1. Establish Your Brand Voice and Identity
The first step to creating stories that authentically speak to your brand is determining your voice and identity. Who are you and what is your overall message? Grounding yourself in this knowledge helps you create stories that reflect your values, mission, and ethos.
Your brand voice and identity should be consistent throughout each story you create. That’s why it’s important to take the time to build an actionable plan. Think through all the ways your values, mission and ethos will be portrayed throughout your stories – from the topics, language, and protagonists, to the tone and messages you choose to communicate.
As part of your overall strategy, create a list of “brand words” that your team can use when writing stories. This will help ensure your messaging and values remain consistent. You can use these words either as keywords, where appropriate, to further promote the specific language that speaks to your mission and values.
2. Choose Topics and Protagonists for Your Stories
Once you’ve established your identity and voice, it’s time to choose topics and protagonists for your stories. When selecting a topic, always go back to your brand voice and identity to ensure it fits. If a particular topic doesn’t align with your message, don’t be afraid to take a pass on it. The same rule applies to the protagonists that you feature in your stories. Do they represent the values and mission of your brand?
Also, take some time to think about what kind of stories you want to create. It’s important to ensure that your stories are authentic, relatable, and engaging. Don’t be afraid to veer away from the topics that have been traditionally highlighted by your brand, or to step outside of your comfort zone. The goal is to create stories that are unique to your style, as well as highly engaging to your target audience.
3. Get Creative With Your Storytelling
When it comes to storytelling, don’t be afraid to put your own spin on it. Creativity is key when writing stories. While the facts and stats will help drive the narrative arc of your story, you also want to be playful and experiment with different ways of expressing your message.
Consider how you can use metaphors or analogies to help bring your story to life. If you’re telling a story about a product or service, don’t just explain the features and capabilities. Think about what feelings and experiences you want to evoke in the reader, and then weave that into your narrative.
Also, consider new and interesting mediums to express your story. If you’re looking to reach Gen Z or Millennials, video content might be a great option. You can create a mini documentary-style video, which showcases the human experience behind your product or service. Or, you can use an audio podcast to tell a story, which can be particularly great for commuters or those with busy schedules.
4. Distribute Your Stories Across Multiple Platforms
When it comes to story-telling, don’t put all your eggs into one basket. You want to distribute your stories across multiple platforms and channels, in order to reach your target audience. You should also think about how you can repurpose the stories for different platforms.
For example, if you wrote an article for a blog post, consider how you can turn the same story into an infographic or a YouTube video. This will not only help you reach a wider audience, but it will give your stories a refreshed angle, in order to keep your audience engaged.
At the end of the day, your goal should be to create stories that are authentic and speak to your brand’s message. Keep your identity, voice, and ethos as the focus when creating stories, as this will ensure a consistent and cohesive represenation of your brand.
5.Be Authentic
The most important element of creating a story that connects to your brand is authenticity. Your story needs to be genuine and believable, in order to capture your audience’s attention and leave a lasting impression. Making your story true and authentic will help you establish a connection with your readers, and encourage them to stay engaged.
To ensure authenticity, you want to stay away from exaggerated words and overdone themes. The goal is to create a story that is hard to ignore, but still feels natural. And avoid being too promotional. While you want to ensure that your message gets across, you don’t want your stories to come across as a sales pitch.
By following these steps, you can create stories that speak to your brand and resonate with your target audience. Remember, stories don’t always have to be long. Even a few sentences can capture the essence of a message and help you establish a connection with your readers. So take the time to craft stories that are authentic and that truly speak to your brand.