Were you ever read to when you were younger, by a parent, guardian, teacher, or grandmother? The stories we heard had an impact on us, whether positive or negative. And really, the reader had an impression on us as well.
For example, my mother read me the stories of Winnie-the-Pooh before I could read on my own by the age of five and soon, I was reading my Superman pop-up book to my Kindergarten classmates. But I digress. Anyway, it was the way my mother read me the stories of Winnie, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger and Rabbit. She made the stories come alive and they were fun. She created an emotional connection for me with the imaginary bear and his friends. To this day, I still love Winnie-the-Pooh. Even more so, I learned from her the art of pulling in the listener by tone, inflection, and creativity.
Yet there were others I recall in school who were fine readers, but they couldn’t connect with us. They simply read the story, as if it was a chore. Or maybe the story wasn’t interesting to me, and I was more captivated by the sunlight pouring through the library window, creating rainbow prisms on the wall. I was easily distracted.
Even as adults, the same can happen. We are moved by stories we can relate to, that connect with us emotionally and engage us for the better. Certain companies with successful brand stories might come to mind, such as: Apple, Warby Parker, Zendesk, Canva, Dove, Patagonia, Burt’s Bees. All these companies know their audience, and they understand the impact their products have with that audience. Even more important, they know how to tell that story.
Yet, there are other companies that fail in this area. Their brand story is not relatable. It does not connect them with their audience. Whether their audience is business to business (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C), the way you tell the story makes all the difference.
What should you avoid when telling your brand story? How can you tell a compelling and engaging business brand story?
What to avoid when telling your brand story
A huge challenge companies have when telling their brand story is keeping company jargon out of the language. This typically happens when they rely on internal staff to create their story. Staff and executives are close to the company, and they speak company lingo daily. It can be hard to root out familiar phrases. And it can be difficult to extract themselves from within the organization and view it with their outside audience’s perception.
A second mistake is when companies choose to write their “stories” with technical terminology, text that is self-promotional, and focuses on the company.
Still a third area of concern is that the story does not connect emotionally with the audience as it highlights features rather than the genuine narrative.
Tell your compelling brand story
To tell a compelling story, you first need to understand your audience. If you want to connect with them emotionally, you will need to know what appeals to them.
Your story needs heart. Leave out the features and the benefits, the product ingredients, or how great your company is. Show your audience you are human. Tell them a genuine, relatable story, such as the reason why you exist, why you created your company. What was your pivotal moment? How does your journey relate to your audience’s?
And with that, keep in mind your story will vary according to your audience. Your audience includes consumers or business to business, as well as your internal staff.
Always lead with your mission and purpose in your story. That is what will hook people. If they see themselves in what you are about, they will engage with you.
Follow this with your impact and relevance to them. What are you doing that will influence and benefit your audience? What makes you someone they should care about?
Finally, skip all the jargon. No one outside your organization understands it. And while your B2B customers might, as well as your employees, that’s not storytelling. You still want your brand story to be interesting, compelling, and understandable by using everyday, simple language.
Start on the inside to cut out jargon
Earlier I mentioned that a challenge for companies telling a compelling brand story is that they create it from the inside, using their communications and marketing teams. While this is not wrong — after all, their communications staff is there for a reason — the problems often stem from people being too close to the company.
Because of the closeness, they are used to the company’s vocabulary. This spills out in their press releases, content marketing, internal communications and more. The content is dry, technical, and everything a brand story is not.
What should you do? Train your staff to tell mini stories in these communications. Teach them to think about their various audiences — what they would like to hear, how they would prefer to be spoken to — and learn to connect with them. Help them master the art of being authentic, genuine, human, and to lean on emotion rather than specialized or even generalized information.
Question for you: What are some childhood stories you fondly recall?
Whether your audience is business to business (B2B) or business to consumer (B2C), the way you tell your story makes all the difference. While some companies fail in this area, others have mastered the art of telling an engaging, successful brand story. They keep company jargon out of it. Their story is relatable to their audience because they lean on emotion and authenticity. They also focus on the company’s mission and purpose, and tell it in simple, everyday language.
Photo by Anna Shvets
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