Make your brand story count: engage customers & drive business growth

🌊 Entrepreneurship gone surfing: the waves shaping business today

Let’s sketch a simple mental image of the way business goes right now.

There’s two TRENDS going side-by-side. Each one materializes in at least two important FEATURES you can bank on. This makes four features.

Understanding them is critical for business strategy and brand marketing success.

But I’ll call them WAVES your business can ride. The high-road and the low-road, if you prefer.

📈 TREND A:
Margins are getting thinner and narrower. Competition is fierce. Imitation is prevalent.

Virality is no longer trailing past its hit; it’s becoming short-lived. Yesterday’s novel turns into today’s normal and tomorrow’s obsolete.

Companies come and go. Personal marketing is disregarded as not “efficient” enough.
It’s all about making hype to attract attention, through all means possible.
…

🌊 WAVE A-1:
Go with the flow. If everyone’s doing it it’s gotta be right.

Latest AI tool? If you didn’t have it yesterday, your AI engineer should pack her bags.
Volume > Quality.

KPIs > Reviews.
…

🌊 WAVE A-2:
Position yourself as the underdog.

Analog marketing channels > Digital.

Personal touchpoints > KPIs.

Long-term thinking > Short-term volume.
…

📈 TREND B:
People want to see businesses turn more personal.

They desire empathy, meaningful models, personal touch.

Your clients want to be done with feeling lost.

They are ready to pay for it.

Improved efficiency in business means more people have more time for hobbies, family, connecting with the past.

Testimonials feel fake and outdated. Clients want to see product in action, how it’s made, how a hammer becomes useless after it hits it (and not the other way around).
…

🌊 WAVE B-1:
Oblige your clients. Capitalize on the next free time spending niche, whether it’s pottery clubs or a bird sanctuary.

Update your policies and code of conduct.

Work on the feelings/experience side your clients are demanding.
…

🌊 WAVE B-2:
Ignore this trend altogether.

Mass market beats individualized choices.

Emulate the personal touch your company offers, preferably make it digital.

Make clients feel their purchases contribute to the betterment of the world (regardless of the actual contribution).

Put tinsel on that large touchscreen greeting your customers and asking for their review on their way home.
…
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🤝 How brand storytelling drives business growth and customer connection

If you’d expect me to say WAVES A-1 and B-1 are in any way better, you’re in for a surprise.

Like it or not, ALL FOUR WAVES are fully working business models.

The trends are REAL, but (for the moment) not everybody is, or can be, on board with them.

Just face it, how often do your care about whether your coffee provider planted some tree in a far-away rainforest or your jeans are made from organic cotton?

It’s up to you to choose wisely and see where it goes.
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📖 Where storytelling becomes a business advantage

I haven’t raised all those points for nothing.

Because, you see, having a great story if Marketing 101. And a great story behind your brand fits all business models I’ve just described.

So let’s dive into the 5 tips I’ve researched to see how and why a GREAT STORY can positively lift your business.

1️⃣ With a great story, told wisely, you can ride MULTIPLE waves at once.

I think this is so underrated.

Yes, you can contemplate world domination while marketing yourself as the underdog alternative for cool & smart people. Just think different, and remember that using an Apple a day keeps the world going round.

2️⃣ Don’t ignore basic marketing rules while telling your story.

While watching YouTube I was shown a long ad of a local mattress maker. It featured their founder telling the story behind their brand.

And what’s the first rule of YouTube ads? The first five seconds matter most. Second rule? You’re probably better off with a brief ad than a longer one. (Just make sure the landing page rocks the details.)

Their ad intro? A faint sound for ~3 seconds followed by ~2 seconds of the founder talking. A panned video of the logo for the first ~5 seconds. NOT a GREAT way to spend your budget, if you ask me.

3️⃣ Choose the level of consistency.

When your story is that good, you have to get it out. Oatly, for instance, makes sure to use the term “The Original” on their plant-based milk cartons.

After all, if one searches for the back story, they quickly find out that they basically invented the process through which oat milk is made for commercial purposes.

Yet, Oatly doesn’t put out strong “We’re the first to do it” vibes.

Patagonia is different. On its “Latest stories” website, there’s a trove of founder-focused stories. And the main motivation behind the brand’s foundation is widely banked on.

4️⃣ Don’t lie or exaggerate.

The backlash of a fake story can hit hard. You’re much better off telling no story than a false or exaggerated one.

Plus, a brand story raises consumer expectation. If you aim to stir any emotions in your customers with a touchy story, at least make sure you aren’t rated 2.73 stars on TrustPilot.

5️⃣ There is no such thing as “We don’t have a story.”

Every brand and business is unique, and so are its inner workings.

The story can be based on what motivated the founders to do it, or on why a certain business model is employed instead of others; either way, there’s no shortage of stories to be told.

Remember: telling your brand story effectively not only engages customers but also drives measurable growth and strengthens your market position.