Get Started with Brand Storytelling

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Define brand storytelling.
  
• Explain why storytelling is important for content marketers.
  
• Learn how to effectively use storytelling elements.
  

People Connect with Stories, Not Products

Think about the last piece of content you absorbed. Whether it was an article, a book, a TV show, a movie, or a podcast—what captivated your attention and kept you engaged? For a written piece of content, the first sentence is usually what captivates the reader. For a show or a movie, it’s usually the first scene that keeps the audience on the edge of their seat, waiting to see what happens next. It’s the great storytelling within that first sentence or first scene that motivates you to continue reading or watching. But it doesn’t end there. Great content continues with drama, compelling characters, and problem solving that grips the audience’s attention.

Storytelling is what makes or breaks a piece of content, and it is the heart of content marketing. Many mistake the goal of content marketing for selling products. It’s less about selling products, and more about sharing stories that will inspire and empower your audience. Tying in a company’s vision and values is also what makes your audience feel a shared sense of connection to an organization’s brand. 

In an interview with Forbes, cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner suggests wrapping a fact in a story makes you 22 times more likely to remember it. The Content Marketing Institute backs this up by explaining how stories cause our brains to light up, which triggers us to retain more of the information we’re receiving.  

Stories give an organization’s brand a voice to captivate their audience and set them apart from the competition. Essentially, good stories connect your target audience with your business. 

What Is Brand Storytelling?

If you type “brand storytelling” into a web search, you’ll find a variety of definitions. Here’s the definition of brand storytelling that we use in this badge. Brand storytelling uses specific elements (like protagonist, plot, and conflict) and narrative techniques to communicate a brand’s mission and values to its audience. The ultimate goal is to grow the brand by increasing awareness and customer loyalty with compelling, authentic stories.

Let’s break the definition down a little more. 

Storytelling elements and narrative techniques. These are the same elements we learned in grade school and include the setting, conflict, rising action, climax, and conclusion. You might be wondering how these elements relate to content marketing—we take a closer look in the next unit. These elements are essential to brand storytelling because not only do they help easily set up the story and create flow, but they also help your audience follow along. 

Mission: This is the goal of your brand. Your mission should help answer: What was your brand created to do? What do you set out to achieve, and how do you achieve it? Why should customers want to do business with you? A company’s mission is what sets it apart from the competition and makes its brand distinct. It's why your customers would choose to buy products or services from you over a competitor. Use your platform to explain why you’re doing what you’re doing. 

Values: Today's consumers are less concerned with products and product features and more concerned with brand values. What does your company stand for? What values does the organization hold? Values alone can make up a considerable portion of a brand’s identity. As a result, marketing leaders are increasingly focused on building authentic brands beyond traditional product associations and product features. 

Today’s marketers concentrate more on encompassing ideas or values that customers care about. When an audience shares the same values as a brand, it helps build trust between the two, and increases the chances that they will convert to a customer or remain loyal. 

Why Use Brand Storytelling in Content Marketing?

Storytelling is critical to the success of your overall content marketing strategy, and here are a few reasons why. 

Storytelling makes your brand stand out among your competitors. Great storytelling grabs your audience’s attention. Creating informative, educational, and entertaining content helps them learn about your business, brand, and the solutions you offer. Capturing your audience’s attention is the overarching goal of storytelling. 

Storytelling builds trust and strong relationships with your audience. Remember the mission and values we mentioned? When those are weaved throughout your storytelling, your content will resonate with your audience and, in turn, allow you to build long-lasting relationships with them. 

Storytelling positions you as an expert in your industry. When an organization can speak to its audience’s pain points, and provide solutions, it positions the organization as an expert in the industry. The result? Brand loyalty. Customers do business with experts! 

Resources

• Article and Podcast: The Neuroscience of Storytelling 
• Article: A Good Presentation Is About Data Story
• Article: People prefer brands with aligned corporate purpose and values
• Article: What Is Brand Storytelling