How to Use Storytelling to Position Your Brand Like a Pro (Pt 1)

The concept of positioning a brand in a storytelling structure was popularized by Donald Miller’s Building a Story Brandand I recommend it for anyone looking to take a deeper dive into brand marketing, but I’ll summarize the concept (extremely briefly) here. And then we’ll dig in to how to write your own stories.

There are a minimum of three forces in a story (not all of the forces are characters):

• The main character

• The guide

• The villain (often a challenge or a problem to solve - for consumer brands, the villain is rarely a person).

When it comes to storytelling, a lot of brands miss because they put themself in the role of the main character.

I hate to break it to you, but if you want to tell good stories that help you sell products…. It’s not about you. Your brand isn’t the main character in the story, you’re the guide. You’re Yoda, helping Luke to harness the power of the force. (Yoda’s still pretty cool though.)

In addition to three characters, stories have three parts (we love to see the symmetry.

• Opening: provides your reader context for the situation - all forces are introduced

• Friction: This is where the main character takes on the villain, they may struggle, fail at first, or avoid conflict until they find support from the guide.

• Resolution: This is where the main character thanks the guide, and rides off into the sunset (or is set up to continue on the journey on their own).

There are four types of stories you’ll want to reference or point back to in different ways in your content marketing. These can live in long form on your website in different ways (for example: “About the Brand” is a great place for your brand’s Origin Story to live), or just as part of your brand guide and voice. Using these stories and putting them in the context of your brand themes will make your stories more relatable to your audience, and also help you better weave them into your content on an ongoing basis.

In part 1 of 4, we’re going to focus on the first story you’ll tell - your brand’s origin story.

Part 1: Origin Story/ History

Where it shows up in your content: On your website “About” page, in snippets in social media posts, press releases.

Telling the story of how and why your brand came to be helps customers connect to your business in an emotional way. It can also create a point of differentiation from competitor brands by highlighting your unique journey and how it helped shape your offerings. The most important thing to note about your brand story is that it needs to be authentic. If you’re honest, even “I sort of fell into this” can become a compelling story. This should be focused on your brand overall, rather than a specific product or offer and should focus more about your mission and vision.

Opening: Quite literally, this is setting the scene. Frame you and your brand within the context of the problem you solve. Whether it’s because you saw the problem that you’re addressing in your own life, or in others - acknowledging the problem you’re solving (and acknowledging the benefits you provide) helps your audience feel seen.

Friction: What did you do about the problem? And why did you decide to address it? Many businesses rely on the “I wanted to make a better xxx,” but it’s important to also answer “Why?” (If your answer is “to make money” I’m going to challenge you to dig a bit into your feelings - there are lots of ways to make money. Why did you choose what you created specifically? What motivates you to keep doing what you’re doing). Within this section, you should share hurdles you’ve overcome, aha moments that propelled your business forward, or major events that helped your company grow.

Resolution: This is where you talk about your business being formed, and how it continues to address the problem you originally identified. This is your chance to weave your business into the present and future by talking about what you continue to do to help others confront the problem you solve and take advantage of the benefits your offer provides.

Next, I’ll talk through how you can tell a story with your brand values (instead of sharing that power point slide you have in your pitch deck).