The human brain is built to connect with compelling stories. Our sensory cortex and motor cortex become engaged when exposed to emotionally-charged events, allowing us to build a relationship or personal connection with the story involved. As a result, many brands prioritise storytelling in their marketing strategies.
Advances in technology mean there are more ways to tell your brand story than ever before. Corporate giants like Red Bull and Coca-Cola dominate social media, while smaller companies like Innocent Smoothies use increasingly inventive ways to stand out from the crowd.
When it comes to telling your brand story, technology is your friend. It immediately expands the potential reach of your brand, giving you the opportunity to share your identity and personality with a wider audience.
An established brand identity can make the difference between a profit and a loss, so here are four ways of using technology to leverage your brand story:
Reach out with social media
The attention of the customer has shifted online, increasingly towards social media. Social networking now accounts for almost 30% of the average person’s daily internet activities. As a result, platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram provide the perfect opportunity to emotionally engage with potential customers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJvTzHWDb3S/?taken-by=nike
Interacting with popular talking points is a great way to make your company seem up to date on the latest online trends. Twitter and Facebook both have a “trending stories” features. These allow brands to take part in a conversation, engaging with customers and potentially spreading a self-promotional message.
Alternatively, if your employees are attending an event, encourage them to document the experience on their social media accounts. Then use your company account to share the posts that best capture the event and complement your brand image.
Popular hashtags are also a self-promotional goldmine for brands. For instance, #ThrowbackThursday is a great opportunity to explore your brand’s origins. If you’re a multinational corporation but you want to seem more down to Earth, an image of your nerdy founders hanging out in college will work wonders.
Invest in a corporate video
In the digital landscape, video has become one of the most effective online marketing tools. 60% of internet users view video before reading text and 80% will recall the video for up to a month after watching it. Furthermore, videos are shared 1,200 more times than links and text combined – meaning a compelling story told via video is likely to reach far more than a story told by text alone.
According to video production company TellyJuice, there are several different ways a brand can use corporate video to share their story, including the use of interviews, scripted drama with actors, computer generated imagery or animation. This will help you to move away from the dry facts and statistics that will bore the viewer, instead allowing you to focus on visuals and details that create a compelling narrative.
Create an effective website
Old-fashioned websites just won’t cut it any more. If you have a website that is not mobile responsive, or is badly designed, then you are negatively affecting your brand image.
Internet users are becoming increasingly tech-savvy and will not waste time on a website with poor user experience. 81% of shoppers research online before buying, meaning that if your website isn’t up to scratch then you risk losing business.
Telling your brand story through your website doesn’t necessarily mean installing hundreds of plugins, creating complex code or writing reams of time-consuming content. It just means ensuring that your site is easy to navigate, responsive and attractive to visitors, with enough copy, content and imagery to tell visitors what your company is truly about.
Persist with email marketing
As the old adage goes, don’t fix what isn’t broken. When it comes to modern innovation, email might not be the first piece of technology that comes to mind. However, email is still a hugely effective marketing tool, with an impressive return on investment of 3800%.
By creating regular on-brand email newsletters, customers will remember your brand even when they are not actively seeking your product or service. The thing to understand about email marketing is that direct sales are not always the objective. The watchword is ‘value’. Give your customers a reason to open your email, and make sure you can back up any attractive subject line.
Whether it’s a welcome message for new subscribers, an interesting blog or new discount, make the emails you send a vital part of your brand story, not an afterthought.