Why your business story matters

As an entrepreneur, mastering the art of storytelling for your business is extremely important. Knowing how to share what your brand and your business is about can give you the opportunity to access free funding, get more customers, and grow an engaged audience. We pulled the biggest storytelling basics for you to review in order to take your skills and your business next level. 

Put very simply, storytelling is a way to share and learn ideas, values and practices with others. Storytellers remember something of their life or of the life of others, and the listeners can relate to the story and retell it, maybe adding a little of their own experience. In this important way, stories bring people together.

Now more than ever, the way you tell your story and represent your brand to the world is extremely important. Effective storytelling can help you appeal to more customers, stand out against your competition, and supercharge your pitch when meeting with potential investors or small business loan officers. Especially when applying or competing for a funding opportunity, storytelling can make all the difference in making your business stand out to a review board or panel of judges.

Additionally, creating content has become extremely important for small businesses in today’s digital age. Whether it’s a TikTok video, content for your website, or even an email - all of these communications are content opportunities that can help tell your brand story.

There are three parts to effective storytelling:

1. The set-up. What is the context of your brand story? Where did you come from, and how did you get started?
2. The struggle. What is the conflict in your story? What is the challenge you sought to fix with your business, or what you are trying to solve for your customer?
3. The solution. Who are you, and what have you created to solve for the struggle? Why are you better than others who are also working to solve the problem?

One of the most effective ways to begin telling your story is through a brand video. A brand video is any video that drives awareness and contributes to the perception of your business and its offerings. One well-executed brand video can be used over and over again to tell your story to a variety of audiences, including investors or other funding opportunities and social media and online audiences. 

Keep in mind that the key defining factor for a brand video is that it highlights, well, your brand. That means it doesn’t need to advertise a specific product or service outright. The goal here should be to establish your brand in the mind of the audience. With effective storytelling, you can quickly and accurately convey your background and mission to fuel positive growth in your business.

Now that you know the storytelling basics, you can use them to elevate your business. If you aren't sure where to start, try creating a short brand video script to get focused and to see what about your business resonates with people the most.