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3-step guide to telling a compelling brand story

When you're looking for solid advice to start a successful start-up, it makes sense to turn to experts like Gary Vaynerchuk for advice.

Gary is a serial entrepreneur and the best-selling author of the New York Times. In the book Foundr V1.0, when asked to share his first tip for startups, Gary says to focus on storytelling. "The quality of narration always wins, it's not about pushing advertising, but creating value."

It's great, but you're an entrepreneur, not J.K. Rowling, so what should you do? Let us dive into the steps you need to follow to tell an incredible brand story right now!

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<p> <strong> 1. Know the specific needs / needs of your target audience <br /> </strong> </p>
<p> When you decided to start your startup, you did it because you thought your idea could solve a problem for someone else than you. </p>
<p> For example, Harry's is an ecommerce store that sells affordable and well-designed men's grooming products. The founder of Harry's decided to start his startup one day when he was at the pharmacy, spending too much money to buy boring razor blades (I think we all went there). </p>
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Replacement blades for razors made by Harry's cost only $ 2 per blade!

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<p> Initially, Harry's founder might have thought: I will create grooming products of the highest quality or I will launch a line of aftershave products or I will create a new blade style technically better than all other blades. </p>
<p> No matter which of these angles would have been great, but there are a lot of problems to be solved for a startup, especially for a launch on a market with leaders like Gillette who have a lot of marketing to spend on doing squash the little guys. </p>
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Instead of thinking that I needed my mark to solve ALL the problems, the founder started with a goal that met a very specific need for many consumers: the high price of razor blades. He then created a high quality blade that costs only $ 2.

When developing Harry's marketing messaging, he could have started by saying "New high quality grooming products for men!" that could get lost in the sea of ​​a million other "new high quality products".

Instead, Harry was able to run saying "less than $ 2 per blade."
Do you see how specific this message is? This specificity is powerful because it meets a very specific need of someone in the target audience of Harry.

The more precise you are in your communications, the better you will be!

2. Become an expert communicator

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<p> Once you have clicked on the concise message you want to send to your target audience, you will need to become a storytelling expert to get that message across. </p>
<p> Some companies have pages about their site that read boring, corporate speaking. We were founded in 1999 by John. F. Smith in Portland, OR. Our main goal is to design products that improve households. Blah, blah. </p>
<p> Other companies, like Harry's, have created interesting and captivating stories that tell their story to a captive target audience. </p>
<p> When you click on the About Harry Website page, you will be amazed by a story that tells you who the products are for, what makes the products unique, where the products are made, why you should buy products and WHEN you should buy them (as soon as possible). </p>
<p> The story of Harry is not a story worthy of the company's memory, but a revelation of what makes the company and its products perfectly suited to people who match their target audience profile. That's what you want to do too! </p>
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If you're looking for another great storytelling example, take a look at the BirchBox page. The founders of Birchbox follow a similar pattern by telling their audience the fun story of how the company was born, what it stands for and why consumers love it!
You will want to determine your own set of Who, What, Where, Whys and Whys. Then turn this information into the page of your business!

3. Creating a community that shares and cares

You'll hone your storytelling skills when you create the About Your Startup page, and you'll hone these skills as you start building an online community.

Through your social media marketing efforts, you should create a community of people with common interests based on the services or products you sell.

For example, if you sell software for small businesses like Quickbooks, you could create a community that likes and shares tips on running a business, maximizing profits, and sharing success stories.

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<p> On the other hand, if you sell outdoor gear, you could create a community that likes and shares tips on outdoor adventures like YETI coolers. </p>
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If you are a company that sells cosmetics like Birchbox, you could create a community where people can love and share makeup tips.

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<p> By building a committed community; whoever loves and shares his own user-generated content is great, you'll want to lead the effort and guide the story. </p>
<p> You become the social storyteller by developing content that clearly communicates the message you want others to take. You can do this depending on the type of images you publish, the voice in which you write your captions and the type of videos you share. </p>
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Look through the social media profiles of the brands you love, and see which of their posts have the most resonance with you. So really think about why you like these messages. Are the images well lit and well arranged? Are legends funny? Are the videos educational? Try to find what you love best and use this information to guide your own storytelling efforts via social media.

First steps

Now that you know what makes a compelling brand story, it's time to start making your own. It can be frustrating to sit in front of a blank Word document when you are not sure what to write. Just remember that you know what to write! You have had the idea of ​​your business for whatever reason, and this reason is what you need to communicate with the world.

If you still do not know what to do, read the About Harry page again to find the inspiration. Do not hesitate to leave a comment below and I will do my best to answer if you have specific questions!