Your brand is far more than the products you sell or the services you provide. Branding is much more personal than that. It involves design, outreach, charitable work, political and social views and a myriad of other factors. Creating a brand story that helps connect you with your audience is essential for small businesses today. Here are five tips to help get you started.

Establish An Emotional Connection Using Your Purpose

“Now that you’ve admitted there’s a competitor selling what you sell, your challenge is convincing the customer there is a distinction that persuades them to choose you over that other company. It’s all about creating an emotional connection to what you’re doing, where you’re going and why. Why did you start your company? How is what you do better than everyone else? The object of telling your story is to build a case for the premise, which for you is your purpose.”

Get To Know Your Audience

“An effective brand story is one that impacts your audience in every stage of their customer journey. One way to ensure this is through the use of research. In order to persuade people to choose your brand, you need to know what makes them tick. User research and data help inform you how to tell your story—from your copy and design to the products you offer.”

Use Case Studies And Testimonials

“It’s always better to show rather than to tell. Stay away from just listing off vague and general qualities, and really focus on how your brand helped a specific person. You want your audience to connect with this person and know how your brand tangibly improved their life. If you just throw out a bunch of bland adjectives about how great your brand is, people will tune out because they hear these pitches all the time and do not relate to them.”

Make It Personal

“This one is obvious — make it personal. You can list the amenities of a beautiful hotel room with a display of panoramic views, but your storytelling gets more mileage and reach when it gets personal.”

Use Your Story In Marketing Campaigns

“Brands that tell unforgettable stories are able to bake those stories into their marketing in a holistic, comprehensive way. Today's consumer -- the connected consumer -- is bombarded with marketing messages and branded content. Some studies suggest the average consumer sees 3,000 to 4,000 marketing messages in a day. This volume of messaging means that consumers are becoming better and better at tuning out anything that doesn't immediately hold their attention. This usually includes anything that feels too promotional, as well as content that seems inauthentic.”

Click below to download our Free Business Plan Template