It would hardly be a stretch to say that the days of loud and obvious advertising are behind us. Today’s audience wants a connection and authenticity. Storytelling is one of the tools that allow your brand to cut through the noise and build a narrative that resonates with consumers.
Today, we will explore how the mix of storytelling and influence marketing can amplify your image and achieve top user engagement and satisfaction levels.
What is Brand Storytelling
First things first: what sort of marketing tool is storytelling, and what kinds of storytelling are there?
Storytelling is an approach to building a narrative around your brand that allows you to connect with your audience in a meaningful way while communicating your goals and values.
There are multiple kinds of brand narratives that center around key elements of the brand identity, the most popular being the brand’s origin, mission, and audience.
The Origin Story
This storytelling approach revolves around the heritage of your brand and its actual or invented story. It covers how and why your brand came to be, the inspiration behind its creation, and the core values that guide you on your journey.
A good example of an “origin story” would be the famous Harley-Davidson motorcycle brand. The narrative tells us about the brand’s founders bringing their vision of a motor bicycle to life in a small town shed.
This highlights the humble beginnings of a brand that would become a symbol of freedom, power, and youth rebellion. These values resonated with the audience’s sentiment and the core ideas of American society at the time.
The Mission-Focused Story
This type of story highlights the brand’s core mission and values. It’s an efficient strategy for telling your audience what your brand stands for and the difference it wants to make. Mission storytelling is a useful tool for inspiring brand loyalty and it attracts customers who share your values.
As a good example of the “mission” approach, Dove has changed its original “quality self-care” narrative to one that celebrates the diversity of beauty. The storytelling focuses on promoting self-love, female empowerment, and body positivity across the brand’s audience. Dove’s campaigns go beyond brand commercials and include social media projects.
Toxic Influence: A Dove Film | Dove Self-Esteem ProjectDove’s “Self-Esteem Project” uses deepfake technology to raise awareness among parents about the harmful beauty advice their daughters encounter on social media.
The Audience Spotlight Story
This type of brand storytelling focuses on the recipients of your work — your audience. The main idea is to showcase how your products or services can change people’s lives for the better. This usually comes with sharing testimonials, use of user-generated content, and influencer collaborations. After all, what can be more powerful than putting the spotlight on a customer of your brand who has a dedicated following of their own?
IKEA’s marketing strategy is a great example of this kind of story. Most ad campaigns from this brand show real-life customers interacting with IKEA products and sharing their experiences. This is a very efficient way of getting customer feedback and tapping into buzz marketing as well.
Transmedia Storytelling
Among the types of storytelling, the transmedia approach stands out as a powerful blend of different narratives. This is a story that spans across diverse platforms and formats, not limited to one single channel or idea.
The strengths of transmedia storytelling lie in spreading the story on many screens: choose devices and platforms that best match your audience. The engagement is also high with this approach: when your narrative is spread over multiple channels, such as websites, apps and social media, consumers are compelled to interact with it. Transmedia storytelling allows for a richer and more immersive audience experience. By strategically using different media platforms, brands can build a more expansive and engaging world for their audience to explore.
Why Influencer Marketing Is Good for Brand Storytelling
Influencer marketing is the best choice for brand storytelling, whether your goal is to establish a new narrative or to enhance your existing story. Opinion leaders present a live and relatable face to your story, the storyteller in the flesh. In this way they can build stronger emotional connections with your audience and make your brand story authentic. The main advantages of incorporating influencers in your storytelling strategy are as follows:
- Trustworthy voice: having a real face telling your story makes it more believable than traditional advertising. Influencers have trust and credibility with their audience, an important asset to your promotion.
- Relatable story: chosen correctly, an influencer can be more than a presenter, they are the avatar of your audience, just another friend using your brand’s products. They incorporate your story into their lives and tell it in their own unique way.
- Targeted reach: it’s hard to overemphasize the importance of appropriate audience segmentation and targeting. In this respect, influencers present yet another strength: they already have their own dedicated corner of the internet and an audience of people who enjoy their content.
- Multi-platform potential: most influencers focus on one platform or social media outlet, but your promotion is not limited to only one influencer. Craft a campaign that unites the best opinion leaders from all the platforms relevant to your target audience and truly embrace the benefits of transmedia storytelling.
In essence, influencer marketing allows you to leverage the power of storytelling in a way that feels natural and authentic.
How to Use Brand Storytelling in Your Next Influencer Marketing Campaign
So, how do you create a story using influencer marketing as a promotion tool? Although it’s worth noting that each brand and each brand story is unique and there can be no one-size-fits-all solution here, we have highlighted several important steps you need to take to make your brand narrative resonate with your audience.
Define Your Brand Story
Before reaching out to influencers, it is essential to understand what story you wish them to tell. Not surprisingly, your story itself must be the cornerstone of your marketing strategy. Decide on the values you wish to project, fine-tune your mission, and select the correct brand voice.
Pick the Perfect Partner
Choosing the right influencer may be difficult: there are many opinion leaders out there, and finding the one who can carry your brand’s message is never a simple task. The main cue: your brand’s values and audience should match those of the influencer. Another thing to pay close attention to is the influencer’s track record with advertisers. Make sure you thoroughly research them before entering into any agreements. If you are just finding your feet in storytelling and influencer marketing, it is a good idea to delegate this to professionals like the AAA Agency.
Craft a Compelling Narrative
Aside from the story itself, it is important to invest in the narrative and the way it is presented to your audience. The influencer’s experience with storytelling is most valuable, but your campaign should be a collaboration of your team’s efforts and the influencer’s charisma. Only then will your brand’s story truly reach the audience.
Measure Results
Once the campaign is over, don’t forget to measure and analyze the outcomes. During the promotion, monitor key metrics such as engagement, reach, and bounce rate to assess the effectiveness of your approach. The insights you gain from measuring performance will help you on your way to more powerful brand storytelling.
Craft Your Brand Story With The AAA Agency
Building a brand story with influencers requires the right partner. Creativity and tech expertise are a rare mix, but the AAA Agency delivers both in abundance.
The team’s passion fuels authentic connections. They prioritize long-term loyalty and creative spark, ensuring your message resonates. Partner with the AAA Agency and craft a brand story that drives real results.
