Transcripts
1. Class introduction: You're struggling to make
sense of your brand story. Or maybe you just don't
even know where to start. Or quite simply, you have no idea what brand
story even is. Hello, my name is
Delacroix's psyche and welcome to my course, brand
storytelling strategies. I created this course to show you that there are
ways to be successful with brand storytelling
and that you don't need to be a big established
brand for this, understanding the
power of storytelling and knowing what strategies
to use for your brand will give you a
definitive advantage in the branding space and set you apart from the other brands. In this class, you're
going to learn what brand storytelling is in some effective
strategies you can use. So you can leverage the most effective
communication strategy and hook your audience in through a journey that
they're invested in. So if you're ready,
let's get started.
2. What is brand storytelling: What is brand storytelling? Let's start with what it's not. It's not about mark, the founder and where
he's come from, who is siblings are, and what his teacher
said to him that put him on the road to success
back in high school. It's not about any
of those things. It's not about the founder. And I can't tell you how many brand stories have come across that have this idea that a brand story is about the founder and that the limelight should
be shining on them. When it comes to branding
and brand strategy, you have some elements
that are not so exciting. Other elements that
are really exciting. Your brand purpose statement, your mission statement, your competitive analysis
is not so exciting. Brand storytelling,
on the other hand, is really exciting and we'll get those stakeholders excited and those business leaders excited. So it's something that you can really leverage
your communication. So if the limelight is not
shining on the founders, then it makes it pretty
obvious word shining, and that is the audience. Everything in business,
everything in branding comes back
to the audience. Who is the audience? Where they're going? What journey are they own? What are they going through, and what challenges
they are going through? That's what brand
storytelling is all about. It's all about understanding
that audience, understanding that journey, and bringing that
journey to life.
3. Why is brand storytelling so effective: Why is brand storytelling
so effective? Well, it relates to how we
are hard wired as humans. And you're going to be
able to relate to this. So let me give you
an example here. Let's say your friend calls
you and they talk to you all excited and tell you that they
have a story to tell you. And it's something
really interesting and you have to hear this. And just as they tell
you that your phone dies or they get cut off and they don't get to
tell you the story. The anticipation that you will
feel to hear that story is tangible because that's how
we are hard wired as humans. We want to know what
the story is about. We want to hear the story. We're attracted to stories because for thousands of years, that has been how
we have learned. It's how humans have transferred knowledge from one
generation to the next. Long before computers
and videos, we've been telling stories from one generation and passing on our experiences from one
generation to the next. So over thousands and
thousands of years, our brains have been hardwired
to be attracted to story. So that is why storytelling
is so effective. And no doubt you already know that storytelling is effective, but that's just to
put it into context, why it's so effective and
why we're attracted to it. But when it comes to
brand storytelling, what is the goal that you're
trying to achieve with that? Essentially, with a brand
story or brand storytelling, what we're trying to
do is we're trying to eliminate the journey
of our audience. We're trying to
paint a picture so that we can draw
our audience in. And essentially,
what we're trying to do is resonate with them. We're trying to shine a light on a story that would be very familiar to them and that will make them feel like
they want to know more. They want to hear
what the story is all about because they see
themselves in that story. If we're able to paint a picture of a journey
that they can resonate with and they relate to each and every step
of that journey. Well then they're going to
be attracted to that story. And that's the goal
of storytelling. We're trying to resonate
with who our audience is. We live in a time
where we're sick and tired of push advertising. How many ads do you
scroll through in your feed or as you
ignore on the TV or the radio or billboards were just tired of
push advertising. And if we come across a
story that a brand is telling and we see
ourselves in that story. We can hear the challenges
that are related to our lives, the fears, the emotions,
the overcoming adversity. Well then we are going
to be attracted to that. So that's the goal
of storytelling. We're really trying
to resonate with who our audience is and the
journey that they're on.
4. How do you leverage storytelling for your brand: So how do you leverage
storytelling for your brand? The trick here is
to understand who that audience is and the
journey that they're on, what challenges they go through and where it
is they're going. What is that goal that
they're trying to achieve? And if you can do that, if you can tell a story of a fictional person or maybe it's an actual client that overcome adversities are gone
on to achieve success. Or maybe it's a group of people
with a shared challenge. If you can wave
your brand through that journey on the
road to success, then you're going to be able to align your brand
with the idea in your audience's mind that you are the way to
get to that success. That is how you
leverage storytelling by telling a story of the journey that your
audience can relate to and weaving your
brand throughout. Now, if you want to learn more
about brand storytelling, the night is a great
brand to look towards because they do leverage
storytelling really effectively. And in one of their campaigns, the Equality campaign, they
shine a light on inequality. Now this doesn't represent every single person
within their audience, and it doesn't tell
every single journey. What it does is it focuses on a small part of a small
segment of their journey. And he tells that story. And what they do
is they point to that adversity and the
overcoming of that adversity. That is a shared characteristic throughout all of the audience. Every one of their audience can share that characteristic and that feeling of overcoming adversity they all
want to achieve. They all want to succeed. In order to succeed, they have to overcome adversity. So this is Nike pulling
out a small segment and a small part of the journey of that segment and
telling that story. And in doing that, they're able to engage
their audience. They're able to point to
that part of the journey. And it helps everybody to resonate with who
he is as a brand. They are about more than
just selling shoes. There are about more than just the products that they sell. They are a brand that talks
to who their audience. Is. There a brand that looks at the journey that
the audiences on? What challenges they
are overcoming, what adversities
they are facing. And they tell stories
about those adversities. If you're developing
your own brand or a brand for a client, and you want to help
that brand to better resonate with who
the audience is. Well then really understand
the journey that they're on and pull
out small stories of that journey so that
they can resonate with that story and they can
see themselves in it. And if you're able to waive the brand throughout that story, there'll be able to associate that brand with the
journey to success.
5. Nine strategies: I'm going to share nine brand
storytelling strategies that you must liberate
within your brand so that you can show your audience that you understand their story and align your brand with the idea of a
successful journey. Now, there are countless
ways that brands can use to tell the audience that they have a solution
for their problem. And most brands go about
this through push marketing. For example, they'll pay
Google or they'll pay Facebook for the privilege to get in front
of that audience. And when they do, they'll talk about features or benefits. Now the problem
with this approach is our tolerance for it. We have no tolerance for
this kind of approach, this kind of push
marketing anymore. There's a term called
banner blindness, which is essentially the
term to describe how we scroll past ads
without even seeing them, without them even registering or leaving any kind of imprint. If you want to engage
with your audience today, you need to do it
like a modern brand. And modern brands tell stories. And the reason that
modern brands tell stories is because neuroscience has told us that storytelling is the most effective
way to communicate. Because as I
mentioned previously, it's ingrained in our DNA. It's been passed on for thousands
and thousands of years. And it's the way
we've transferred information from one
generation to the next. So our DNA makes us
gravitate towards it. And if your brand can tell
a story of a journey of success that aligns with
who your customer is. Well then they will gravitate
towards that story. So what I'll do, I'm
going to give you nine brand storytelling
strategies that you can take into
your own business. While your competitors are pushing the audience away
with their marketing, you're pulling your audience
in with your storytelling. Strategy. Number one,
highlight their challenges. What are the biggest problems in the biggest mistakes that your audience comes across
on their journey to success. What are their limiting beliefs? What is it that they don't feel that they're
capable of doing? And what is it that
standing in the way right now in order to get
to that success, what's stopping them from
being successful right now? So highlight what
those challenges are. Strategy number two,
show understanding. Now in highlighting
their challenges, you've already gone a long way to showing that you understand. You've shown an
intimate knowledge of what those obstacles are. Justin doing that alone. You've already shown that
understanding in that empathy. And you cannot underestimate the power of empathy
when your audience, or just anybody in general, when they feel understood, when they feel that the person
standing across from them, Here's them and they
know what they're going through and they understand
those challenges, then they immediately
feel that they trust that person or the brand. So if you're able to
show understanding, then you cannot underestimate
the power of that empathy. And this will go a long
way to earning that trust. And we tend to do
business with people or brands that we know
like and trust. And once you show that empathy, once you showed
that understanding, you will have gone a long
way to earning that like and that trust strategy number
three, support their beliefs. So what is it that
they believe in? What is it that they
believe about themselves? What is it that
they believe about the industry or about
the wider world? And how can you show an
alignment to those beliefs? So you might be able
to create some content or share some content
or racist story, raise a point of view. And this will really
show that you have aligned beliefs with them. And if they feel that your beliefs and
their beliefs align, they will feel a connection. Strategy number four,
on are the values. So what is it that they hold dear in the way they
hold themselves, in the way they behave. What are their values? And can you align your
brand with those values? And you can take out
characteristics here as well. So you will find brands
that will put values on their websites like honesty,
integrity, and respect. But when it comes
to storytelling, really what you're trying to
do is you're trying to align your brand with values that
your audience holds dear. And you can do this
through characteristics. You can do this through
sharing content, through sharing articles
that talked to those values. So do they value resilience
or determination or kindness? What do they value? And how can you align
yourself with those values? Strategy number five,
turn up the emotion. Now remember that your audience is on a journey themselves. That is a story really that
you're trying to tell. They're trying to
achieve something, they're trying to succeed. And they will come
across many challenges. They will have a picture
in their head of what success looks like and
what failure looks like, and that draws out their
fears and desires. So focusing on what
they fear and what they desire and turn up the
volume of those emotions. So you can use this
through your own clients. Maybe you have customers
and clients that have gone through the whole journey and they've come
out the other side. And you have their
story of success. And you can talk
about the trials and tribulations and the challenges that
they've gone on to really draw out those emotions. Draw those fears and
draw those desires. Strategy Number six, use
detailed generously. So have you ever read a
book and you've come across a passage and it feels
like you're really there. It feels like you are
there within that moment, the story feels tangible. And if you have really
experienced that before, That's because the
author has gone into a huge amount of detail and they've really
set the stage there. They've talked about
the smells, the sounds, and they've given you a
real tangible filling of what that
environment is like. And if you're able to do
that within your stories, then you can do the same
as those muster authors. You can really draw
in your audience. So when it comes to the
journey that they're on, the challenges that
they go through, fears and the emotions and the desires that
they go through. If you're able to really
fill in that detail, well then they will feel
the same way as you do when you're reading a
really, really engaging book. Strategy Number seven,
demonstrate transitions. So the journey that
your customer is on has a starting point and
it has an end point. And somewhere in
the middle there is a corner that they need to turn. They need to go from one
state to the other state. And turning that corner is a big part of that and
that is a transition. So what were they not able
to do before that they're able to do now or what
epiphany did they have? What transition did
they go through? So really take the time
to understand what your customers go through
and talk to your customers. Talk to your existing
customers who have been through your full service
or your full product, or who have experienced
all of that and talk about the transition
that they have gone on. What corner did they turn? And if you're able to really put a sense of tangibility
on that transition, then that will really hit home. It will really feel that you are talking to what they
need to overcome. What the challenge is that
they need to overcome. So really identify what
that transition is that your audience goes through
and talk to that transition. Strategy Number eight,
celebrate successes. Now the only reason that your
audience will engage with your brand is because they want to achieve some
kind of outcome. Now, obviously this
outcome is different for every brand,
but nonetheless, no matter who your audience
is or what your solution is, your audience wants to
achieve some kind of outcome. They want something
at the end of this transaction that they
have with your brand. So really focusing
on that detail, what is that outcome
that they want? What does it look like? What does it feel
like, sound like, and what impact will it make
in their overall lives? So really focusing on the
outcome that they want to achieve in painting the picture of that outcome
with great detail. Finally, strategy number
nine, story sharing. So this is all about user-generated content
and there are a lot of modern brands today leveraging this strategy and leveraging
it to great effect. You've got the likes of
Coca-Cola and GoPro. So for example,
you might remember Coca-Cola when they
came out with all of the names on the
cans and hot that spread like wildfire
through social media because it involved their
product and it gave their customers and the wider public something to talk about. And the same happens with GoPro. They get their users to post their content and they really incentivize
them to do that. So how can you do the same? How can you go to your
existing customers? How do you incentivize
them to post user-generated content and
share their own stories. Now, if you can pull this
off, this is really, really effective because this comes from a place of success. It comes from a place
of authenticity. If people want to share this story than it's because
they've achieved something. It's because they've
experienced that outcome. And your future
customers looking in are looking at that outcome. And that is the outcome
that they want to achieve. And if they see somebody else, somebody that it's just like
them achieving that outcome, then that becomes
really tangible. So this is a powerful strategy
if you can incentivize your existing customers to
share user-generated content.
6. What's your story: Smaller brands,
they tend to trip themselves up when it
comes to storytelling. And although they are drawn
towards storytelling, they loved the idea
of storytelling. They believe that it's reserved for the bigger brands like Nike or Coca-Cola or
GoPro or Red Bull. But storytelling, it's not about having a massive
budget and about being able to produce
high-quality video or really high produced videos. It's not about that at all. It's about the stories
of the individuals. It's about the stories of people achieving some kind of success. And there are countless ways that you can tell those stories. If you could break
the journey of those stories down
into micro stories, you have multiple
opportunities that you can use to tell stories on
different platforms, to tell stories on Instagram
or Facebook or LinkedIn, wherever it may be
on your blog or on your YouTube channel
or your website. So really take the time to understand the journey
that your audience is on, because that is the journey that your customers are
interested in. They want to hear a story of success that aligns
with their own journey. So really understand the
journey of your audience, the journey of your customers, where they're trying to
get to and what they're trying to achieve
and tell that story.
Stella Chrysaki, Digital Marketing Instructor
