Sell the Story: How to Get Started with Storytelling for Your Brand

6 min read

There isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you’ve heard their story. — Mary Lou Kownacki

Stories help us connect. Stories help us see what’s different and what’s similar between ourselves and others. They are in our nature.

Think of one or two of your favorite brands. Those that are on your table during your family dinner, or those you trust your life with while driving. Most of them have a story behind them that was the ground for their philosophy.

Let’s see how you can deliver your credo, passions, and professionalism to your potential customers with the power of the story.

Write an Authentic Story

You are at the table, holding a pen, overcoming your fear of the blank page. Most probably, there’s already a story in your mind (because you know your business); however, you might struggle with teleporting it from your head to that Google Doc.

If getting started with writing makes you feel like bumping into a crowd of dementors, here’s a quick tip: imagine this story is your best friend.

Tell the following in a casual manner:

Who you are
What inspired you to open your store
What your motto is
What the main goal for your business is

FITNIT, a sports brand for women, is a great example of how brief and convincing you can be on one and the same page.

FITNIT brand story

Ann Handley, the author of the hilarious and super informative book Everybody Writes, recommends to compose your first bad draft ignoring grammar, style, and other mistakes. Just get it on the paper. Write as long as you can. You’ll fix that later.

Spread It Around Your Website

Once you have your draft story written, let’s see how to distribute around your website to make it feel like the One Great Idea.

Homepage punchline

With your story in front of you, have another look at your homepage.

What part expresses your philosophy best? How do you want your visitors to feel when they get to your homepage? How does your product make their lives better? Pick the most powerful words you brainstormed — that’ll be your USP.

Terrapin restaurant.com unique selling proposition

Terrapin restaurant unique selling proposition

Legends for your product descriptions

Every product in your store, even a small accessory, is special. Do you have a story of creating your first item? Or the latest one? Or your favorite one? If not, make them up.

Here’s the formula: A person + an event + a way to make life better = a great product story.

“About Us” page

Coming across a small, new-born brand online, customers want to know who you are first, and then they’ll get to shopping.

Put your “About Us” link where it’s easily accessed — it’s better to have it in your header, not in a drop-down menu. Mango Tree Coffee puts their story first for a reason.

Mangotreecoffee.org “About Us” page on top menu

Blogs

Your rough draft can become a source for multiple blog topics:

Behind-the-scene story: Explain how your product is made. It doesn’t have to be a written blog, as video might work even better. Here’s an example from Afour x Chuck collaboration.

A story that makes you proud. Talk about how your business helped someone on a hard day or someone who was searching for the best suppliers in foreign countries. Your brand name might have some story to be proud of, too. Make it a person-centric story, i.e. put yourself or your team in the center.

The story of Nell Stephenson, paleoista.com

A customer success story. This is what Nike does all the time — talking about the people, not about themselves. They show what you can achieve with their products and motivate you in every commercial.

An employee success story. Your customers are interested in who produces the product they are about to buy. This blog can also work as a lead magnet for your potential employees. If you show that you value your team and are proud of them, both customers and candidates will like you more.

Part of a Woodstock Pizza story

Fun facts. All you have left in your draft is good for some fun facts — just like CakeSafe does.

CakeSafe brand story

Every Brand Has a Story: Share Yours

We hope this blog was helpful for getting you started with using storytelling in your marketing strategy.

As soon as you get authentic, you’ll need to be consistent with it: create your social media strategy, reflect your values in the newsletter, or run an event.

We hope you will have your story heard by thousands of customers.