Social Media Branding: Behind Every Successful Brand is a Great Story

Social media branding tips for startups and marketers.

Do you ever ask yourself why certain brands have more success than others? What makes them so likeable?

Major brands like Apple, Amazon or Alibaba have become iconic brands due to their compelling storytelling skills. If you don’t want to become another “me too” brand that isn’t able to differentiate itself from the competitors you have to stand out.

A good startup story is memorable

According to Business Insider (2014), part of Alibaba’s success is partly due to Jack Ma’s “true rags-to-riches” story. The Chinese businessman grew up poor, failed his college entrance exam twice, and was rejected from dozens of jobs, including one at KFC, before “finding success with his third internet company”, Alibaba.

I ask myself: How can someone not be moved by this inspirational story?

Social Media Branding Here’s how you can also stand out as a brand on social media

1. Improve your storytelling skills

Stories are the best way to distinguish yourself from the other brands in your industry. Why? Because people always remember a good story.

Remember that famous phrase “behind every successful brand there is a story great story, a person and a family“. Your audience wants to know who you are as a person, they want to see the face of the person who is running the business. Once people both understand and believe your story, they become advocates, helping to spread your messaging.

I know you’re probably thinking that your story isn’t interesting enough to share, aren’t you?

I disagree.

Your story is interesting because it’s uniquely yours. Nobody else will have the exact same story as you. This is what enables your audience to connect with you instead of other companies. You need to tell stories that touch the hearts of your customers. It’s the only way to stand out from your competition on social media.

Tips for brand storytelling:

According to Julie Schwartz from ITSMA.com, a good brand story should:

Keep your messaging short and straight to the point (you don’t want to bore or confuse your audience)
Be simple, easy to understand and remember
Stay authentic, genuine and uniquely you
Be relatable enough to create an emotional connection with your target audience
Build trust and fill the gap between reality and perception

2. Be authentic, real and genuine on social media

“You have to understand your personal DNA. Don’t do things because I do them or Steve Jobs or Mark Cuban tried it. You need to know your personal brand and stay true to it.”
– Gary Vaynerchuk

And always keep this in mind: your audience isn’t stupid. If they think or feel that you’re fabricating stories and falsifying your brand story, they will find out and you can lose their support.

It’s always best to be honest about who you are and you’ll win your social media followers’ trust.