More often than not, when people hear the word storytelling, they think of novels, short stories, poetry. But as the world is moving forward, driving forth every existing concept, no idea remains unchanged. Storytelling is no exception—it’s becoming a pivotal foundation of Content and Brand Marketing.

When telling the story of your brand on your website and social media, in email newsletters and videos, what is it that you should always focus on? Your target audience, of course. Character-driven storytelling is relatable, personal, and engaging. It will help you develop a strong connection with both existing customers and prospects.

So, how can you make sure you’re telling your brand story in a way that resonates with your audience? And where do you even begin to tell the story? Just ask yourself these three simple questions, the answers to which will ensure you tell your brand story well and deliver it to the right people.

Who Are You Writing the Story For?

Clearly, the most essential question to answer is who your audience is. What industries and spheres of life do they come from? Use Google Analytics and Mixpanel to get those insights, analyze your audience, understand who they are and what they want.

Do you know your audience’s pains and needs, goals and aspirations? Does your story comfort them? Will your brand give them what they seek? In the end, every reader just wants to feel heard and taken care of. And the better you know and understand your readers, the more you can give them, and the stronger your brand story will become.

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What Exactly Are You Trying to Tell Your Audience?

Now that you’ve figured out who your readers are, think about what you want to tell them. Your content has to be relevant to your audience, and it has to be delivered in a way they will appreciate.

Ensuring you deliver the right content to the right people will increase customer acquisition, retention, and trust. If your audience feels you know what you’re talking about, you know what they need, they’ll be coming back for more.

Side note: Are you sure you’re delivering the right message?

Yes, you know your audience and what they want to hear. But it never hurts to double-check. Communication is key if you want truly character-driven content.

Here are a few ways for developing a meaningful brand story via communication with leads and existing clients:

• Client interviews. Why not ask your clients first-hand what they want and need? Request a 10-20 minute interview over the phone or Skype, email or LinkedIn. You’ll be surprised how much you can learn—from what they’re missing to why they love your product.
• Customer surveys. Perhaps it’s a less personal approach, but still effective. You can use SurveyMonkey or Typeform to create your survey. Insert a link to it into your email newsletters, in social media posts and stories. Or better yet—run an interactive poll on your website or medium.
• Review requests. Ask your clients to leave reviews about your company and service on Capterra or G2. Not only will their honest feedback give you an idea about their needs, but it’ll also help prospects see if your company is the right fit for them.

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How Can You Tell Your Brand Story to Make It Stand Out?

Let’s move past your written content—which, presumably, is brilliant—to the format you present it in. Short skimmable content blocks and catchy headlines no longer cut it. Readers expect diversity in the way information is presented to them. And with these techniques you certainly won’t disappoint your audience:

Imagery

As in, descriptive language? Certainly. But also visual content? Oh, yes, in all its versatile glory. Include imagery that will support your writing, but never divert the reader’s attention from the message. Your focus should always remain on the audience’s needs, if you want to create a character-driven brand story.

Is your website aimed at creative professionals? They are most likely to relate with images, informative GIFs, high-res animations. And if your brand tells a story to busy CEOs, why not produce colorful infographics with precise data, quality articles, outbound links to sources they will value? The right imagery, both in language and visuals, can become a key for connecting your brand and your audience.

Videos

A powerful video informs, entertains, and delivers your brand message in a fun format. Videos can fit well on your website and be used as a short summary of any landing page. Don’t forget to make an eye-catching preview image for your video, so that your site visitors would want to click Play and watch it.

You can host your video content on your own server or choose a platform that will do it for you, like YouTube or Vimeo. For videos that will “turn viewers into brand advocates”, head to Wistia. This tool will empower your videos with handy perks like a customizable player and built-in stats. Plus, your audience will always concentrate on your content, and yours alone—they won’t be distracted by ads or unrelated videos.

Digital Publications

An effective and refreshing medium for presenting content to your audience is digital publications. Instead of static PDFs, you can create digital flipbooks, brochures, ebooks. Easy to embed on any page of your website, they can become an extension of your brand.

Digital publications look just like physical copies that have gone beyond the printed world. In addition to texts and illustrations, they include animation, GIFs, outbound links, entertaining videos. The sheer content diversity that you can deliver via such publications is sure to engage your audience.

And telling your brand story is simple with digital flipbooks. You can add your own logo to each publication, customize its background and color palette to fit your company’s style, and even brand your publication URL. This will make your content instantly recognizable, and the interactive features will enliven your brand story on the screen.

So, creating a powerful brand story is easier than you might think. Just answer the questions above, do your research, add your interactive content—and your brand story will easily outweigh those of your competitors, attracting new leads and boosting customer loyalty.

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