Sell the Story: How to Get Started with Brand Storytelling

Sell the Story: How to Get Started with Storytelling for Your Brand

6 min read

There isn鈥檛 anyone you couldn鈥檛 love once you鈥檝e heard their story. —

Stories help us connect. Stories help us see what鈥檚 different and what鈥檚 similar between ourselves听and others. They are in our nature.

Think of one or two of your favorite brands. Those that are on your table during your family dinner, or those you trust your life听with听while driving. Most of them have a story behind them that was the ground for their philosophy.

Let鈥檚 see how you can deliver your听credo, passions, and professionalism to your potential customers with the power of the story.

Write an Authentic Story

You are at the table, holding a pen, overcoming听your听. Most probably, there鈥檚 already a story in your mind (because you know your business);听however, you might struggle with teleporting it from your head to that Google Doc.

If getting started with writing makes you feel like bumping into听a crowd of , here鈥檚 a quick tip: imagine this story is your best friend.

Tell the following in a casual manner:

Who you are
What inspired you to open your store
What your motto听is
What the main goal for your business听is

FITNIT, a sports brand for women, is a great example of how brief and convincing you can be on one and the same page.

FITNIT brand story

Ann Handley, the author of the听hilarious and super informative book , recommends to compose your first bad draft ignoring grammar, style,听and other mistakes. Just get it听on the paper. Write as long as you can. You鈥檒l fix that later.

Spread It Around Your Website

Once you have your draft story written, let鈥檚 see how to distribute around your website to make it feel听like听the One Great Idea.

Homepage punchline

With your story in front of you, have another look at your homepage.

What part expresses your philosophy best? How do you want your visitors to feel when they get to your homepage? How does your product make their lives better? Pick the most powerful words you brainstormed — that鈥檒l be your USP.

Terrapin restaurant.com unique selling proposition

Terrapin restaurant unique selling proposition

Legends for your product descriptions

Every product in your store, even a small accessory, is special. Do you have a story of creating your first item? Or the latest one? Or your favorite one? If not, make them up.

Here鈥檚 the formula: A person + an event + a way to make life better = a great product story.

“About Us” page

Coming across a small, new-born brand online, customers want to know who you are first, and then they鈥檒l get to shopping.

Put your “About Us” link where it鈥檚 easily accessed — it鈥檚 better to have it in your header, not in a 诲谤辞辫-诲辞飞苍听尘别苍耻. Mango Tree Coffee puts their story first for a reason.

Mangotreecoffee.org “About Us” page on top menu

Blogs

Your rough draft can become a source for multiple blog topics:

Behind-the-scene story:听Explain how your product is made. It doesn鈥檛 have to be a written blog,听as听video might work even better. Here鈥檚 an example from Afour x Chuck collaboration.

A story that makes you proud.听Talk about how your business helped someone on a hard day or someone who was听searching for the best suppliers in foreign countries. Your听brand name might have some story to be proud of, too. Make it a person-centric story, i.e. put yourself or your team in the center.

The story of Nell Stephenson, paleoista.com

A customer success story. This is what Nike does all the time — talking about the people, not about themselves. They show what you can achieve with their products and motivate you in every commercial.

An employee success story. Your customers are interested in who produces the product they are about to buy. This blog can also work as a lead magnet for your potential employees. If you show that you value your team and are proud of them, both customers and candidates will like you more.

Part of a Woodstock Pizza story

Fun facts. All you have left in your draft is good for some fun facts — just like CakeSafe听诲辞别蝉.

CakeSafe brand story

Every Brand Has a Story: Share Yours

We hope this blog was helpful for getting you started with using storytelling in your marketing strategy.

As soon as you get authentic, you鈥檒l need to be consistent with it: create your social media strategy, reflect your values in the newsletter, or run an event.

We hope you will have your story heard by thousands of customers.