Advertising 101: Know Your Business Story

Storytelling. It’s mankind’s oldest art form and still one of the most celebrated today, and it also has a lot to do with your business. A LOT. Stories are something we can all relate to. They have characters, setting, a plot, a conflict and a resolution. Psychologically, we receive stories very well – our brains are wired to process most information into stories. Stories are everywhere. Your business has a story, too. You need to be able to tell it, tell it well and tell it often. It’s the best way for customers to connect and relate to your brand, and then by default feel better about doing business with you.

How do you determine your business story? Often time it’s the human element that comes in to play with your business story. Why do you wake up every morning and run your business? What motivates you? Why did you start this business? What have your hardships been? What have your failures been? Who was involved? What is the culture of your company? Why do you employees enjoy coming to work? How have you grown? What is your Why?

As business owner’s begin to answer these questions, they find that the information they derive is way more effective at communicating their brand to customers than any nuts-and-bolts details about their product / service, or even bragging about their successes. These questions are sometimes difficult and require a lot of thought, but as they get answered, they start to piece together a real business story.

Telling your business story involves really knowing what your company’s core values are. What is the true value that your customers get out of purchasing your product or service? Testimonials are a very common form of storytelling in advertising – it’s your customer’s telling your story for you!

We manage lots of advertising campaigns for our clients, but it’s only half the fight. The other half is putting together the message. With the message, we’ve hit some big home runs, and unfortunately, we’ve whiffed the ball completely from time to time. Many years of experience has shown us that a good story that captures the business’ identity, humanizes it, and invokes a degree of emotion amongst the audiences is far and away the best way to go.

In the age of social media, it’s easier than ever to tell your business story. I recommend telling it to as many people as you can, every day. As your story gets out there and digested, your brand will grow, and not too long after that – so will your sales!

If you need help putting together your business story, let’s talk! We can help you pinpoint the branding message behind what makes your business unique, how to communicate it to your target customer, and how to turn it into a revenue generating tool!

We look forward to hearing from you!

-Matt Tomlinson, CEO / Founder – The Tomlinson Advertising Agency