Storytelling as a Branding Power Tool for SMEs
In an age in which consumers are exposed to ever-growing streams of content, SMEs must find a way to stand out and connect in a meaningful way to their consumers. Stories have the power to do that.
The Essence of Storytelling in Branding
Storytelling is about more than reporting events; great storytelling often turns your brand into a character, one that becomes an entity felt by the world as you create your narrative. SMEs get the chance to create a holistic vision around their business. Using storytelling, you can produce a brand narrative that will stick with customers and attach itself to their minds and hearts, creating a lasting relationship and loyalty.
Why Storytelling Works
Stories trigger emotions, they create bonds, and are more easily remembered than facts or figures. When SMEs use storytelling, they shift away from transactions to experiences that reflect their audience’s values, needs and aspirations. Here is why storytelling is a powerful branding tool:
Emotion: Stories evoke feelings, which can increase the likelihood of your audience relating to or remembering your brand.
Differentiation: (in a shared space, your story differentiates you from everyone else, it highlights your Unique Value Proposition)
Trust and Loyalty: Your revelation of ever-evolving content, dealing with challenges and triumphs, helps you gain your customers’ trust and make them a part of the brand.
Crafting Your Brand Story
Figuring out your brand story is not about concocting a tale about your brand, but being true to its essence. Here’s how to dig out and open up your story:
1. Identify your purpose and beliefs. Your brand story is founded on what’s meaningful to you, the core reasons that gave birth to your company. It’s easier to find and connect your story with your mission or cause, and then translate that into a guiding principle for your business practices.
2. Determine your top core values. These fundamental values add definition to your brand story and enhance its power and connectivity. Your message becomes stronger and more persuasive when it’s rooted in your core values.
3. Know Your Audience – Know who you’re talking to. What are they pained by, why do they hope, what do they dream of? The brand story that does the best job is the one that speaks straight to the experiences and dreams of the audience.
4. Show Where You’ve Been: Share the history of your business. How did you get started, and what did you struggle with along the way? This humanises your brand and its association with you.
5. Feature Real-world Wins: Include testimonials and case studies. You cannot describe the value of your products or services as well as your customers can. Real-world, authentic, true-to-life stories of how your products or services have impacted customer’s lives hold a lot of power.
6. Stay on Message: Make sure your story is the same everywhere your customers read about you, whether it be on your website, in your social media posts, or talking to your phone.
Bringing Your Story to Life
From there, it’s all about the stories that you tell in different forms: blogs, videos, podcasts and posts you share on social media. The stories have to be authentic and consistent. When your customers stumble across your story, no matter where – on social media or elsewhere – they should know it’s yours.
Storytelling is non-optional for the SME that wants to differentiate, stand out and create lasting relationships with its customers.
It’s brand nourishment from the beginning, a guarantee that you will be remembered for what others may have forgotten when it comes to connecting at an emotional level, differentiating, and creating a community of like-minds around your brand story – of your values and vision.
Every word matters.
