The power of storytelling in building brand trust

When was the last time you read a good book that you just couldn’t put down? What about a movie that brought a tear to your eye? There must have been a TV programme that had you yelling at the screen! We all have those moments where we become so immersed in a story that we have a strong emotional response to it.

These emotions do not come about by accident, and are in fact, exactly what the writers wanted you to feel. Every element of the story that you are watching or reading has been designed to make you feel a specific thing at a specific moment.  

So, what if your marketing could do the same? Well, it can!  

You need to not only find your brand story, but also develop the right way to tell it. The story that you tell needs to find those same emotions in order to help people to trust your brand.

That is why you should not be afraid to tell a little bit about your personal story, let customers know more about the people behind the brand or talk more about what you might be hoping to achieve.

You can do this with humour or tug on the heart strings, as long as you find a way to work your way into the emotions of a potential new customer. 

Have you ever noticed the hysteria that seems to surround the approach of a big red truck just before Christmas? Coca-Cola have created marketing campaigns that are designed to illicit an emotional reaction, whether it is the sense of excitement and nostalgia when the ‘holidays are coming’ or the gentle encouragement to ‘share a Coke’ and bring people together.

Almost every campaign that Coca-Cola embarks on has an emotional story at its heart and it has created such loyalty that it is now embedded in popular culture. 

Sometimes the ideas around your brand can be a little complex, and they might not be easy for your customers to understand. Whether it is a complicated process or the service you offer requires specialist expertise, using storytelling can be a great way for your customers to understand what you do.

There are many ways that you can use storytelling to break this down so that your customers get a better sense of what you do, making you more relatable. 

Apple might sell some pretty complex technology, but they have become masters in creating mass appeal for their products. Their brand story helps to show that even the most sophisticated technology in the world is accessible for everyone and people love them for it.

They help to create a sense of empowerment through the devices that they offer and manage to focus much of their marketing on the major features of the products instead of getting bogged down in the details that might complicate matters. 

To create brand trust, people need to understand what your brand stands for, which means you need to identify your core values and show them off to the world. You can create many hard-hitting ad campaigns based around strength, poverty, positivity or transparency, but one of the best ways to do this is by telling a story.  

Nike understood this when they embarked on their ‘Just Do It’ campaign, as they used it to show what their core values were. They aim to inspire their customers, whether it is to start a new journey or be the best in their existing one, and their storytelling encourages them to push to new heights. 

Telling a story is now an essential part of any marketing campaign, but it needs to be an authentic one. You need to be able to show what your brand really is, and not a fabricated construct, so your marketing needs careful planning and expertise in order to help craft a story that brings about a natural loyalty amongst your customers.

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