Make Your Story A Bestseller

If I asked you to tell me your favorite fairytale story from your childhood, I’m sure more than one would pop into your mind. But why do we like stories? From childhood, we have enjoyed hearing and reading stories so much, we began to create our own. This has been a part of our culture for many decades, as stories were used as a way to pass knowledge to younger generations. So why not use this intrinsic need to tell stories within your own brand?

Storytelling is a great way to breathe life into your brand and make yourself relatable to your consumers. You can give your products an identity and your customers a personal reason to choose you. Telling your story shows who you are, what your brand stands for, and why your audience should care to buy from you.

This need for storytelling doesn’t mean you should just make up a story. People like to be entertained – not lied to. If you take a step back and think to yourself, “Why am I doing this? Why did I create this product?” you’ll find your most effective story that will reach your consumers. This can be called many things, but emotional branding is a progressive umbrella term for this type of communication with customers.

Emotional branding is a concept that we, as humans, naturally prefer. If we know the story behind a company and what they do, we may tend to be more willing to give them our business. This is because if we find ways to relate to these stories, it can make us want to establish a relationship with the company. If you can connect to your customers far beyond the product you offer, you’ve already won.

It is not enough to have the newest product anymore. Consumers need a connection – a reason – to buy from you. The best way to get a customer to engage with you is to tell them your story. Storytelling gets you to where you want to be with your consumer; it’s like taking the fast lane on the freeway. It’s about the emotions, experiences, needs, and the associated images that your brand evokes that will create a great story.

Here’s how to decide what aspects of your brand’s story are worth telling:

• Emotion: people connect with brands that have a bigger purpose than simply making money. Employee testimonials are a great way to give your brand human emotion and relevance.
• Authenticity: Like I said before, people want stories, but only if they’re real. Customers are fed information daily, so having a genuine story to tell them will set you apart.
• Personal connections: Go back to your roots for this one. Mission statements are written and rewritten a million times after that, but don’t be afraid to talk about your brand’s drive.
• Call to action: This is the one aspect of a brand’s story that is different from our favorite childhood stories. Without a CTA, your story will have been a nice thought, just without purpose.

You have a story to tell. So go for it.