How can you create a memorable brand story for your startup?
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— The LinkedIn Team
A brand story is more than a catchy slogan or a logo. It's the narrative that connects your startup with your target audience, communicates your values and mission, and sets you apart from your competitors. A memorable brand story can inspire trust, loyalty, and engagement among your customers and potential investors. But how can you create one for your startup? Here are some tips to help you craft a compelling brand story that resonates with your audience.
Your core message is the essence of your brand story. It's what you want your audience to remember and associate with your startup. It should reflect your vision, purpose, and unique value proposition. To identify your core message, ask yourself these questions: What problem are you solving? How are you different from others? What impact do you want to make? What emotions do you want to evoke? Your core message should be clear, concise, and consistent across all your channels and touchpoints.
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Georgina Scott
Strategic Brand Builder, Advisor, Consultant and Manager for lifestyle, food and beverage brands
My experience in scaling and growing many well known consumer goods brands has taught me that the original founding vision and story is the driving force behind a company’s success. I hold a deep reverence for the entrepreneurial spirit, mentality and behaviours that drive founders to embark on their journey. There is ALWAY a reason why a company or product was launched in the first place, a reason that is authentic and true. A brand story should never need to be ‘made up’. The challenge is to go through a process to really distill it and capture the part of the entire story that makes you truly unique. Sometimes you can’t even quite explain it yourself but skilled brand strategists can work with you to be able to express it succinctly.
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Sandy Maheswara
Marketing & Business Enthusiasts | experienced Marketing Development | Marketing Strategy | Marketing Digital | Brand Awareness | Business Development | Market & Competitor Analaysis | Media Strategy| Negotiation|B2B&B2C
To create a memorable brand story for startups, one way is to create a brand that is truly a market need. Where the need has actually been around for a long time but was discovered by the startup or by creating needs and desires from consumers so that the brand will always be remembered because it can provide a solution. Conducting direct field surveys and conducting in-depth insight study is one way to obtain all of this, although it really takes quite a long time.
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Your brand story is not about you, it's about your audience. You need to understand who they are, what they need, what they care about, and how they perceive you. You can use tools like customer personas, surveys, interviews, and social media analytics to gather insights about your audience. Then, you can tailor your brand story to address their pain points, aspirations, goals, and values. You can also use storytelling techniques like empathy, conflict, and resolution to create a connection with your audience and show them how your startup can help them.
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Sohail Tariq
Closing Deals and Exceeding Targets | Maneuvering Ideas | Navigating Challenges to Thrive
Creating an opportunity to fill up the market gaps with new ideas and innovations as it will helps to cater needs of your audience. Translate your message through the brand strategies towards the minds of your people who are directly or indirectly connected with your brand.
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Brendan Whitaker
Brand Strategist & Content Marketer | Turning 'Meh' into 'Remarkable' for Impact-Driven Startups & NGOs
For startups, you've got a bigger audience to consider than just your customers. In the early stages, it's crucial to captivate potential customers first, absolutely. As you progress though, angel investors and incubator programs provide not only funds but invaluable mentorship and resources. And let's not forget about your team! When crafting your brand story, contemplate how it resonates with these key players. Show how your startup not only meets customer needs but also how it embodies a vision these stakeholders want to play a part in. How are you positioning them as heroes who are propelling the vision to new—and profitable—heights? Their support can turn your brand story into an epic saga of growth and success.
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Your tone and style are the ways you express your brand story through words, images, sounds, and other elements. They should match your core message and your audience's preferences and expectations. For example, if your core message is about innovation and creativity, you might use a playful and humorous tone and style. If your core message is about reliability and professionalism, you might use a formal and authoritative tone and style. Your tone and style should also be consistent and coherent across your brand story, creating a unified and recognizable identity for your startup.
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Ahmed Haq
Marketing Manager | Integrated Marketing Campaign Specialist | Digital Transformation leader @ CPG | Retail | Telecom
Depending on your brand key, you should be able to craft a personality and persona. Test and learn which one works and which one doesn't.
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Sohail Tariq
Closing Deals and Exceeding Targets | Maneuvering Ideas | Navigating Challenges to Thrive
Create an human like persona which will attract certain personalities. Attract your target audience and connect with them on an emotional level. For a good example I can recall the personality of Harley Davidson as it is ruggedness and it fits the outlaw archetype. Ultimately having a well-defined brand personality will help make that brand-customer connection as if they were interacting with a real human being.
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Your origin story is the backstory of your startup. It's how you came up with your idea, what motivated you to pursue it, what challenges you faced, and what milestones you achieved. Your origin story can help you establish credibility, authenticity, and trust with your audience. It can also show them your passion, values, and personality. To share your origin story, use storytelling elements like characters, setting, plot, and climax. You can also use anecdotes, quotes, testimonials, and visuals to make your origin story more engaging and relatable.
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Mona Bavar
Entrepreneur | Founder | Design Maker | Storyteller | Professor | Community Builder | Gifting Strategist | Web3 Events & Commerce | Mentor
People love stories about overcoming obstacles, moments of inspiration, and the journey from idea to reality. Share the story of how your startup was born, the challenges you've faced, and how they've shaped your company's direction. This narrative arc helps humanize your brand, making it more relatable and memorable.
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Ishar Kar
Make your origin story unique. Every founder in another sense is also a consumer of other products, so bring to life the pain points you faced to bring your brand to life. Make it emotional (that retirement fund used to start up), share personal anecdotes (frustrated with a lack of non-medical solutions), pull out that old content when you were just starting out (first brand exploration like logos), think of the ‘Aha’ moment (better recovery after using it for a few hours), and how you reiterated until you found success (evolution from the first prototype to the product in the market). New brands are being launched every day, make yours stand out with a story that’s uniquely yours to own and compelling.
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Your impact is the difference your startup makes in the world. It's how you improve the lives of your customers, the environment, the society, or the industry. Your impact can help you demonstrate your value, relevance, and social responsibility to your audience. It can also help you attract and retain customers who share your vision and mission. To highlight your impact, use data, facts, figures, and stories to show the results and benefits of your startup. You can also use case studies, reviews, ratings, and awards to showcase your success and recognition.
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Mona Bavar
Entrepreneur | Founder | Design Maker | Storyteller | Professor | Community Builder | Gifting Strategist | Web3 Events & Commerce | Mentor
Illustrate the tangible benefits your startup brings. This could be through storytelling that showcases customer testimonials, the positive effects on the community, or the environmental impact. For example, if your software startup has helped small businesses thrive, share those success stories.
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Derek E. Weeks
As a fractional CMO, my role is to shift client focus from their products to the impact and value their offerings create. It's crucial to steer the narrative toward the tangible outcomes and successes that their customers will experience. The true impact is measured not by what my client's business does but by what it accomplishes for its customers. When crafting impact stories, I work not to position my client as the hero but as the ally that empowers the real hero—their customer.
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Your journey is the ongoing process of your startup. It's how you evolve, learn, grow, and innovate. Your journey can help you create a sense of excitement, curiosity, and anticipation among your audience. It can also help you foster a community of loyal fans, advocates, and collaborators who support your startup. To invite your audience to join your journey, use calls to action, feedback, incentives, and social media to encourage them to interact with your startup. You can also use updates, sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes, and stories to keep them informed and involved in your startup.
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Mona Bavar
Entrepreneur | Founder | Design Maker | Storyteller | Professor | Community Builder | Gifting Strategist | Web3 Events & Commerce | Mentor
Engage your audience by making them feel part of your brand's evolution. Encourage user-generated content, create loyalty programs, or provide platforms for feedback. Keeping your audience updated with regular 'inside looks' at your company or sneak peeks of upcoming products can build anticipation and loyalty.
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⚜️Grant M. Sisolak-Leingang⚜️
.̶̜̭̹̻̼̏́̌̌ President @ BLVCK DIVMOND, LLC. | ID.1868913
Banana clips, short videos displayed on Adult Swim as a reference, with repeating playable on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and more are an excellent addition to any organization. This allows ADHD, and many other health disorders, to have an affixing side effect while also gaining high levels of views.
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Luke Williamson
Content Creation, Design & Art Direction
Don't forget to bring your team along with you. They are the first true ambassadors and the living embodiment of your story, make sure you are listening to them and your customers.
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Derek E. Weeks
When it comes to your brand story, consistency is critical. You want everyone in the business to tell and share the story similarly. The more consistent everyone is, the more broadly the brand story will resonate in your market. Let's use an analogy. Imagine you show up to a local community event. You meet people, introduce yourself, and mingle. People get a sense of who you are. The next time you arrive, people remember you, your story, how you behaved, and how you made them feel. If your interactions and engagements are similar, trust and relationships grow. Now, imagine showing up to that event, but each time you represent someone different. Your voice, tone, and personality change. That inconsistency diminishes your brand story.
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