Do you know your brand story? It could be your origin story. Or maybe your reason for being. Regardless of specifics, your brand story conveys what about your company appeals to customers' emotions and makes them feel connected to you. The way to craft a brand story is by framing how your company solves problems for customers. You want to cast the customer as the main character who finds success through your solutions.
In marketing, there is science and technique in creating a successful campaign and accomplishing your goals. You need to do some work to understand how to tell your story and learn what appeals to your ideal buyer.
In this post, we will discuss how companies can shape brand storytelling effectively using online ads, creating a cohesive digital experience to guide customers through to the point of purchase.
Understanding Your Brand Story
Whether you've committed it to paper or not, you already know your brand story. You may not yet understand how to communicate it in a compelling way. The story of your brand communicates your beliefs and what drives you, creating an emotional spark of recognition with your potential customers. It's an illustration of your value proposition – what sets you apart – that guides customers from their viewpoint to understanding the benefit your brand provides.
Companies should set up their brand stories as an extension of their core values and then tailor them to reach their preferred customers. As a business owner trying to represent your value in a way that resonates personally, you want to tell a story, not simply state facts and statistics. Paint a picture for them, guiding them through their problem and illustrating how your company is the solution. Be sure to showcase this story on your site, revolving all your online marketing around that messaging as other ads direct them there.
Understand How Customers Interact with Your Brand Online
Making your messages resonate depends on finding your ideal audience. One way to accomplish that is by leveraging intent data. Every time customers search for a product, service, or topic online, they create a digital footprint that shows what they are trying to find. As companies refine customer searches, consumer intent becomes clearer, and it’s possible to tailor ads with more specificity.
Intent data is a goldmine for business owners and marketers, as it can help determine how customers interact with your brand, giving vital insight that can shape how you frame your ads. Knowing which products they spend time viewing on your site tells you more about their interests so that you can create messages that resonate strongly.
Develop Web Content to Illustrate Your Brand Story
Create online assets to share through your marketing and advertising. Use a variety of mediums, such as blogs, videos, case studies, testimonials, or podcasts, and then reuse them by taking snippets or excerpts from them to use in other promotional materials. It is an excellent technique for creating native ads that market to customers as engaging stories.
These types of ads can help you reach customers and share info in a more accommodating setting. Presenting marketing through content designed to pique interest and share intriguing information allows customers to reach conclusions for themselves, making them the central figure in your brand story as they learn how they can benefit from your products.
Shape Display and SEM Ads to Share Your Story
Remember, your ads are designed to elicit a specific action from the viewer. Decide on the critical information you want to convey from your brand story and highlight it using your search engine marketing (SEM) messaging. This message should grab your audience's attention, convey that you provide what they’re looking for, and encourage them to click on it. For example, if your intent data shows your customer has been searching for budget-friendly gifts for their child, your ad might say, "Click Here for The Best Gifts for 2-year-olds Under $10."
The better your handle on customer intent, the more you can shape this messaging with specificity. Customers looking for something and not finding it will be relieved and delighted when your ad presents them with what they want. As they recognize that your company matches their sensibilities, they’ll feel a great connection to your brand and potentially become a long-term customer.
Communicate Directly with Email Marketing
Appeal directly to your audience with email marketing. Email marketing provides a direct path to communicate with customers, letting you share customized information, relevant content marketing, or messaging to create urgency, such as limited-time deals or scarce availability to encourage them to make purchases. Use your brand story as the basis for your subject lines and body sections to showcase your value.
Your marketing emails can be tailored to different audience segments, letting you cater to specific groups with offers based on their interest. While your story can remain the same, you can customize it to reach customers of different ages and life stages or situations.
Reinforce Story Messaging on Social Media
It is difficult to find anyone who isn't on social media today, making it the perfect way to connect easily with prospective and existing customers while expanding your social media presence for brand awareness. Social media content lets you interact and engage with customers, allowing you to share important messages, bring attention to relevant information, and highlight trends. It enables you to expand your brand messaging to a broader audience of people interested in what you offer.
How To Tell a Brand Story with Online Ads More Effectively
When you are ready to tell your brand story effectively and efficiently, reaching the right audience is critical. However, it can take time to do all the audience research on your own. That's where McClatchy can help. As the country's 2nd largest local media company, we have deep audience expertise and insight that you can leverage for your brand messaging, putting your brand in front of the people who want and need to see it.
Contact us today to learn more about how to tell a brand story with online ads more effectively and cost-efficiently.
