Storytelling is a big theme in marketing today, yet few businesses recognize the power a compelling company story can have in building consumer trust and increasing sales. A company’s story is a narrative about what it does, what it stands for, and what makes it exceptional. Great company stories are designed to inspire, creating a strong connection over time with customers and other audiences you want to influence and appeal to.
Told effectively, a company story is a bit like a great novella you can’t put down until you’ve finished and are eager to share with your peers. The key difference is a company story is not a work of fiction. In fact, that’s one of its most important components. Your story must be 100 percent true and authentic. It cannot represent what you aspire to or want to be. It must reflect the here and now and paint an accurate picture of how your business got to be where it is today.
A well-told story is the foundation of all strong brands. Think about Facebook. Most of us know it was launched from a Harvard dorm room less than 15 years ago. That small beginning makes it all the more impressive that Facebook now has more than 2 billion users worldwide.
L.L. Bean provides another example of a highly compelling company story. Company founder Leon Leonwood (L.L.) Bean was an avid outdoorsman and designed his first product, the now ubiquitous “Bean Boot,” to solve the problem of cold, wet feet he himself had experienced many times while hunting.
Outdoorspeople trust the Bean name because he was one of their own.
Besides having captivating tales to tell, these companies have been so successful in storytelling because their narratives have been told repeatedly over time using many different channels of communication to the point that they are common knowledge. Consistency and repetition are key.