Storytelling and the power of authentic branding

Take a look around you, which brands do you see? Are they big brands or small brands, do they catch your eye? Can you tell what they do just by looking at them? Do they fit with your values? Do you know their story?

You see, brands aren’t just there to look nice, they are there to show you who they are. To let you know their beliefs and values, to tell a story about who they are. As a business owner have you thought about what story your brand tells? Have you thought about how this story can help you to make your brand more authentic?

But, first let’s chat about authentic branding – what is it?

An authentic brand is one that is honest and consistently transparent in its business initiatives. This means that brand messages show the values of the business, the brand is clear about what they stand for and they aim to create trust in a customer by being genuine and real about what they do.

Why is this so powerful?

Trust, openness and honesty fosters connection. Connection helps to grow a loyal customer base that trusts in your business and will encourage customers to return again and again. If you, as a brand or business, can be authentic in everything you say and do then the connections you build with your customers will lead to recommendations through word-of mouth. One of the most powerful marketing channels there is out there. Genuine content that provides an honest message aids in improving your site’s traffic, user engagement and audience reach, and places your business as a trusted expert in your field. Basically, authentic branding leads to good things.

Ok, so how to I make my brand authentic?

It’s pretty simple really… you be real.

This means:

Being real and honest about what you do
Being transparent about your brand values
Maintaining consistency through all your messages, your social media, website and printed collateral
Connecting with your audience through storytelling (more on this later)
Communicating clearly and openly with your audience and making sure you are easily approachable
Becoming an expert in your field

Creating an ongoing narrative that connects directly with your customer is one of the easiest way of achieving brand authority. I often tell clients that you ‘live the life you are selling’ so talk about it! It’s not about making up stories it’s about telling your real story and making a stand about the things that are important to you.

I heard the word storytelling, what does that mean?

Your business story is what helps to build your brand, it means placing your ideal customer at the centre of your narrative and using feelings and thoughts to create an emotional connection. Many of the clients I work with place value on ethical business practices and this shows in their brand story. They want to attract customers that value these ethical practices so they place these ideals in their storytelling. The power of this is that it makes it easier to align your business with customers that are going to buy your service or product.

What happens next?

Take a look at your brand now, how it looks, what it says, and take some notes about how it could align more with your brand values. How could you make it more real and genuine? With social media acting as a major marketing channel these days it’s never been easier to show the world (or more importantly your ideal customer) who you are. Don’t be afraid to show who you are and what you stand for, your ideal customer wants to see this.

#designtip – when deciding on content for your ‘story’ why not put together a list of messages you would like to communicate and build this into a content calendar. This way you know you are always on the right track and don’t have to question if it’s appropriate.

I hope this has helped a little in describing storytelling and the power of authentic branding, and has given you some things to think about regarding your business. Authentic branding doesn’t require a massive rebrand, there are small steps you can take to become more authentic, why not try aligning your brand story with your values first?

At Lil Creative Studio, we’re passionate about helping businesses like yours tell their stories through eye-catching, meaningful visuals. If you need help with your design project, feel free to reach out – we’d love to help.

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