Infusing Storytelling as a Product-Based Brand

Storytelling has become a major buzzword in 2024 — for a good reason. Infusing storytelling in your content has given brands and creators the opportunity to connect to their audiences on a more personal level, allowing for an intimate connection through speaking to people’s emotions. However, product-based businesses have faced challenges doing this and drawing the line between being “too personal” (i.e. being a personal brand) and holding a professional “brand front”. In this blog, we’ll break down exactly how product-based businesses can infuse storytelling into their content, while still making their products the main attraction.

Your Unique Story

Crafting a unique story is the first step in infusing storytelling into your content. All storytelling starts with a STORY. Your brand story is the foundation of all your messaging and will allow your audience to connect to your brand “essence”, which can not be described in words, but rather, felt! Start by identifying the key elements and themes that define your brand, such as your purpose, who you serve, why you serve them and what makes you different. Honing in on this throughout your content will set you apart from the crowd.

Your Brand’s Values, Personality & TOV

Your brand’s core values are the principles that shape its identity, while your values influence your brand personality, distinguishing your brand’s tone of voice. All three of these things will help you create STORIES for your brand, because it gives it an image and an identity while bringing it to life, which allows your audience to truly connect with you! People connect with people — so making your product-based brand as human as possible is key. Spend time thinking about these aspects of your brand, or better yet, work with a brand strategist to help curate this for you.

People & UGC

After giving your brand an identity and personality from the work you do above, the next step is incorporating real people through user-generated content! This is the sweet spot when it comes to humanising your brand and further building that brand-consumer relationship. Featuring people who are consistently showing up in the majority of content, and who act as the “face of your brand” will further build that trust with your audience by adding that extra personal touch! This can be the founder, team members, social teams or an individual creator that you hire for this role. P.S. Our clients hire us for this!

Days Brewing is a fantastic example of having the Founder story at the forefront of your brand! Their audience knows the Founder, his story and the social team is doing a great job in showcasing their journey online.

Odd Muse has a very strong brand identity. Their brand comes to life through their authentic, raw and organic content! Furthermore, their Founder, Aimee, always makes sure that she is at the forefront of the brand’s content!

DuoLingo is a fantastic example of how brands can infuse storytelling & personality into your social media content. Although they don’t technically show real people on their account, you’ve got to remember that there’s a person in that bird suit! That still counts!

Authentic, Organic & Raw

Another important aspect to note with all of the top-performing content pieces from the successful brands above is that they all create authentic, organic and raw content. This type of content IS modern-day storytelling. It fosters genuine connections with your audience and makes people feel like you are sharing your journey in real-time while sharing entertainment, or taking your audience behind-the-scenes, sharing the failures — these are all things that just make your audience trust you more and connect with you as a brand.

Visual Storytelling

Another aspect of successful storytelling as a product-based business is creating consistent and compelling visuals. This can be both in your branding, i.e. having a clear colour palette, fonts, etc., as well as in your photo & video content, both professional and user-generated. Developing a unique aesthetic that you become memorable & known for and that reflects your brand story will be essential in continuing to perpetuate your story, and evoking emotion from your audience.

Gisou’s brand story stems from the Founder’s family being bee-keepers. All the hair-care products are infused with honey, which you can see impacts the creative direction with the shiny, warm and vibrant aesthetic!

Topicals is a Black & female founded skincare brand that advocates for self-expression and mental health. Their mission is that skincare can be for anyone and everyone, which is translated through sharing authentic, trendy and organic UGC from real people often in their visuals!

Conclusion

All-in-all, the key to storytelling boils down to evoking emotions through your content! It’s time to transcend traditional marketing and foster meaningful, deep connections your your audience. Consumers are no longer easily swayed, and as a brand, you have a duty to earn their trust. 

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