A guide to using brand storytelling techniques for your business

brand storytelling

From my experience, the easiest way – or perhaps the best way – to tug at someone’s pocket is not through selling but through brand storytelling. If you’ve never used storytelling before, here’s how to get started.

By the end of this article, you should be able to quickly switch from being salesy to telling some good brand stories that could help you attract more customers. Once you get started, you’ll naturally adopt these techniques in your day-to-day activities, including networking events.

If I want to talk about my services with someone at a sundowner, I don’t only focus on what I do, how many businesses I’ve helped or the benefits of copywriting. I mention how clients have benefited from my copywriting services. That’s what really raise the eyebrows. I turn my pitch into a soft story. In this same way, you can use brand storytelling techniques to write about your products and services, what you do and why you do it.

Yes, people want to read or hear about it from those who have purchased from you, but they also want to hear about it right from the horse’s mouth (you). People also lack patience and will quickly switch off if a conversation or content is boring. Formal reporting bores people. Stories don’t (except poorly written stories!). That’s why I recommend using a brand storytelling style.

But how do you switch from reporting to storytelling? It’s not as hard as you think. And, if you do it often enough, you’ll master the new storytelling skills before you know it.

Quick tips for switching from reporting to brand storytelling

I’ve put together a quick guide to help you think like the brand storyteller you want to become. They are the basics, but if you’d like more storytelling writing tips, follow me via email to start receiving free resources.

Write about your customers

This is all about case studies to help you tell prospective customers about the amazing things you’re doing and your success. They want to know how you have solved  problems for others or how you’ve improved their lives. The more creative your brand storytelling techniques, the more interesting your story, and the more your reader or customer would want to come back for more.

Do be careful to not mistake bragging for interesting! Some readers might switch off as soon as you start bragging or making it too much about you.

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Look to your existing or past customers for stories on:

  • How they found you and put their trust in you
  • How you solved their specific problems
  • The different things you did together to come up with a solution
  • How you both knew what worked when it finally did

Don’t forget to include the customer’s written testimonial or filmed interview if you have any. If you offer multiple solutions, you’re able to pick and write about a different solution each time.

Write about interesting people from your business

Prospective customers like to read about the people behind your brand. Think about what customers say about you or the employees who solve their problems.

What makes each individual stand out? How do you or your employees make your brand rise above the competition? It’s probably something about their personality, the weird things they do or say, their looks or styles and anything else that makes people talk about them. What do they do to make customers give positive feedback?

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Pick someone from the team you could write about:

  • Why do you and/or other people like this person?
  • Why do you enjoy working with them?
  • Why do you believe your business can’t survive without them?
  • What is it about them that makes you want to keep them forever?

These traits make good storytelling angles for your business blog, annual reports and newsletters. Give people more insights into the ‘humans’ behind the scene so they can connect with your brand.

Write about the problems you’re solving

If you can turn any mundane task into an interesting story, knock yourself out! That’s one of the best storytelling techniques to develop! Mundane doesn’t need to mean bore your readers to death. Just make it sound unusual enough to grab their attention.

What would you write about if I were to ask you to “discuss photocopying”? How do you make the story about your business (regardless of the type of business you’re in – e.g. gardening, retail or hotel) and how do you turn it into a good story? What would you write about?

I know I could write about how I turned my client’s booklets into electronic books so that they don’t need to photocopy booklets to handout to their clients. They can easily email them a PDF version of each booklet and let them print out their own copies. Or I could write a piece about why I spent $220 on an all-in-one office printer. It has saved me $500 so far on photocopies ($0.25 per page at my local library).

So how can you take a mundane task from within your business and deliver the unexpected story?

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Think about the solution you’re providing for people and then talk about how you do it:

  • Have you ever stuffed up? What happened? How did you fix the issue?
  • How does your solution benefit your customers?
  • How do you deliver this solution?
  • What do you do to make sure your business always delivers?
  • Do you have a Facebook page? Have customers contact you through it?

Very few business people think they have something incredibly awesome to write about when discussing their solutions. Everyone has moments where they felt great or bad about their own business and what they’re doing. Perhaps even at times felt powerless and helpless because they couldn’t solve someone’s problems.

Search deep down and bring out some of the emotions that help you connect with your readers through brand storytelling. This way they can imagine how you or your customers must have felt.

This type of storytelling is especially important for business owners finding it almost impossible to interact with people offline. Perhaps even online retailers who don’t have a brick-and-mortar store. All they can do is find the personal and emotional connections to try to make the problem more ‘realistic’!

Need help with your writing?

I have more brand storytelling techniques and tips I could tell you about to help improve your business stories. Do sign up below to receive my FREE copywriting checklist and tips straight into your inbox. If you would like some help writing or rewriting content for your business, call me on 0416 513 843 today.

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