Build Your Brand By Telling a Story

Branding is one of the most important tools for any size business, yet it has a tendency to be overlooked, and underestimated by many companies. As a company grows, the more likely they are to neglect the branding process.

This is specially true in the small business arena. When sales and revenues are up, the marketing efforts will lax, and branding is completely forgotten. In many occasions, the busy time is the most dangerous for a business. At some point the sales will slowly dwindle, and by the time it is noticed, owners will resort to other resources, such as price drop.

Unlike traditional marketing, brand building is arduous long-term process. It might take years before seeing positive results, and it could be very costly. One must see beyond their day to day operations, be persistent in order to connect with prospect, one at the time.

What is the best way to build my brand?

A brand connects with people in a way that they are more concerned about the brand itself than the function or pricing of a product or service. How do you reach such deep connection with your prospect, or anyone for that matter?

Have you ever watched a movie, or read a book that you connected with the story and can’t stop thinking about the plot? I can think of a handful of them, which often times I ponder the details, the characters, their actions, and the final outcome.

For instance, the book Somewhere in Time, by Richard Matheson is remarkably the first book I read and experienced a deep connection. I considered how the hero was able to travel through time, and his actions while visiting in a time before himself. However, when I watched the movie, Matheson fine tuned the plot with several underline messages. It took me a couple of times watching it to fully understand the loop. Though it has been many years since I first watched, I still think of it often. And I will stop right here, if interested you find out for yourself. Anyway, I digress.

The desirable connection happens when the soul of your prospect connects with your brand’s soul, its values and beliefs. The best way to promote the brand’s core values is by building a story around it, making the hero the brand itself.

Jim Signorelli, the author of Storybranding 2.0, proposes that a story is only effective if it covers, what he refers to as the 6 Cs of Storybranding.

1- Collecting the backstory

This is your story. How it all started, the purpose to starting your business, and everything we need to know. This is much like conducting a situation analysis. This must include an assessment of the culture, opportunity, and the solution to a problem.

2- Characterizing the brand

Signorelli refer to this step as defining the inner layer. Meaning, the brand’s values and beliefs. Although, eventually the inner layer is defined by the prospect, and they way they see your brand. Nonetheless, you should take time finding out what your company stands for, and what it represents to you, your employees, and the clients.

3- Characterize the audience

After defining the soul of the brand, it is time to identify the prospect. What kind of function your product or service provides, and the demographics that most needs the solutions offered. It is important to understand that to build a connection, the prospect, must first have the need for what you are offering, then it must overcome other obstacles to have the ultimate connection. In this section it is all about the product, layout all the benefits it offers.

4- Connecting Characters

At this stage you will connect the dots between the brand and prospect. You have a clear understanding of the brand and its inner layer, as well as of the prospect. Now you must find the common things between them, and how would they would connect emotionally.  You have to look for the details that can be used to build a relationship between both.

5- Confront obstacles

Signorelli mentions four obstacles that must be overcome in order to create an ultimate connection with the prospect. It is typically four categories: awareness, comprehension, association, affinity.

While all of four should be addressed simultaneously, it might take years for the brand to overcome all those obstacles. Most brands stop short of the final step, you must continue push for the final level, which is brand affinity.

6- Completing the StoryBrief

In this step you are assembling all the process and ensuring the context makes sense, and all steps are logically consistent with the brand’s theme. This is the final outline that will help your prospect understand your brand.

Storytelling is a key component for your marketing strategy. Humanizing the brand to understand who it is, and what stands for, will lead you to your target market. Ultimately, it provides you some guidelines on how to connect with the prospect. Hence, all your marketing material has to be consistent with the story you are telling.