A great brand story can be the difference between being ‘just another option’ in your industry, and connecting with customers in a way that makes you their only choice.
It’s the way your brand communicates – across all marketing and communication channels.
What makes a great brand story?
Everyone will have a brand story – but not every business makes it interesting enough that people pay attention.
So, what separates the good with the boring?
It’s usually down to being a few key things: authentic, consistent, and recognisable.
- When you’re authentic to who you are as a brand, your communication style doesn’t feel forced. Nor does it throw people off when they’ve seen an edgy Instagram post, yet your website messaging is dull.
- That’s where consistency comes in – you need to give off the same vibe across the full customer buyer journey.
- Lastly, being recognisable is vital to your brand story. You don’t want people forgetting about you straight away, do you?
The biggest brands in the world nail those three elements together in their brand story.
Think about the likes of Nike, Apple, Tesco, and Dove.
They all have a recognisable voice, so no matter if you hear a TV ad in the background, glance at a magazine printed advert, or see an influencer campaign, you know them…
From both what they say, and how they say it.
Successful brands have a cohesive brand story and visual branding and know how important they both are to each other.
Questions to identify your brand story
What’s your company story?
You may have heard the terms values, mission statement, and unique selling point.
Your brand story should communicate everything you stand for, including:
- What are your values?
- What’s your origin story?
- What do you stand for?
- What makes you different?
- Why should people choose you?
When you answer these questions, you know your purpose and what you want to be known for.
It’s important to understand these elements before you look at any aspect of your branding.
Why should your customers care about your story?
Another key area to define is your customer profile.
What’s important to your customers, and how does your story relate to their needs?
Why is your expertise relevant to the problems you’re solving?
To make a great brand story, it can’t just tell people what you want them to know.
It needs to connect and engage with your audience, encouraging the right people to buy from you.
Communicating a brand narrative
Now you understand how it all needs to work together, and which elements you may need to work on, how do you get started?
To successfully communicate your brand narrative, you need:
- Consistent messaging across all advertising and communication channels, including social media, ads, website, emails, etc.
- Storytelling techniques to tell your brand narrative in a way your audience relates to and connects with.
- To understand the emotions of your audience – how do you transform those emotions?
- Be authentic, so people don’t read your online marketing message and then get the wrong picture of who your brand is.
How your brand story relates to your visual identity
For a successful brand, you need to interlace your communication and visual brand identity.
Think of your visual identity as the tangible element to draw it all together…
The logo, typography, and colour palette you use showcases your personality and values.
Think about what a red bold font would say versus a soft pink cursive font.
Different symbols and shapes also hold different meanings… so a more circular logo will have a different impact on your audience to an angular look.
The visual identity needs to relate to your brand story, so it complements and reinforces your communication.
Cultural differences affecting your brand
Another consideration is the culture – are you working with other countries?
You may find symbolism is very different in another country and both your visual and written message could be taken the wrong way.
Think about how white symbolises peace and serenity in the most Western cultures, but in Asia white is associated with death and funerals.
Similarly, words and phrases that are funny or thoughtful in one language wouldn’t necessarily translate well.
Before you launch a new visual brand identity or translate your brand story, if you want to work internationally you must check you’re not going to be completely off the mark in other countries first.
Or else you could have wasted lots of time and money on a visual brand identity design and marketing spend to push a message that won’t resonate how you imagined it would.
How to tell if your brand story is resonating – 5 methods for testing and measuring
There are a few ways you can test if your story is resonating properly with your target audience.
- Customer surveys and interviews – ask people what they thought of your brand and create a questionnaire to see how effective your messaging has been.
- Conversion rates on ads or website – are you actually getting conversions? Track the analytics and note where you get the best results.
- Social media engagement rates – when you’re posting online, are people liking and commenting? If not, they’re clearly not interested in what you’re saying.
- A/B split testing for emails or landing pages – try two campaign messages at once to see which one works the best.
- Social listening tools – listen for mentions of your brand online and what people are saying about you. Does it tie into your brand story? If people are not saying anything at all, that could be a sign it’s not hitting the mark.
It’s all about testing and tweaking things until they become the best they can be.
Start showing your authentic business
Do you need help showing up online with authenticity? Make a Brew can support you with all areas of your brand, including crafting your brand story and bringing it to life through a cohesive visual identity. Get in touch if you need a helping hand with your brand.
