You’ve probably heard time and time again that your brand story is crucial to your marketing success. Not only does a good brand story have the ability to capture and engage your audience, but it also creates a deep relationship between brand and consumer that would otherwise not exist.
Telling your brand story is important, but it’s more important to do so in a genuine and authentic way. Too many times business owners read that brand story telling is king, but fail to lack human emotion throughout their posts. The copy and paste or “cookie cutter” moments of human vulnerability are extremely easy to see through when not truly coming from the heart.
Here are 5 ways to be genuine in your brand storytelling to help increase engagement through your marketing efforts and build deep relationships with your supporters!
Believe in What You Do
We’re not denying that a big part of being a small biz owner is setting your own hours and generating income, but it’s truly much more than that. If you’re a business owner, you likely got into whatever it is that you do because you’re passionate and have a love for it! If you don’t believe in what you do, how do you expect others to? When you believe in your mission statement, your quality of service, how you treat your customers, etc, then that is reflected crystal clear in your messaging.
Your consumers aren’t blind, they can spot lack of emotion, care, empathy, etc. from a mile away!
Let Your Personality Shine
We’re not sure who started this idea that you can’t let yourself shine through your work and weave it through your storytelling, but we definitely think you should throw that concept away! A big part of what brings people together is getting to know their story. When people believe in you, they believe in your brand. Sure, there are some things that it’s probably better to steer clear of (ie. politics and other controversial subjects), but showing who you are throughout your business is very much encouraged!
Tell Your Why Through Your Brand Story
Why did you start your business? What were you aiming to achieve? Did you want to inspire, teach, nurture, or support your customers? Tell your WHY through your social media posts and on your website. Talk about your journey to get where you are and how it feels to have that dream realized. If all your posts are sales driven, it’s very hard to make connections. People will feel like you’re only out to make money and don’t have their best interests at heart. Prove them wrong by sharing your reason(s) why you started your biz!
Engage With Your Customers
We see the classic “engagement post” archetype all the time, with no follow through. We know from a marketing perspective that creating posts that get people to like, comment, share, etc are key to the growth of your social media channels, and that they are important to integrate into our social media strategies. But one of the worst things that you can do, (and that really show that you are just doing it for the numbers) is not engaging with your followers. If you ask them to comment, RESPOND! If they tag you in something, like/comment/share it, etc.
Engage with your customers to show that you truly care. Otherwise, your marketing efforts will fall flat.
Show the Face(s) Behind Your Biz!
This is a great way to continue to connect emotionally with your audience. Take professional shots, candid shots, behind the scene videos, etc…just have fun! Show yourself as a business owner and then your core team. Talk about their strengths and what makes them a valuable part of your business. Again, let everyone’s personalities shine through so that you can continue to connect with your audience but also tell your brand story in a more genuine way.
These are just some things that you can do to tell your brand story in a genuine way. Remember, if you don’t believe in your brand or in yourself and you’re simply just out to make money, this WILL be reflective of your posts, regardless of whether or not you follow the above steps. Business owners who are genuine in what they do are who people want to support. If you’re there for your customers, they’ll be there for you, and they will convey your brand message to others. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love and want word of mouth marketing?!
Still need a little help with your marketing strategy? Send us a message using the Contact Us form OR check out our packages to see what our team can offer you!