a continuing narrative and not a conclusion. The story should also insight emotions in consumers.
If you can’t communicate your brand narrative in one sentence, you have failed to create a good story. Big brands have straightforward but clear brand stories at their core.
A one-sentence brand narrative can fit on your product’s packaging, making marketing an easier process. Today, packaging design companies have helped thousands of brands communicate their core values and missions to consumers through their products.
Use Your Brand Narrative to Build the Business
After creating a brand narrative, now it’s time to let it build your business. However, it can be challenging to craft a brand story that stands out from the competition and resonates with your employees and customers.
Ensure you communicate your company’s mission and maintain authenticity to capture your target audience’s attention. Use the above tips to help you craft the right story for your brand.
