Stories are and have always been around—and that’s not just true for movies and books. Everyone gets affected by stories without even realizing it. 

Take a look back to the most interesting story you heard – it was probably through a friend or on the internet. Why did that story grab your attention? It probably touched your emotions and made you think. Even after years, you would still remember a good story.

This indicates the power of storytelling. Many businesses have realized the impact a good tale can have, which is why they started incorporating storytelling to establish the brand image and other marketing tactics. Major companies have even created entire campaigns based on a story concept successfully.

In order to increase your customer engagement, it is ideal to establish an interesting brand story. Moreover, social media is the best platform to engage your customers and attract new ones. Therefore, sharing your brand story on social media is bound to give you positive results. Click here to learn how to use social media effectively for your business.

But, how exactly do you create your brand’s story to attract the customers? Here are some effective storytelling tips to enhance customer engagement:

Make the Story Meaningful

The most effective way of telling your brand’s story is by making it meaningful to your target audience. You can utilize all the target market research your business had conducted to understand their behavior. Highlight the key points which you can incorporate in your storytelling to make it relevant and meaningful to the customers. 

Understand what matters to your target audience, and what makes your services and products meaningful to them. Consider the short term goals and long term goals for them related to your services and products. 

For instance, if your target audience is travelers, then don’t just highlight how your service or product is more affordable than others. Instead, show them how it can assist them during their travels. 

After you identify what means most to your customers, you will be able to create a relevant storyline accordingly. 

Think like Your Customers

When you update your social media platforms regarding a new product, business information, or other informative content, it is usually simple and to the point. Why not make it more interesting to attract the customers’ attention?

Create a story about the new piece of information you are sharing. It doesn’t have to be elaborate; merely a few lines can do the trick. These updates will have a higher engagement rates as compared to your previous simple ones. 

Try out some short stories that highlight the common problems your target audience face, and how the problem resolved after using your brand. Be as creative as you want to be, and you will notice the engagement on these posts increasing. 

Treat social media updates as mini blogs, to keep things interesting for the target audience. 

Opt for Emotional Storytelling

Emotional storytelling has the most impact on the audience. This doesn’t necessarily mean that all the posts must be tear-jerking. Focus on a storyline which is lighthearted and fun but which also inspires and empowers the target audience. 

Touching the emotions of your customers will form a stronger connection and affiliation. Moreover, it will also enhance the social media presence of your brand through enhanced engagement. 

Creating such a narrative is not always easy; here are some tips to consider when opting for emotional storytelling:

Keep things relatable – this technique is not going to work if your target audience can’t relate to the content and message of the story. Make sure you establish a storyline that makes them feel supported, understood, and seen. 

Keep it relevant to your brand – creativity is undoubtedly important, but so is relevance. Even if your story is touching, if it is related to your services or products, and your overall brand image, then it won’t be effective. 

Keep the content authentic – consumers today are smart and can spot a cheap marketing tactic easily. Make sure you keep things original and avoid copying content or concept from other brands.

Utilize User Generated Content 

Your target audience has many stories; just ask them to share some with you. Make it even more interesting by providing them a concept or a prompt and making it a competition. Social media users love a good contest. 

Be sure to give them a word limit so that you can easily share their stories on your social media platforms. Another effective way is to divide it in parts to add the suspense factor and keep the audience interested. 

Your existing audience might have already shared some stories regarding your brand, repost them. Make sure you get their permission first and give them credit for their work. For instance, if you sell children toys then encourage your customers to share videos and images of the kids playing with those toys or the kids do a short tutorial of the toys. 

Such posts are definitely going to enhance the engagement levels and help them to connect more with your brand. 

Make Use of Visuals 

Visuals work best on social media platforms. Therefore, when sharing the story of your brand on social media, consider showing instead of telling. How can you do that? 

There are numerous ways of doing this, for instance, infographics, illustration, relevant photo, or a compelling video. You will notice a higher engagement on the posts that include some form of visual as compared to an all-text post. 

You have merely a few seconds to capture the attention of your target audience on social media to motivate them to stop and read your post. Simply including a photo can make the story interesting as it encourages the audience to visualize the narrative. 

Try using such a visual that conveys the story concept across in a few seconds. Even if the audience doesn’t read the text, the visual will leave an impact on them. 

In today’s world, consumers have numerous choices and better control over their purchasing decisions. While it is a great thing for them, it is harder for the businesses to encourage their target audience to try their brand. Hence, sharing your brand through the storytelling technique on social media can have a more powerful impact.