• By michelle
• In Content Marketing, Copywriting
• Posted Aug 11, 2015

3 Brand Storytelling Questions You Need to Answer

Brand storytelling works on your behalf to create the personality, image, reputation, and success of your business. When you share your brand story in your marketing content and website copy, you highlight how you serve your clients and why you do it.

Brand storytelling, when it’s executed well, is the recipe for brand loyalty and higher conversions.

Now that you know why it’s crucial to your overall marketing message, the question is how do you know whether your story resonates effectively with prospective clients and existing ones?

Before we launch into a few simple questions that reveal whether or not your brand storytelling works, here’s an example of it in action.

Brand Storytelling: the Schwinn Example

It’s a bicycle…what’s so special about it? I mean, what could Schwinn’s marketing content reveal that we don’t already know about a product that’s been in existence since the early 19^th century?

Schwinn doesn’t sell bicycles—they sell an experience.

[Want more info on how to sell an experience on your website? Read this blog on how to create website copy that enriches your customer’s lives.]

Here’s an example of their brand storytelling content that works very well to cultivate an experience with their product.

From your first ride without training wheels to a summer cruise at the beach with your friends, the thrill of riding a bike never gets old. Many of our fondest memories are tied to experiences we’ve had on bikes, rooted in unbridled joy and carefree fun. Even if you haven’t hopped on a bike in a while, it won’t take long for the smiles and laughs to come back.

See how the copy meets the reader on his or her level and reveals how much fun it is to ride a bike?

Creating an experience for your reader, like Schwinn does, is what brand storytelling is all about.

If you know your customers well, you can easily create copy that resonates with them, but what about when it comes time to write about yourself? Ask yourself this question…

Are you sharing your story or telling it?  

If you open each page on your website with “let me tell you a story about the time I didn’t have much money, but started a small business and created a sustainable income…”

That won’t cut it.

Effective brand storytelling focuses on the reader, not on you. And you need to share how and why you help, not just what happened.

[Sorry if this is a bubble-bursting moment, but your audience wants to know what’s in it for them…and your business’ story probably coincides with that.]

As you’re crafting your brand story, think about…

• The inspiration for starting your business and the mission you hope to accomplish.

• The obstacles you and your audience go through to reach a desired goal.

• Why you want to make life easier for your clients.

• The reason your happy clients continue to work with you.

[Do you run a product-based business? We have a treat for you! Read this blog on product storytelling.]

Does your storytelling empathize with prospects?  

Your brand storytelling connects with prospects in a profound way when readers feel as if you understand their situation. Translation: your content must reflect that you know what they want, how they feel, and what they need to overcome.

If your brand storytelling demonstrates you offer an effective solution to a current problem or perceived future event they want to avoid, your product or service becomes wholly relevant.

The opposite approach is to preach at your prospects in a “mama/papa knows best” tone. This tone doesn’t work because you tell your prospects what they need, not show them that you understand what they need.

There’s a difference.

Below is an example of empathetic brand storytelling. Our team created this to show that our client, Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction, truly “gets it”:

Chances are, you’ve faced your breast cancer (or genetic diagnosis) with the heart of a warrior. You’ve faced lots of decisions and emerged victorious! Whether you were diagnosed yesterday, or had a mastectomy years ago, there’s one decision remaining: Will you have breast reconstruction, and which method is best?

We’re here to make that choice easier.

Does your story make people care about what you offer?

The bottom line is this: your brand story needs to make people care…

About you.

About what you offer.

About how you help.

When you ensure that your audience remains in the spotlight, and you show you understand what your clients need and why they need it, that’s when your brand story will make it’s greatest impact.

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