With ad costs rising, reach and engagement on digital channels
declining, and LLMs and bad actors potentially
spreading misinformation or even disinformation about your brand, it's no surprise that
storytelling skills are in demand.
Good storytelling is generally the stickiest and most compelling way to present information, but
definitions vary, as do the goals and intentions of brands seeking it.
What's Your Goal for Brand Storytelling?
Every brand has stories to tell, but when storytelling becomes a strategic or tactical priority, on par with
brand building or
thought leadership, you'll need an overarching focus or goal.
Preferably only one. And typically one of these.
1. Control Your Narrative
When the world talks about your brand, you want them reciting your elevator pitch, with your vision or solution
presented as the hero. And you don't want them creating a less friendly narrative on their own.
People often associate controlling your narrative with
marketing, but in the real world it's more likely handled
by
PR (and perhaps your founder), if it's being handled at all.
This type of storytelling is mostly needed by
startups and scaleups, and you'll mostly need two things from your
storyteller.
One is writing and refining of the story itself. The other is the ability to repeat it in different ways for
different audiences, mostly as a ghostwriter for your brand's public face.
2. Control the Narrative
This focuses on the story your industry (and not just your brand) tells the world.
About what's wrong with the world. About the future. And how your brand is solving the former and building the
latter.
Your vision or solution is the protagonist of this story, but "hero" is probably too strong a word. Because what
you're presenting is not you against the world, but progress, inevitability, and a promise fulfilled.
Typically this is done by market leaders and mistakenly done by
non-leaders.
Nobody wants the party line from a non-leader, they'd rather get it from the party, since it'll be better produced
and have the glossy weight of the rule of law.
What you're looking for in this type of storyteller is professionalism, probably through journalism, consultancy,
or prior leader brand experience.
3. Present Your Counternarrative
This is what challengers and rebels do, tell the world that the leaders' narrative is wrong, and why yours is
right.
The good news is pointing out flaws in an argument is easy, since every argument has them. What's hard is
convincing people to accept yours. And it can be especially hard for an anonymous brand to make such a case.
You'll often need a bona fide rebel making it, under their own name.
And it's hard to get something like this approved internally, unless the founder is the one making the case. So
again, you're mostly looking for a ghostwriter. Someone who can write and rewrite your argument for different
audiences and contexts.
4. Tell Your Brand's Story
This is where your brand has some type of history or is on some type of journey.
In other words, your brand is the hero, and this can apply to newer or older companies.
Newer companies are usually positioned as a pioneer or innovator, doing something new and completely different.
Older companies are usually niche leaders.
Either way, you'll need major
brand-level commitment to do this right, and even if you have it, there might
not be enough for a full-time storyteller to do.
You may want to think external, especially since the spontaneity and quirkiness you want with plucky
storytelling isn't always achievable within.
5. Tell Your Customer's Story
This is where your brand presents itself as the narrator of your
customer's story.
The customer is the hero, you're their chronicler. And they'll feel even safer (and therefore more heroic) by
purchasing from someone who really gets them.
The good news is this requires relatively little brand-level or high-level commitment (making it the easiest
storytelling goal in B2B), while being felt in some of your most impactful content, such as case studies and
success stories.
The bad news is it requires actual understanding of your customers, and a willingness to meet them where they
are (which is not necessarily where you are).
This requires storytellers with empathy and experience. Authentic and authoritative writing. An understanding
of human nature and business nature. And good internal alignment, so your content is engaging as well as
effective.
6. Keep People Reading
A
content strategy is a planned user or customer journey using content.
When this journey is based on storytelling, the journey itself becomes a story, with each
piece of content
functioning as a chapter, perhaps with each chapter focused on a
key decision.
This approach might not work when selling to groups, since you'll either be trying to get different people and
positions to follow the same journey or creating different journeys for different people and positions (both
of which are challenging), but it can work well with solopreneurs or freelancers.
And the numbers say getting a prospect to spend more time and read multiple pieces per session improves your
odds of
inspiring a subscription.
You'll need proper storytelling skills for this, in the way proper storytellers (like screenwriters) define
them.
But First Things First
Marketing resources are limited, and for most B2B businesses, storytelling, no matter how good it is, is no
substitute for brand, marketing, and
content marketing fundamentals.
You need
brand awareness. You need a
functioning funnel (or pipeline).
And you need to understand customers, and demonstrate this to them, and demonstrate you're the best choice
to solve their problems.
Worry about this stuff first. Make sure you're doing it right.
Because without it, you don't have a story worth telling.
