When we started Radius, it was during the lows of the Great Recession. Our founder came from the high dollar, flashy world of sports marketing, and as budgets tightened, he noticed many marketing executives and company owners struggled to determine which pieces of their strategy were producing results. Marketing leaders were entering an extremely challenging period without the information they needed to develop an effective strategy.

From that point forward, Radius was built to help brands navigate their way through the uncertainty of the marketing and advertising world. We fought for the goals our clients wanted to accomplish, helping them understand their results and trying to add as much value along the journey as possible.

All of these components, from our background to our mission of always providing more value than expected, make up our company’s brand story. When we talk about a brand story, we’re talking about an overarching narrative that demonstrates who you are and communicates authentic feelings others can connect with. You might be asking yourself, why bother perfecting your story? We know a strong and compelling story can make a big difference in your business’ performance. Keep reading to find out how.

What Makes a Good Story?

Why are stories so effective at creating connections with your audience? Think about how you usually describe your best friend to another person. You might start by describing by who they are and their characteristics, but you probably default into telling a story about them to drive your point home. “Taylor is my most loyal friend. Like this one time, she drove all night just to make it in for the grand opening of my new business…” Stories are better at capturing our attention, and a meaningful message creates emotional ties that stick with us much longer than any sale or slogan.

We’ve all heard the famous Maya Angelou quote: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how they you made them feel.” Telling a strong story with powerful emotion helps customers establish a connection to your brand. If done well, this feeling of belonging will stick with them and come to mind the next time they need to make a purchase.

A good story also sets your brand apart, even if you have a less-exciting product. Your story doesn’t have to directly be about products or services. Many brands choose to focus on the kind of person who would be interested in them. For example, a story about feminine products may make your consumer feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. Instead, the brand Always created the Like a Girl campaign to show how today’s girls are overcoming society’s limitations and gaining confidence. Their brand story focuses on how they want their products to make the audience feel, while still sticking to a theme that makes sense for their industry. 

How to Tell Your Story

Now you may know your brand’s story, but how do you effectively tell it? The delivery of your story is just as important as the story itself. A good brand story must be more than an interesting anecdote or piece of news. It should incorporate one or more of what we call the three Es: entertainment, education and engagement. The best brands are able to include at least two, if not all three in their messaging. It makes sense if you think about it. When ads are purely entertaining, you might laugh, but you’re not left with a lasting impression. If an ad is only educational, though, it probably bores you to death.

Think of Farmers Insurance’s ads. In each of their marketing messages, they give an example of crazy (but real) claim someone once made. Their commercials always end on the same theme of reassurance and security, assuring viewers that “We covered it. We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.” Farmers Insurance is educating the audience about the situations their insurance will cover while entertaining and engaging them with a goofy story. It’s the combination that engages the audience and leaves them with a message they will remember.

Where to Tell Your Stories

For years, many brands focused on traditional advertisements, like commercials, print ads and radio spots, to portray their stories. These methods can still be effective, but they usually require significant planning and ad budgets that is not realistic for every business. Through the Internet and social media, any brand can now connect with customers 24 hours a day from the palms of their hand. These one-on-one conversations will reinforce the human voice and authenticity you’re trying to convey through your storytelling.

If creating a brand story sounds overwhelming, start small. Storytelling does not have to feel daunting, and you can tell a good story without launching a massive campaign. You might start by recording a video that introduces your brand story and company values. Then you can send that video in an email, post clips of it on each of your social media pages and even add it to the home page of your website. You may also continue telling your story by monitoring each post for comments and responding with on-brand messages. The story will still create connections and reach your audience on a number of different channels, even without a massive media campaign.

To most effectively tell your brand story, each piece of content, each ad, and each piece of marketing should communicate the same key themes. In all of their ads, Always includes themes of confidence and women’s empowerment, even outside their Like a Girl campaign. Keeping it simple and focusing on just one main message makes it easy for your audience to remember your story. In time, they may even start to identify those themes and make the connection to your brand on their own.