Not so long ago, in a place not so different from the one you’re in, a brand was just a logo— but then it’s found its voice, shared its journey, and turned new customers into loyal fans through the power of storytelling. 📖
In this article, we explore what storytelling is, share brand storytelling examples, and give you best practices to make yours a memorable brand message.
So grab your hot cocoa and come around the fire—it’s story time.
What is brand storytelling?
Brand storytelling is the art of turning your mission, values, and voice into a narrative that captivates and inspires. Done right, it transforms customers into characters in your journey—rooting for you, engaging with you, and coming back for more.
It’s like those books and shows that you just can’t get enough of. They’ve got you on the edge of your seat, you’re invested in the characters, and you’re resonating with the message.
Replace that book with a brand, and that’s storytelling for brand building. ✨
Key elements of effective storytelling for brand building
From connecting on an emotional level to creating consistent messaging, here are the key elements of effective storytelling for brand building.
Authenticity: Staying true to your brand values
Brand getting lost in a crowded market? When customers know where your brand stands, they know where to find you.
Building your brand's story around your company’s values—and staying true to them—will win over customers in the long run. Brand stories that feel authentic, resonate with your audience, and practice what they preach build trust, foster loyalty, and turn one-time buyers into lifelong fans.
Relatability: Understanding your audience
To craft effective storytelling for brand building you need to understand your customers and prospects. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What are my customer's needs?
- What are my customer’s wants?
- How can my product or service help them achieve those wants and needs?
- What is the daily life of my customer?
- What kind of activities does my customer like?
- How can my brand exist in those contexts?
- What are my customer’s values?
- How can we convey our shared values?
Then, you can craft a relatable brand story around that information.
Emotion: How to build a strong emotional connection
You’ve seen it before—the NGO ad that pulls on the emotional chords, the social media post that calls in the troops, or the personalized astrology email that you look forward to every day. Crafting storytelling for an emotional response is a powerful tool.
But how do you do it?
Once you’ve taken the time to understand your audience, speak to them. What do they care about? What motivates them? What does your amazing brand have to share with them? Then, share it! Brand storytelling crosses channels, speaks to hearts, and connects people to organizations.
Consistency: Weaving a unified brand narrative across channels
Consistency is key. Brand stories that work are identifiable, relatable, and clear. If your brand’s social media messaging is different from your homepage, you’re doing it wrong. Your brand voice, values, and offering need to be consistent across all channels, throughout all steps of the customer journey.
Brilliant brand storytelling examples
Let’s look at three examples of brilliant brand storytelling:
1. Patagonia
Patagonia is an outstanding example of a brand that lives and breathes its mission, vision, and values.
And how do they convey this?
Storytelling, naturally.
On their landing page above, from the get-go, Patagonia includes key elements to convey their unique value proposition with consistent language that speaks to their target customer. In their menu tab, customers and site visitors can easily find brand stories, where Earth’s story is an essential part of their overall brand story.
This landing page is a great example of weaving brand values into everything you do. Notice how there are only two sentences on the page above, yet the:
✔️Brand's mission ✔️core values and ✔️unique value proposition
are all clearly stated on their Worn Wear page. Patagonia’s effective use of the three Cs— writing convincingly, correctly, and concisely—and their successful brand storytelling make them an undeniably competitive and compelling brand.
2. Holafly
Holafly, a digital SIM card company, utilizes content marketing to create a compelling brand story. They provide inspiring and educational content perfectly fit for their target market—travelers. Because who’s going to need an international eSIM? Travelers on the go, and travelers interested in authentic stories that can help guide their journey.
Holafly’s blog landing page above is an excellent example of creating content where the brand exists, without strings attached. They use a genuine storytelling marketing strategy to reach their target audience, providing useful information written by travelers, for travelers. This, in turn, organically builds brand identity, awareness, and trust.
3. Burt’s Bees
How do you sell eco-friendly products to eco-friendly people? (If you’re not cheering, “STORYTELLING!” at this point, we’re doing this wrong.)
Burt's Bees is a longstanding natural skincare and beauty brand known for its eco-friendly products, beeswax-based formulas, and commitment to sustainability. They apply this ethos to all of their marketing efforts. Their brand storytelling revolves around conveying this message, and appealing to the audience who appreciates that.
In the example above, taken from their Instagram page, you can see how Burt’s Bees uses the social media platform to share their brand story: beauty products made from good ingredients. The following storytelling techniques are present:
✔️Authenticity: The story matches the brand’s mission
✔️Consistency: Brand voice on this channel is consistent with other channels
✔️Transparency: They share “what’s inside” the products, building the audience’s trust
While not explicit, they make emotional connections—appealing to the safety and fragility of the natural environment and the aesthetic enjoyment of beauty products. All of this is top-notch brand storytelling, connecting how customers feel to what customers buy.
Best practices for storytelling in brand building
Memorable and successful brand stories don’t happen by accident—they’re built on best practices. Here are three of our favorites for storytelling in brand building:
1. Understand your audience
Understanding your audience is key to storytelling for brand building. You need to know who you’re talking to, what their needs are, and how you can help them.
Steps for understanding your audience:
- Identify your ideal customer profile (ICP)
- Find pain points you can provide solutions for
- Research competitors and market
- Bring it in for brand storytime
2. Grab their attention—with intention
Click bait is great, but it takes a cohesive brand narrative to reel it all in. Many brands do their best to grab attention, but then don’t know what to do with it.
Create content that allows you to resonate with your audience on a deeper level. Successful storytelling for brand building goes beyond the hook, and into the open ocean of a full brand narrative. Content marketing built on compelling stories, copywriting crafted with emotional connection, and products or services that resonate with the target audience are all essential elements of a brand's story.
3. Be water, my friend
This one’s a blend, so naturally we have to take a quote from the master of the balance of opposites, dear Bruce Lee.
For the best brand building, you have to balance two storytelling best practices at once: keep it consistent, and be willing to adapt.
Be brave enough to share brand stories that are impactful, vulnerable, and honest—and be willing to adapt. You’re not going to get it perfect, especially not at first.
How to be water when storytelling for branding building:
- Stay true to your brand’s values
- Be consistent across all channels
- Try new things, test your limits, and track your progress
How can storytelling improve a brand's digital marketing strategy?
Digital marketing is essential in today’s market, and storytelling is how you can leverage social media, email marketing, and content writing to reach your target audience.
Benefits of incorporating storytelling into digital marketing:
- Emotional connection ➡️ Engagement: Stories create an emotional bond with customers, making your brand more relatable, memorable, and shared.
- Stronger brand identity ➡️ Differentiation: A unique and developed brand story helps you stand out in a crowded digital space.
- Higher conversions ➡️ Customer loyalty: A well-told brand story can guide customers through their journey, increasing conversions and turning one-time buyers into loyal advocates.
Build your brand identity with stellar storytelling
Inspired to share your brand’s story? Join The Art of Storytelling with published fiction author, experienced SaaS writer, and founder of dslx, Ray Slater Berry, and learn how to put it all into practice.
Built for busy business bees and creative creatures, this entirely online writing course is designed around your time. Binge it all at once, or take it in bits and pieces. You can visit the video modules, writing practices, and industry examples at your own pace. Learn how to build brands through storytelling.
