Your Company Narrative Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts

Rosie Gillam

Every company has a story to tell. Though, when tasked with having to tell your company’s story, it can be easy to focus on the major milestones, whether it’s a funding round or a series of product and feature updates.

But, your company’s narrative is much more than a sequence of company news announcements. Your stakeholders – customers, employees, investors, board members – are searching for the “why” behind your business. What is your company’s vision?

The larger purpose driving your business forward should serve as a consistent theme in every piece of sales and marketing material you develop, from blog posts and press releases to white papers, e-books and even the “About Us” section of your website. This should be the common thread that you weave through every message you communicate inside and outside of your organization.

So, how do you come up with a narrative that sticks? Here are three ways to build a better brand story:

1. Know your audience. Before communicating your company narrative, develop an understanding of who you’re looking to reach. Your first question should be: How does your audience consume stories? Through a tweet? Through videos on YouTube? Through a keynote at an industry event? Your second question should be: Why would a story be memorable to them? If you can answer both of these questions, you’re ready to begin crafting your brand’s narrative.
2. Be selective when choosing a spokesperson. Choosing a spokesperson is essential to building a consistent company narrative. But, be aware that the best person to deliver the message isn’t always the CEO or Founder. It’s better to find someone who can bring authenticity to the story. For instance, if you sell a software platform that helps hospitals better manage nurse schedules, it would be more impactful to have a former nurse tell your company’s story than one of your founders. It’s common for someone external to understand the value of your product better than its creators, because they’ve actually benefited from using the technology. They can connect with your customers on a much deeper level.
3. Make an emotional appeal. Be intentional about the emotions you want to incite in your audience. Do you want your company’s story to inspire? To surprise? To entertain? Rather than focusing on what you want your audience to think, concentrate on what you want your audience to feel. If we use the example of the platform that helps nurses manage their schedules, we could focus our story around how the software helps hospital executives save money. But, that doesn’t appeal to our audience’s emotions in the same way as it would to focus the story around how the software is helping nurses save patient lives.

Human connection is the foundation of every business. Because, at the end of the day, you’re dealing with people. Once you learn to tell a good story, your audience is always going to want more. Your readers will turn into leads, your leads into customers, and your customers into life-long advocates.

We know that telling your brand’s story is no small task, and that building a company narrative is an evolving process. Walker Sands has the storytelling expertise to help you be successful. To learn more about how we can help your company, reach out to us by filling out this form today.