Great Brand Stories Will Earn You Loyal Fans

Stories empower us, inspire us. They make us dream, they compel us into action. Great brand stories will help you connect to your audience, and help them discover meaning. This will authenticate your brand and earn you trust from customers, converting them into loyal fans. 

What Story Is and Why It's Invaluable

Story is what happens when a character tries to solve a problem. They struggle, they go up against seemingly impossible odds. And in doing so, they learn something which forces them to change.

They’ll become stronger. They'll often sacrifice a part of themselves to achieve a greater good.

And eventually they’ll find a solution, which won’t be what they or us (the reader) initially expected.

The best stories take a reader on a journey that they can identify with. Because, they recognize the problem. It’s the same or relatable to something they’ve experienced themselves.

So, as the emotions of the character develops, readers start to feel empathy. Together with our character, they walk on an emotional journey, which is taken to a meaningful climax and then resolved.

Stories have been around since our cavemen days, where we’d tell each other stories to teach us about environmental dangers.

And the great thing is, stories will always sell. In fact, we have a human need for them. Even in times of recession people flock to cinemas. Which is why in 2009, we saw newspaper headlines like this:

“Cinema audiences boom as people look to escape recession”

I’m sure you can imagine therefore, how brand stories done well can be incredibly powerful sales tools.

Good Copywriting is Storytelling

Consider the basic direct response copywriting formula. There’s many variations on this, but at its very least the copy should:

  • Show that you understand a problem
  • Provide or promise a solution to the problem
  • Prove that this is the best possible solution
  • Present this solution in a package (also called ‘propose’ or ‘push’)
  • Direct the audience to your offer

Some of this, could be implied. For example, if you start a landing page with:

“Let me show you how to increase your ROI by 200% or more using digital marketing”

Then the problem of not making enough from your digital marketing is evident.

But can you see the similarities of this to story? You’re simply taking the audience on an imagined story of the success. You’re showing them how they can be the hero of their story, if they only let you be their guide.

Which gives plenty of room to use storytelling techniques to build an effective piece of marketing copy.

By the way, there’s room to include your own or other customer stories within the proof section of your copy. Great brand stories, in fact, will work much better than a list of statistics (which could get weary after a while). I’ll write more about how to do this in another post.

Get Your Copy to Shine

I’ve explained the basics of storytelling and how you can work this into your marketing material.

It would take a book to write all the storytelling techniques you can use. There’s characterization, setting, story arcs, character arcs and so much more.

I’ve spent over a decade learning this stuff, met some of the storytelling greats, and I have published fiction credits in my name.

If you’d like to discuss how to create great brand stories and gain loyal fans, then drop me a line.

Feel free to comment on this post and let me know your questions or thoughts. I’ll reply ASAP.