Creating Your Brand Story
It is no longer a question of Business To Consumer (B2C) or Business To Business *B2B).
It’s now Human To human (H2H).
If content is King (and there’s a real push for business owners who want to grow their brand to create as much content as possible), then Engagement is the Queen of Hearts.
Instead of constantly creating meaningless blog posts, Facebook Live videos, Podcasts and downloads, pushing it out there as fast as we can, on as many channels as we can, we need to stop and focus on what really matters to our ideal audience
If you want to really build your brand, you need to be relatable, relevant and real.
Telling your brand story is a sure-fire way to connect and engage, not only as a business person or specialist in your field, but as a fellow human.
Because people don’t buy based on fact, they buy based on emotion.
Your brand story should capture captivate and convey how you want to make people feel.
Because we are living in the age of the authentic brand, and your ideal prospect wants to know. like and trust you before they will buy from you.
Sharing your brand story enables your prospects to feel they are getting the real McCoy, your true self, making you vulnerable.
And if you are prepared to trust them with your story, chances are, they will be prepared to trust you with theirs.
After all, isn’t that the real secret to doing business, asking questions to see what the real problems are, so that you can positively impact someones life?
Here’s how to create your brand story using the 3R’s of Personal Branding:
Recognition:
Your brand story will create a recognition factor for your business, as long as you focus on what you want others to say about you.
Make sure your brand story is clear and precise, using the words you want others to use when they refer you to others. You also want your prospect to recognise themselves in your story.
Don’t be tempted to only include the good bits, make sure you share something they can resonate with, knowing exactly how it feels to be in the same situation.
Reputation:
Once upon a time there was a little girl who sat in a classroom and struggled to understand English. Her teacher told her she had ‘wordblindness’ and that she would never be able to learn like the other children.
She taught herself to paint pictures of words in her head and read as many books as she could lay her hands on.
Years later she became a leading brand manager, working in World leading advertising agencies and even won awards as a Neurobranding specialist – understanding the way the brain sees brands, the same way she saw words in her mind when she was a child.
That’s part of my brand story.
Its simple, engaging, easy to read and most importantly, easy to remember.
The best stories get remembered and retold, over and over again and that’s exactly what you want your brand story to become…
…a well told, recognised tale that your raving fan clients find incredibly easy to share and spread for you.
Keep it simple, avoid jargon where you can, and create a fable like theme that’s interesting and easy to retain.
Respect:
A personal brand creates the ‘trust currency’ and your brand story, increasing the level of respect people have for you and your expertise.
Consumers are incredibly savvy, reading between the lines and using their instinct to believe you or not.
Expertise, certifications and awards leverage your brand to great heights, but can make you aloof and untouchable.
Be real, have a head of gold as the go-to expert, but make sure you also have feet of clay, letting everyone know you have walked in the shoes of building a business with mistakes and catastrophes that made you who you are.
Don’t try to impress, try to engage with success and failure in equal measure. You don’t have to have a rags-to-riches story, just be human, don’t hide your flaws. To get started with your own brand story, go back in time and consider what thread connects everything you have experienced.
Oprah Winfrey, one of the most recognised personal brands on the planet talks about this, and remember she was speaking at the front of her church as a 3 year old and look where her passion for being an orator got her!
Once you have your brand story completed, make sure you share it; in your social media profile, on your About Us page and in your speaker bio. Tell it when you introduce yourself as the guest speaker, give it to media who interview you.
Make it part of your brand culture and weave it into the fabric of your brand identity.
After all, It’s your story, you wrote it, you lived it, so tell it how you want to.
Did you find this information useful and will you make any changes to your branding based on it?