Are you looking for a way to get customers to notice you? You have worked so hard, and your business is your passion, so what's next? We all want the work we put into our businesses to “pay-off,” but sometimes it can be a struggle to know where to start and how to get customers to notice your brand and for your website traffic to pick up.. Customers want to know what sets you apart from other businesses. Finding a way to reach them and show them what's in it for them can be a challenge if you don’t know where to begin. Lack of followthrough at this early stage can often discourage business owners from moving forward with their digital marketing efforts. When a person invests so much of themselves into their new business, of course, their goal is to succeed. But what’s the process?? Let’s discuss how incorporating storytelling into web design can make all the difference in reaching your customers and spurring business growth. Your branding and messaging should allow customers to recognize you and your product or services instantly. Think about some of the companies you recognize immediately. What causes that immediate recognition? It’s a story! Think about Super Bowl ads. Budweiser commercials are immediately recognizable with the inclusion of their Clydesdale horses and the relationship between horses and nature, other animals, or even when the entire team of Clydesdale horses takes a bow in tribute to 9/11. Customers pay attention when a business has a recognizable brand and uses that brand to tell a story. Humans respond to emotion. A story can cause a person to feel in-tune with your message, laugh, cry, and more. When a person feels emotion, they are drawn to the source of that emotion over and over again and a significant link has been established between your brand and that feeling. Even evoking frustration or negative feelings can have a place in the right sort of brand story, but must be done tastefully and with care. When creating a brand story, it is essential to keep that story focused. The customers’ eyes should be where you want them. Perhaps the story draws a question, and the conclusion surprises the customer. If, for example, Pepsi follows a particular storyline, then Coke should have a completely different brand message through storytelling. On rare occasions, it can be a brand strategy to build off a competitor’s story, but that story extension needs to be very strategic. An approach like that can easily backfire since it ties your brand to a competitor and creates a dependent narrative. Telling stories with words can be effective, but creating engaging stories, including photos and videos, are far more captivating. People are visual, and stories that engage more than one of the senses are more memorable. Keep distractions to a minimum. Direct the customer to what you want them to see and feel. Allow them to feel their emotions and tie those emotions to your business. The brand stories should answer questions, solve a problem and evoke emotion. The customer should understand who you are trying to reach, what you are trying to offer, how it can help them, and why they should invest in you. Often the story will include fewer words and more photos and videos. Who loves a great story with a puppy finding his way home after getting lost just in time to celebrate with his favorite dog food? No words are even necessary, just visuals. Have you ever seen a brand’s story and wonder what it was you just watched? That should never happen. Every story should allow a customer to know precisely what the story ties to, and it should be memorable. Brand storytelling had previously been primarily through television or print. The world has changed so much in the last ten years, and brands can tell their stories through social media, any online presence, video games, and more. We see brand storytelling on billboards, scoreboards, city buses, car wraps, and everywhere around us, and a good story makes all the difference in a business’s success. Storytelling starts with web design. The first step in the building of your business sets the stage for all stories. Investing in support to create the best story for your brand is always a good idea. For more professional tips on how to create a brand that ignites the passion of your audience, download our free ebook “5 Steps to Building a Successful Brand Identity”. Still have questions or need some insight into building your brand? At Carrboro Creative, we’ve got you covered. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you perfect your message and get recognized for all the right reasons.Brand Storytelling
Keep The Story Focused & Consistent
Use visual aids + design
The Process Of Storytelling
Technology Makes All The Difference
Incorporating Storytelling In Web Design
