For those keeping up with content marketing trends, storytelling has been a huge one as of late. And while you may have heard why you should be using storytelling in your content marketing, you may still be wondering how to incorporate storytelling into your marketing or where these stories should come from in the first place.
Here, we cover the who, what and where of finding your brand story and provide plenty of examples to spark your imagination. Check out these five places to get started:
Capitalize on thought leaders, big-name clients and anyone else who can talk about using your product or service. Then, get them to not only talk about your brand, but their experiences leading up to interacting with it, how they started using your product and how it has affected their lives since. Put the spotlight on your customers for an authentic story.
Example: From Broadway to real estate, NewYork.com fancies itself your source for everything NYC. While there are several other resources available, this new site stands out from the crowd by creating and publishing its “New York Moment” video series. Each vignette shares the personal story of a celebrity, artist or resident reflecting on a favorite New York Moment. The diverse videos add up to one complete story, marking NewYork.com as every resident’s and tourist’s new favorite city guide.
Look beyond your ideal target audience and think about who else your products or services are affecting. They may have a whole different perspective about your offerings, and this may be the key to convincing your actual target audience they should work with you.
Example: Check out how Holiday Inn Resorts® hotels worked its way around adult patrons and—in a truly genius move—used kids to convince parents to choose Holiday Inn hotels for family vacations. The Kid Classified survey showed that 97 percent of kids feel they deserve a vacation. Even more believe their parents deserve one, too. The survey also revealed almost nine-in-ten parents said—here’s the kicker—their kids' preferences are influential when choosing a vacation destination. Nice work telling an influential story, Holiday Inn. (Bonus points for the fun infographic!)
This should be a given, but don’t be shy about telling the story of how your business came to be. However, beware of boring tales. Talk about the goals and mission of your company, how your products and services make the lives of your customers easier, as well as any struggles overcome on the journey to the brand you are today.
Example: The Honest Co. does a good job of sharing its story, making it personal and relevant all in just a few short paragraphs.
If you are not talking about your charitable endeavors, ask yourself, “Why not?” While you may not want to appear as though you are patting yourself on the back, if done correctly, you can simply attract attention to the good cause instead of saying, “Hey, look at us!”
Example: Crayola, for example, launched “COLORCYCLE” in August, which transforms used markers directly into clean energy. The mega-brand uses a video and simple yet fun graphics to describe the process, as well as Crayola’s overall mission for sustainability.
Remember, content and stories do not always have to be in text form. Demo videos, SlideShares with highly usable information and even interactive apps are great places to share your brand story. If you can make your customers’ lives easier with your story, don’t hesitate to start sharing it!
Example: The drugstore chain CVS has created the Pharmacy On the Go app, which helps customers navigate the world of medication. Not only can they refill prescriptions, but they can also transfer prescriptions, set up alerts and identify medications in cases of uncertainty. A new feature, the Drug Interaction Checker, scans over-the-counter product bar codes to check for possible interactions. While this may be more function than story, it certainly communicates CVS’s mission to better the lives of its customers.
Check out how Content Specialist Lisa Gulasy told the story of her first year at Kuno Creative here.
While these consisted mostly of B2C brands, plenty of B2B brands are getting it right, too. Opportunities to tell your brand story are waiting to be discovered every day. Don’t limit your sources or your channels. How have you shared your brand story? Share the details with us now in the comment section below.
photo credit: wadem
