How To Tell Your Brand Story On Social Media

By Shana Lynn Yao

Brands that Communicate Their Brand Story (from left to right)
Song of Style, Total Genius, Jasmine Dowling

Your brand story. It's a confusion to many whether you are a fashion blogger, a coach, or a fitness instructor, you have a brand story. It's not just your own story and it's not the creative and cohesive design on your website - it's actually a STORY that is told through the art of words and images.

As a business strategist AND a creative writer, blogger, and stylist, I've seen people talk about design. And I've seen people talk about business tactics. But few are actually talking about the how to combine the two and use it in your actual marketing - how to tell your brand story on social media.

Telling your brand story in your marketing not only adds a personality to business in general but it builds the association with an emotion that creates a personal connection with the potential customer or client.

What A Brand Story Is

Effective storytelling  is an art. It paints a clear and vivid picture in the mind of your potential clients. It speaks to  your audience's emotions and builds a connection with you relative to their life.

At the base of effective storytelling is a deep understanding of people and basic communication. Whether you communicate with images, word on your website and blog, or on YouTube or Facebook Live, at the base of it are human beings with REAL emotions, REAL lives, and REAL problems. 

Words and actions are how humans communicate. Back in the caveman days, before we had the ability to communicate with words, they used movement and symbols. Today, with social media, texting, and online communication, turning your story and communication into pictures and words and knowing how to express yourself and your business in an artful way that still gets results is not only important, it IS what business is all about.

The Basics Of An Effective Brand Story

Now we know what a brand story is for (to build an emotional connection with your audience), let's look at the essentials to an EFFECTIVE Brand Story.

Be sure your story:

1. Builds trust - you do this by knowing the real emotions your audience feels - remembering they are human just like you. What problems, situations, interests do you have? Your audience has those things too!
2. Establish your personality
3. Paint a picture of what the future with you is - Why do you do what you do? What is the ultimate goal?
4. Use keywords (using tools like Google Keywords Planner, relevant hashtags, etc.
5. Have an opinion and stand for something
6. Use social media platforms you best show up on. DON'T be everywhere - choose 1-2 social media sites that you will MASTER. For me, it's Instagram. I love being creative, happy, love all things that exude a strong personal style, and wallah! Hence tripling my Instagram followers in just 45 days
7. Show your stuff! Literally be the best at what you do through your social media

3 Easy Ways To Tell Your Brand Story On Social Media

1. USE IMAGES PERSONAL TO YOU AND YOUR BRAND

That does NOT mean taking a photo of your food or a selfie. Communicating your brand story through social media is an ART AND science. There are MILLIONS of people online. MILLIONS. And many of them do beautiful work. And now with so many different apps that you can use to make your photos beautiful, people - your potential followers - have a CHOICE. 

Nobody wants to follow, buy from, or talk about things that aren't adding benefit to their lives. Basically, how you express your brand story on social media must be attractive to their eye, connect with their emotions, and make them feel better about themselves because of it.

That sounds really heavy but if you simplify it, realize that as I said earlier, your potential audience is JUST LIKE YOU. 

• What do you like to see? 
• Who do you follow?
• Why?

How can you make your images and words look and sound more like you, communicate your personality, and attract people who are just like you?

2. EMPOWER OTHERS TO TELL YOUR STORY THROUGH THEIR EYES

Not to get a little woo-woo on you, but your brand story fully expressed on social media needs to communicate the energy of your brand.

What are you about? What are the problems, interests, and situations your audience and followers - your potential customers and clients - experience in their lives? How can  you help them see your point of view through the magic of images?

I posted this photo yesterday on Instagram and told a story in the caption. I often include photos of me with my dog because I love dogs and find that most of my clients either have a child or a dog. They "get" me. And when you see other people doing things that you do too, you relate it to your life and tell yourself a story in your own head.

3. CREATE AN ASPIRATIONAL VISION

Oprah once said "We all just want a better life." 

It's true - if you think about wherever you are in your life, you want more. It's not greediness and it may not be money. It's one of the six human needs that Tony Robbins clearly stated  in his infamous TED talk.

Your business, blog, communicated correctly on social media must communicate an aspirational vision of where people are and the journey to where they want to be. Fashion bloggers do this so well - creating beautiful photos from their own lives and personal style.

And that's it! Now you know how to get started telling your brand story on social media. It's a brand story that connects and sells.

So I want to ask you - what is the brand story you need to tell? Tell me in the comments below. And if this article was helpful to you, be sure to like it and SHARE it so we can empower others to their brand storytelling genius.

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