Elements and Steps to Write an Authentic Brand Story

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Advertisement is one of many ways to market a brand but gaining the audience's attention is another story. With the number of advertisements nowadays, people have started to look for more than a simple marketing trick. To make your brand standouts in the crowd, you can use the power of a brand story. 

Every brand has a story to tell, and so does your brand. To write a brand story goes more than just copywriting or creative writing. A brand story is a bridge to communicate to the customers. These days, people like it when a company approaches them personally, pay special attention, and try figure out their needs. This is when a brand story comes to grab people's attention. So, what is it, and how to write a brand story?

What is a brand story?

 A brand story is a recent marketing trend in which enthusiastically used by marketers all over the world. It goes beyond a simple story of how a company makes money by selling products to people. But it is about establishing a personal bond with audiences and grabbing their attention. To put it simply, a brand story is a story about the company's history and its process to the present day. 

A touching brand story tells both your feelings and facts associated with the company. You write a story to inspire the customers on an emotional level. Besides talking about the company's history, it is also important to show the company's motivations, goals, and objectives. 

The brand story goes beyond content writing. It emphasizes customers' convenience and experience and also shared principles and values. A well-written story of your brand can be a powerful word of mouth. This is because the real customers' experiences will inspire those who do not even know your brand. 

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The power of brand story

These days people look for more than just good deals and price tags. They look for a company with a back story and motivations that they can relate to. Though the main purpose of writing a brand story is to attract people's attention, a well-written story creates a special bond between the company and customers.  

A brand story also attracts people who share the same values. Every company has core principles and values. Rather than simply make money, you can share the principles and missions that you have when crafting the company.

Consumers are smart and savvy. With the presence of social media, customers tend to check out your company's and personal page before purchasing a product. When other people share reviews, blog posts, tweets, videos, pictures, and other content featuring your products, this means that you have earned customers' trust. This can be a powerful brand story to attract other potential customers to purchase from your company.  

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Writing an authentic brand story.

Writing a brand story goes far beyond a simple narrative. It requires extensive writing skills as well as a good understanding of your business value, motivation, and target audience. The story of your brand should be able to influence people with the brand's spirit. You have to use narrative writing techniques to tell the story of the brand in a way that sparks emotional response as well as leads to sales. Here are some simple steps to start writing an inspirational brand story for your business. 

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Know the background 

There are tons of tutorials and tips on how to write a brand story, but do you know the background of the company? Well, you are writing about the story of a brand, so you have to understand the background story. You have to define the clear missions and goals of the brand as the foundation of an interesting and attractive brand story. The brand mission should be the core communication between your company and customers. Figure out the missions and values of the brand will help your brand stay unique in the market. 

Besides the mission and value, it is also important to identify the brand personality. What makes your brand different from others? You can use the brand personality, values, and missions as the guide to writing the content of the story. Here are some easy guides to figure out the brand's mission and personality. 

• Write down words related to your brand's core goals, such as the product or service that you provide. 

• Make a list of words to describe your products or services, for example, smart, innovative, transparent, stylish, and many more. You need to find out the personality and tone that you want to encompass from the brand. 

• Play with the words; therefore, you find a core brand statement and personality that is compelling and positively represents the brand. 

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Storytelling techniques

Well, yes, it says storytelling, but it does not mean that you have to write the brand story on a drama level. It does not need to be as epic as drama tales, but it surely has to be memorable and engaging. Storytelling is a unique writing technique to make an attractive narrative. The story of the brand should have the basic elements of a story, such as characters, conflicts, turning points, and also the solution to the conflict. The story should include descriptive words that make audiences want to keep on reading. You can also highlight the conflict of the story to grab people's attention. Also, present the solution of the conflict and mission statement to inspire the readers. 

A story of a brand does not have to be a long story since it is not a novel, but it should have the elements of a story. Thus, the audiences will easily understand who the people behind the brand are, what their mission is, and how the business strives. 

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Show, do not tell.

One great storytelling technique to apply when writing a brand story is to show, do not tell. Keep all the vague list of the general value of the brand for yourself. Avoid constantly telling people how great your brand is and how much you have helped other people. People hear this kind of pitch all the time, so they will tune out if you are doing so. You want people to connect with your brand and personally know how the brand helps them in many ways. 

A brand story is different from mass marketing. You do want to only tell people about your brand and what you do about it. Instead, you want to share the story of a brand that you start from scratch until it survives all storms and strives as a successful business. When writing a story about a brand, choose the right angle that will influence and inspire the audience. 

The two most chosen angles for writing a brand story are sentimentally and humor. When you are trying to write a sentimental or humorous story, use the right words that will evoke emotions. The right dictions will adequately encompass the brand story message. 

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Create an ongoing story

Remember, you are trying to build a relationship with the customers. Thus, you can make an ongoing story. A going story is proof that your brand is dynamic and will constantly change in the future. You want the customers to join with the brand journey. Rather than creating a one-shot story, an ongoing story is more beneficial to making people come back again and again. 

Think of making a brand story as a sequel or saga. Sometimes it can be difficult to build a relationship over a one-shot story because people may not know your brand quite well. But when the story is a sequel or saga, people will come again to find the continuation of the story. Include a cliffhanger to make people more curious about the story, so they keep coming back. 

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Stay consistent

You are not the only company that does advertisements for customers. With other companies doing advertising as well, people are getting better at spotting unauthentic brand stories. You want to keep a real relationship with the customers, so make sure to stay consistent with the value you have established. Violating the value of the brand will make customers feel betrayed. Contradicting behavior from the value will lead to losing a certain number of customers. 

Though you use different marketing techniques, you need to always include the brand messages into it. Consistent in doing so will make your brand appear authentic and different from the rest. In contrast, inconsistency confuses people and leads them to leave a brand that does not follow the original mission. 

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Make it realistic

Though you are going to apply storytelling techniques to make the brand story, it is important to make it realistic and human. Figures and facts are important for the story so do emotion and humanity to connect with audiences. No matter what niche of your business is, there should be a story that involves people. Here are some brand story ideas. 

• Customer stories – Sometimes, the story of customers inspires others. You can explain how your service or product has helped customers in various ways. Make the story as realistic as possible instead of making it looks hard selling. Explain in the story how the customers' purchases humanize the company. 

• The origin of the stories – This is the basic brand story that includes the history of the company foundation. This includes who and why founded the company. A brand story that tells about the origin of the company mostly illustrates the company history and the process and problems it has. 

• Community and employee – other than telling about the company, product, or service only, it is also possible to make a story about the community and employee. Make a story about people working for the company, how they made the product or service, and also their profile while working. Also, you can share the story of people who volunteer in the company.

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Do not forget the audience.

The brand story should have an impact on the audience. To get to know the audience, it is important to research what makes them stay on the page. The data research helps you to determine the style of the brand story to the service or product to offer. There are two ways to conduct audience research which are directly asking the customers what they want from the product or service. This method can be directly done using social media platforms. The other method is observing audience purchases and browsing history to track their preferences. 

From this data, you can picture the general audience and figure out what they need from your brand. When you know the target demographic, you can write the story arc and characters that somehow attract the audience. 

Aside from using data research, you can also grab the audience's attention through the choice of language. The right tone for the story will make people stay. Thus, it is important to spend enough time communicating with the target audience and find out what kind of story they like to read. 

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The problem you have solved

Another effective brand story is the type that communicates the problem you have solved. Incorporating the problem-solving helps emphasize the brand messaging. From the way you produce a product ethically to simple household storage can be a great idea for the story of your brand. 

Your character and stories

Some people choose to tell the story of the brand from the perspective of a fictional character. Writing through the story using fictional characters can be an effective strategy. Think of any character that is related to the business and may inspire or help you in many ways. The character that you create can be used when developing or rebranding a new brand or product. Though this practice method may not work for all businesses, you can at least explore it to see if the strategy fits you. 

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Steps to writing a brand story

There are some important elements to include in the brand story. Next is the time to write a brand story that drives sales and strengthen relationship and trust. Here are the steps. 

• Define the mission and messages – The very first thing you need to do is to define the brand mission and messages. Look for the core reason for the brand presence and how you want it to help others. People are interested in stories with realistic messages and missions. Write down a few words or sentences that illustrate the brand in general. You can use the rough draft of messages and missions as the guide to writing a brand story.

• Choose the element of the story – After you have the basic guide, now is the time to choose how you want to write the story. You can tell the story from your point of view or use fictional characters. Both story style has their pros and cons, so it is worth exploring to see which one fits your brand style. For reference, you can research other brands' stories to see how they tell the brand story. Other than the characters, you can also define the plot of the story. You can start from the history of the company, then move on to the problems that the company had, followed by problem-solving, and also including the messages and missions. 

• Make the draft – Now you have the general brief of the story. You can start writing the story based on the list of story elements. Write in any style that you like, and do not edit unless you finish writing. Remember, you aim to create an authentic brand story, so be true to yourself. Though you want to write an award-winner story, b sure to keep the story simple and easy to understand. People are looking for a story that they are easily understood while scrolling through their social media feed. 

• Proofread – Once you finish writing the story, you can proofread it. Make sure that the story feels real and has a smooth flow. More importantly, make sure that the story means something and can touch audiences' senses. While proofreading, you can edit the story a little bit to make it fit the purpose. 

• Publish the story – It would be a waste if you have a great brand story but never get published. Though you can share the story on any social media platform, it will get the most attention if published in the right place. You can publish the brand story on the 'about section' page on Facebook, on an Instagram page, and even make a twit thread on Twitter. 

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Conclusion

The story is a powerful way to influence people. It has the power to move and inspire people, which may also lead to sales. Start writing the story of your brand and share it with your target audiences. Encourage them to actively participate in the story to build a better relationship with them. Always include the brand story in any platform and any type of marketing instead of simply using hard-selling marketing so you can build a better relationship with customers.