How to Build Your Company’s Brand Story – 10 Tools and Resources to Use

Many businesses are selling their products and services online. You are not alone; so, how do you break through the noise? Well, you can separate yourself from the competition with your brand story. Remember, your brand story is unique, and people want to hear it.

As consumers and businesses have become less susceptible to banner advertising, they want to invest in building brand narrative. They know the power of brand story and how a strategic brand narrative can increase the value of their offerings by over 20 times [1].

So, to build your brand, you need to learn and invest in storytelling where you can speak your brand’s message, innovatively and intuitively. 

Storytelling – The New Age Narrative-Based Marketing 

Storytelling is a differentiating factor amongst brands’ creative and strategic accolades. Brands can merge data-driven insights with cutting edge creatives to resonate with the golden market. You can call it a secret sauce that brands have been chasing for a long time.

From data-driven storytelling to customer-led storytelling, there are different mediums brands can use to tell their story. In this blog, we will discuss ways to build a compelling brand story that can help engage a massive audience. So let’s start:

How to Get Started?

Building a branding narrative that compels your customer to take a chance and buy your offerings is important, let’s see how you can do it:

Know Your Brand’s Vision

When you begin with your brand story, make sure you know what and why you are doing? You need to ask yourself some basic questions:

• Why does your brand exist?
• How do you contribute to your customers?
• What mission do you want to accomplish?
• What motivates you? 

Try to find answers to these questions and then begin weaving a story. Your story doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, but it must serve a purpose. Remember that people don’t buy anything just because you want to make money. Instead, they are looking for something that could solve their issue; so, your offerings must solve their purpose.

Find Your Audience

By finding your audience, we mean that you should know who you are talking to. 

You should know your target customers because that’s when you know their issues and pain points. Ask yourself a set of questions to determine whether your brand story fits into their lives or not:

• What is at stake in case a customer rejects your offerings?
• Who is your current customer?
• Who is your ideal customer?

Narrowing down to your ideal customer will let you carve out a stunning brand narrative that resonates with your ideal customer. Stop being everything for everyone; instead, be valuable to a few. Build meaningful connections with people through your narrative and turn it into sales.

Promote Your Expertise

To promote your expertise, you must understand how your offerings fit into customers’ life. This is how you make it relatable to your customers that drive engagement. You need to consider a few things before you start promoting your product:

• The price and quality of your product
• Customer perspective about it 
• The USP of your product

After you are fully aware of your offerings, then jump onto finding the right tools to promote your brand story.

You can start with the top ten tools mentioned below to build your brand story. 

Ten Tools You Can Use to Build Your Brand Story

If you had been struggling to promote your brand story, it’s time to re-evaluate your strategy. Here are ten important tools that can help you grow and promote your brand. Let’s start:

Press Release (PR)

Today brands are built on publicity, and you can say that the cart is driving the horse. Here PR plays an important role in amplifying your brand message across people. It seems to be a credible way to do so as it gives your brand depth and personality. 

PR brings in authentic and genuine storytelling that narrows down the focus, which resonates with the target audience. Once you create a story, you can determine who to tell the story through a good PR strategy.

It includes the following:

• Displaying customer testimonials
• Encouraging customer reviews
• Leveraging more in social proof
• Press releases
• Fact sheets

LinkedIn

With 700 million active users [2], LinkedIn has become a top-notch social networking site to market your brand story. LinkedIn has evolved over time, and now it has come up with new features like live videos. Such add-ons bring advertising opportunities. All this has caught the attention of marketers, making it the second most used platform by B2B marketers[3].

You can use the following ways to build your brand:

• Create a company page and post content regularly
• Use LinkedIn polls to drive engagement
• Answer different questions
• Ask for recommendations
• Write articles and educate your audience
• Personalize invitations to connect

YouTube

YouTube is far beyond a go-to destination to watch videos making it the most visited site after Google[4]. It accounts for 60% of all online videos, making it the third most popular marketing medium[5]. 48% of marketers are already investing in it for paid social media[6]. YouTube has a great potential to drive engagement due to videos as roughly 90% of people watch videos to educate themselves.

Here’s what you can do to promote your brand story on YouTube:

• Search popular keywords and put them everywhere.
• Choose attractive thumbnails.
• Use multiple calls to actions like rate this video, find me on Facebook, visit my blog, etc.
• Create a playlist for your audience.
• Add an emotional touch while showcasing your product features and benefits.

Instagram

With 95 million photos, Instagram is one of the most uber-famous visual-centric social media platforms[7]. In fact, it’s the second most logged-in social media site[8]. 

Out of the 1 billion user base[9], 90% of accounts follow at least one business[10]. It is indicative of the fact that users like such a large brand presence. With such a large presence of brands and a great user base, Instagram has turned out to be a new marketing medium for businesses to promote their brand story.

Here’s what you can do to spell your magic to appeal to the customer without actually selling them:

• Include your website link in your account on Instagram, along with an informative and interesting bio.
• Use a consistent name and image to let people recognize you.
• Use attractive creatives to lure your audience on Instagram. You can take the help of editing tools to do so.
• Use offers and exclusive announcements to drive engagement.
• Don’t forget IG contests.
• Promote all your events with informative posts. Remember, hashtags are a must!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

If you don’t know, then let us tell you that 68% of online experiences begin with search engines[11]. Around 92.96% of global traffic comes from Google searches, Google maps, and Google images[12]. What is it that drives such big traffic? Well, it’s not at all surprising, SEO being the top-most marketing strategy drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media[13]. You can’t afford to miss such a huge opportunity to market your brand story.

Let’s find out what you can do for brand promotion with SEO:

• Search popular keywords and optimize your content by including them to get more traffic and leads.
• Build authority by including links from credible and high domain authority websites.
• Add a personal touch to the plain data. You should consider the buyer’s persona and the writer’s personality who writes your content.
• Use catchy headlines and subheads to attract readers.
• Optimize title tags, Meta descriptions, and URLs to build solid SEO for each piece of content.
• Build a mobile responsive site, optimize it, and improve its speed to enhance the user experience.

Pay Per Click (PPC)

With Pay Per Click (PPC), it’s easier to reach your audience as 63% automatically click on a Google Ad[14]. 

Moreover, 49% of people say they click on text ads, 31% on shopping ads, and 16% on video ads[15]. Also, paid ads have 11.38% of CTR on Google just because they appear on the top of the page[16]. The ads are shown to your target audience, and they click on it when they need your product. We can say that PPC does impact your bottom line as it makes choosing easier for customers. 

So, what can you do to show your customers you care? Let’s find out:

• Invest in attractive ad copies to hook your target audience.
• Organize your links according to customer needs and interests.
• Use long-tail keywords in your ad copies.
• Back your marketing with lots of data and facts to make your copy credible.

Facebook

Facebook has become a part of our daily routines. You would be surprised to know that it has 2.60 billion active users[17]. And, these users are spending an average of 58.5 minutes on Facebook each day[18]. What does it mean? As a business, you can’t ignore such a massive audience. 

Around 80 million small businesses are already using it to promote their brand[19]. You can also do something unique to communicate your brand message; here are some tips:

• Create a business page with stunning visuals, interesting bio, and engaging content.
• Keep posting the content regularly to build a solid brand presence; so you don’t get out of people’s minds.
• Interact with customers, respond to their messages and comments, and keep them updated with the latest information. Gradually they will start tagging you in their comments.
• Host contests from time to time to create buzz and drive engagement.
• If nothing works, try paid ads and boost your important posts and campaigns.

TikTok

With 500+ million active users worldwide, TikTok has also emerged as a popular social media platform[20]. The reason for such a big reach is its mass availability in 39 languages[21]. Out of these, nine out of ten TikTok users use the app multiple times a day – you can understand the rate of engagement on the app[22]. 

TikTok allows users to create 15-second video clips that have been easier for small influencers to promote themselves. There are many different features that can be put to use to promote your brand story. Let’s see what you can get started – 

• Begin with creating your channel on TikTok and regularly upload videos relevant to your audience.
• Connect to influencers to introduce your offerings to a broader sect of the audience.
• Use raw and unedited videos to showcase how people are using your brand.
• Go live to educate your audience about your products and services. Let them know if you have launched any new services or products, or about any events you are to organize.
• Use various challenges to drive engagement, such as the #hashtag challenge.

Twitter

If you are considering Twitter marketing for your next brand campaign, then it has to be best optimized to get the maximum results. However, it boasts 330 million monthly active users[23] who collectively send 500 million tweets every day[24]. 

Apart from this, the time spent on viewing ads is 26% higher on Twitter than other social media platforms[25]. It indicates more engagement and more leads, which could act as a pool of marketing opportunities for brands. This is the reason that 67% of B2B businesses are already using it to promote their brand[26].

Taking inspiration from other businesses, you can also invest in Twitter and build your brand. Make sure you follow the basic tips mentioned below:

• Begin with creating a robust bio to attract all conscious customers.
• Create engaging content using Twitter cards if you want your content to stand out from the rest of your competitors.
• As there are limited characters you can type, don’t forget to include relevant hashtags so people can quickly recognize your messages.
• Build your followers using tools like social quant and find relevant users and conversations[27].
• Identify popular influencers and engage with them to spread a word about your brand in their community.
• Regularly monitor Twitter for keyword mentions.
• Don’t ignore the power of catchy headlines.
• Also, use pinned tweets to draw attention to your current brand promotion.

Pinterest

In the world where people are rushing to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, Pinterest can be your brand’s new best friend. 

In 2012, Pinterest was the fastest standalone site to reach 10 million users[28]. Since there is no looking back, Pinterest has grown a fan base of strong users who frequently turn to it for various activities. With more than 200 billion pins to browse through, people use this channel to find shopping inspirations, planning social activities, and learning through how-to posts[29]. Now, the platform has 322 million monthly active users[30]. 

So, what’s the indication for your brand? It has great marketing potential both for local and global brands. You just need to know where your audience comes and tailor your content according to their preference. Let’s explore the marketing ideas you can put to use to promote your brand story:

• Create educational marketing material and indulge in interactive workshops to connect with pinners.
• Use persuasive images as much as you can because that’s what draws in the audience.
• Use pins with an ideal measurement of 736*1102. You can use tools such as Canva to create pins of this measurement[31].
• Apart from infographics, there’s a new buzz word called “Instrographics.” Use this for pins such as DIY and how-to guides.
• Add a pin it button to your every pin, which will direct your followers to your website.
• Don’t forget to comment and respond to followers’ pins.
• Follow popular boards and engage with them. Invite them to pin on your boards.
• Also, include a direct link to your website. 

Which Channel is Right for You?

You must consider varied factors while creating a social media strategy for your brand. After all, you want maximum results for your brand. But, the first thing to get started with branding is to determine which channel is right for your business. 

So, how do you do that?

When it comes to choosing the right channel for your brand, there’s a thumb rule to it. Quality over quantity! Choose a few channels and post high-quality content rather than choosing millions and posting low-quality content.

Apart from this, focus on networks to interact and engage conversation. Figure out where you get more of it and jump onto that. Here are some things that you must consider before you choose the right channel for your brand:

• Your goals, which could be brand awareness, generating leads, or social selling.
• Consider where your target audience is more.
• Channels your competitors are using.
• Channel where you get most of the engagement.
• Type of content you will be posting on the chosen channel.
• Your budget and resources.

Let’s Move Forward with Your Own Unique Brand Story

By now, you might be well-acquainted with the idea of building a brand story; so, it’s time you can start with your own. KISS PR is here to strengthen the creative muscle and write something unique for you. If you have something in mind, let us know. We will execute your good intentions, infused with your unique idea!

Feel free to discuss your plans with us here.

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References

[1]http://significantobjects.com/ 

[2]https://news.linkedin.com/2020/april/linkedin-business-highlights-from-microsoft-s-fy20-q3-earnings 

[3]https://www.mojoweb.com/downloads/social/social-media-report-19.pdf 

[4]https://www.alexa.com/topsites 

[5]https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-07-16-youtube-views_x.htm 

[6]https://www.ppchero.com/new-research-the-state-of-paid-social-2/ 

[7]https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/04/20/instagram-statistics 

[8]https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/chart/how-often-americans-are-using-social-media/ 

[9]https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ 

[10]https://business.instagram.com/ 

[11]https://videos.brightedge.com/research-report/BrightEdge_ChannelReport2019_FINAL.pdf 

[12]https://sparktoro.com/blog/2018-search-market-share-myths-vs-realities-of-google-bing-amazon-facebook-duckduckgo-more/ 

[13]https://videos.brightedge.com/research-report/BrightEdge_ChannelReport2019_FINAL.pdf 

[14]https://searchengineland.com/what-makes-people-click-on-search-ads-309959 

[15]https://searchengineland.com/what-makes-people-click-on-search-ads-309959 

[16]https://sparktoro.com/blog/less-than-half-of-google-searches-now-result-in-a-click/ 

[17]https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/facebook-reports-first-quarter-2020-results-301049682.html 

[18]https://www.vox.com/2018/6/25/17501224/instagram-facebook-snapchat-time-spent-growth-data 

[19]https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_financials/2018/Q1/Q1-18-Earnings-call-transcript.pdf 

[20]https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/19/short-video-apps-like-douyin-tiktok-are-dominating-chinese-screens.html 

[21]http://support.tiktok.com/en/my-account-settings/change-language-en 

[22]https://influencermarketinghub.com/tiktok-stats/ 

[23]https://s22.q4cdn.com/826641620/files/doc_financials/2019/q1/Q1-2019-Slide-Presentation.pdf 

[24]https://business.twitter.com/ 

[25]https://business.twitter.com/ 

[26]https://www.statista.com/statistics/259382/social-media-platforms-used-by-b2b-and-b2c-marketers-worldwide/ 

[27]http://www.socialquant.net/ 

[28] https://techcrunch.com/2012/02/07/pinterest-monthly-uniques/ 

[29]https://business.pinterest.com/sub/business/insights/PinterestSeasonalInsights-2019.pdf 

[30]https://business.pinterest.com/audience/ 

[31]https://www.canva.com/