Grow your brand by telling a story instead of just self-promotion.
When you think of examples of great commercials or advertisements, a lot of the best examples are clips or images that tell a story. Sometimes they have elements that relate directly back to the original brand, like the Budweiser Clydesdales, and other times they are simply real stories independent from the brand, but that fit into the brand's overall message. Always' "Like a Girl" campaign and Dove's many body-positive campaigns would be prime examples.
Storytelling in commercials is a natural fit - it's easy to tell a story in a few moments on screen, but when it comes to print marketing, sometimes brands have a hard time translating those same principles into a two-dimensional piece. Storytelling in print is just as important to building our brands, and driving customer loyalty.
Target Marketing recently highlighted a list of tips for developing storytelling in marketing. So how do we adapt them for print?
- Be Relevant & Be Motivating - Don't just advertise to your target audience. Give them the opportunity to be a part of your story, and visa versa. Interactive and cross-channel campaigns that encourage social media or in-person responses are a great way to get people involved in your brand. Encouraging an emotional response, even if it doesn't directly benefit your business, will help you build a community.
- Be Consistent & Credible - Developing a consistent brand image not only helps streamline your marketing efforts, but it helps to build trust and loyalty among your customers. That trust becomes especially important when it comes to facts and data that you present about yourselves and your industry. In today's over-exaggerated marketplace, credibility means quality - and that's something you should want to share.
- Be Different - Continuity is important, but you should also strive to be unique from others in your market. Find what sets your business apart and highlight that - it could be humor, imagery, tradition or other aspects of your brand's image, but it should be something that differentiates you from a competitor.