Every great brand begins with a story that captures hearts, sparks curiosity, and leaves a lasting impression. But how do you craft a brand story that resonates deeply, especially when starting out? We’ve turned to diverse marketing professionals to uncover the secrets behind building a narrative that truly stands out. Whether it’s about connecting with your audience personally or boldly sharing a disruptive business journey, these fourteen experts, including founders, CEOs, and marketing directors, offer their unique perspectives. If you’re ready to create a brand story that captivates and inspires, dive into these powerful insights and take your narrative to the next level.
How Can You Create a Compelling Brand Story for a New Business?
- Connect Authentically With Your Audience
- Leverage Behind-the-Scenes Narratives
- Share Raw, Relatable Brand Challenges
- Convey Your Brand’s Human Element
- Humanize Through Values and Culture
- Emphasize Brand’s Purpose and Origin
- Engage With Powerful Visual Storytelling
- Guide Customers on Their Hero’s Journey
- Evoke Strategic Emotions in Your Story
- Intertwine the 5C’s in Your Narrative
- Foster Connections With Core Values
- Unearth Authenticity for Audience Appeal
- Highlight Your Brand’s Customer Impact
- Share Disruptive Business Stories
Connect Authentically With Your Audience
Be honest, and connect with your audience. If you are creating a new business, there is likely a reason why, right? Tell that story and equate it to how it is going to help benefit the lives of your audience.
For example, my business focuses on helping businesses drive more leads from their websites. My story is this: “My focus in my career as a digital marketer has always been to help educate small businesses, and now that I have the platform to do it, I want to help you learn about ethical and impactful digital marketing strategies that will take your business to the next level.
I am honest, I’m helpful, and I connect with my audience of small businesses by understanding the struggles of unethical and wasteful marketing efforts many small businesses fall prey to.
Take your reason for the business, and your product/service, and position it as a gateway to reaching more people and helping them achieve their goals. Help them be the heroes; you don’t have to be.
Austin Stouffer, Founder & Lead Consultant, Loading Leads Marketing
Leverage Behind-the-Scenes Narratives
Behind-the-scenes (BTS) content from movies or shows has immense popularity. It’s not going to decrease any time soon. I capitalize on this fascination with BTS for my brand stories. Almost all customers are curious to know more, especially concerning brands. More knowledge about brands and their products or services helps them to make decisions. They are ready to purchase when they feel they have enough satisfying data.
Depending on the target customers, I create BTS narratives. For instance, I show how teams work within a brand to highlight their authenticity. It depicts how the brand’s team works diligently to provide the best services to customers. Such portrayals increase customers’ trust and make them loyal to the brand.
Jeremy Bogdanowicz, Founder & CEO, JTB Studios
Share Raw, Relatable Brand Challenges
Highlight the unusual or unexpected. New brand stories tend to be “had an idea, bootstrapped a business” or “saw a need and people gave me money to address it.” Give people the other side of the fairy tale so they can feel more invested in the outcome.
Overcoming personal doubt or imposter syndrome. Walking away from a sure thing to pursue a passion. Make it authentic and a little raw. The overly polished “aspire to” stories in our post-pandemic world of layoffs and economic uncertainty can be off-putting.
Show people a brand that is navigating the same uncertainty and juggling the same daily struggles to bring something new into this world. That’s a story that is relatable, inspiring, and encourages people to want to follow along.
Michelle Mellon, Founder, CEO & Chief Storyteller, WordBird
Convey Your Brand’s Human Element
I think a lot of companies fall into the trap of creating a brand story to serve as marketing material rather than fulfilling its intended purpose. Your brand story isn’t an ad, nor is it a sales pitch. Your brand story is just that—your company’s authentic origin story, along with its mission, purpose, and values, all written to connect with your target audience and let them know there are humans behind your brand. I think when brand stories are framed this way, it would be easier for startups and new business owners to write theirs in an authentic and compelling manner.
Matthew Franzyshen, Business Development Manager, Ascendant Technologies, Inc.
Humanize Through Values and Culture
Incorporating the values and culture of the business into the brand story is a strategy we often use. We tell stories about the people behind the business—their values, work ethic, and the kind of culture they are building. This humanizes the brand and makes it more relatable, allowing customers to see the people behind the products and services. When customers feel aligned with a brand’s values, they are more likely to become long-term advocates.
Marc Bishop, Director, Wytlabs
Emphasize Brand’s Purpose and Origin
Creating a compelling brand story for a new business begins with authenticity and a clear understanding of the brand’s core purpose. The foundation of any impactful brand story is the “why”—the reason the business exists beyond making a profit. This purpose-driven approach allows the brand to connect emotionally with its audience, building a bond that transcends transactions.
The origin story of the brand plays a crucial role in this narrative. By sharing its beginnings, a brand can humanize itself, transforming from a faceless entity into a narrative filled with passion, challenges, and triumphs. This personal touch not only engages the audience but also fosters a sense of loyalty and connection. In today’s market, where transparency is highly valued, a brand’s willingness to share its journey can set it apart.
Priyanshu Pande, Business Consultant, Purple Patch Management
Engage With Powerful Visual Storytelling
Crafting a compelling brand story goes beyond just words—visual storytelling is a powerful tool. Use striking images, engaging videos, and informative infographics to tell your story. Think of visuals as the emotional hook; they not only grab attention but also make your message more memorable. For example, a short video showcasing the journey of your business or client success stories can create an instant connection.
In today’s digital landscape, where attention spans are short, visual content tends to capture and retain interest more effectively than text alone. Infographics can simplify complex information, making it easier for your audience to digest and share. When you align these visual elements with your written narrative, it creates a cohesive and compelling brand story that resonates across multiple platforms.
Casey Meraz, CEO, Juris Digital
Guide Customers on Their Hero’s Journey
In creating a compelling brand story, think of your brand as the wise mentor guiding the customer—as the hero—on their journey. Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” framework is a perfect fit for this approach. Begin by pinpointing the challenges and obstacles your target audience faces. These hurdles set the stage for tension in your story, making the eventual transformation all the more impactful.
The customer, as the hero, embarks on this journey with your brand offering crucial guidance and tools. Position your products or services as indispensable resources that help the hero overcome their challenges and achieve their ultimate goals. This way, your brand becomes the trusted mentor, and every interaction strengthens that relationship. This narrative not only engages customers but also fosters loyalty, making them feel understood and supported throughout their journey.
Cesar Cobo, Director of Operations, Webris
Evoke Strategic Emotions in Your Story
Creating a compelling brand story hinges on the emotions you want your audience to feel at different stages. Start by identifying the key emotions, such as excitement, empathy, or trust. Once you know these, craft your narrative to evoke these feelings intentionally. Use specific language, tone, and pacing that line up with each emotion.
For example, when aiming for excitement, your language should be energetic, and the pacing quick. When you want to evoke empathy, slow down and use descriptive, heartfelt language. Emotional engagement keeps your brand memorable and relatable, making your audience more likely to remember and connect with you. It’s all about strategically mapping out these emotions and guiding your audience through them seamlessly.
Jessica Bane, Director of Business Operations, GoPromotional
Intertwine the 5C’s in Your Narrative
Building a compelling brand story for a new business involves understanding and intertwining five critical components: Company, Customers, Competitors, Collaborators, and Context.
Start by deeply exploring what makes your company unique—its mission, vision, and core values. This sets the foundation of your story, emphasizing what drives the business and what it stands for. Your story should convey why the business exists and how it plans to make a difference in the world, aligning with the company’s ultimate goals.
Next, focus on your customers. Know who they are, what they need, and their pain points. Craft your story to resonate with them emotionally, making them feel understood and valued. Highlight how your product or service solves their problems specifically.
Contextualize this against your competitors. Identify what they do well and where they fall short, and position your brand as the solution that fills those gaps.
Collaborators also play a role—whether they are partners, influencers, or suppliers—show how these relationships enhance your business’s credibility and value proposition.
Lastly, consider the broader market context, including current trends and economic conditions, to ensure your brand story is relevant and timely. This alignment helps make your brand story not only compelling but also strategic and deeply rooted in the market environment.
Will Yang, Head of Growth & Marketing, Instrumentl
Foster Connections With Core Values
Creating a compelling brand story is all about making a real connection with your audience. Start by clearly defining what your brand stands for—what are its core values and mission? Then, highlight what sets you apart, whether it’s your innovative approach, exceptional service, or unique perspective.
Share your journey: How did your business start? What challenges did you overcome? Personal stories make your brand relatable and memorable. Use eye-catching visuals, like motion graphics, to bring your story to life and capture attention.
Keep your message consistent across all platforms, from your website to social media. And don’t forget to involve your audience—encourage them to share their own experiences with your brand. This approach helps build a strong, authentic brand story that resonates with people and stands out.
Dewi Saklina, Search Engine Optimization Specialist, Explainerd
Unearth Authenticity for Audience Appeal
We have a saying in our business: authenticity slays! While bending truths and manufacturing creative facts is tempting when crafting a brand story, the truth is, there’s nothing more potent than the truth. Our philosophy is centered around unearthing the right audience for each brand. By this, we intend to appeal to people with whom the real brand story resonates.
Our efforts are focused on revealing elements of the brand that sometimes even the brand owners gloss over. This is done over a number of conversations, sometimes using unexpected questions designed to elicit surprising results.
In our experience, brand owners become accustomed to telling their story, repeating it by rote, and often missing out on the nuanced nuggets that really make a brand story shine. We work hard to find those nuggets and present them in a way designed to make audiences relate to the brand.
Erez Gordon, Founder, Spruik Lab
Highlight Your Brand’s Customer Impact
You have to connect how your brand helps other people accomplish their own goals and vision.
People always relate brands to how they impact their lives.
Your brand isn’t about you; it’s about your customers.
Nickalaus Patrocky, Director of Marketing, Coldoutreach.com
Share Disruptive Business Stories
The genuine way of building a brand story is by sharing “business disruption stories.”
The idea of a brand disruption story is positioning your business as a unique player in its industry by highlighting how it disrupts traditional practices or norms.
Not every brand can focus on using brand disruption stories, as many brands don’t have any USPs or key differentiations.
However, if your brand is disrupting any traditional approach in its industry, then you should plan on sharing your brand story—how you’re different from the status quo and a better alternative than most brands in your segment.
Once you’ve finalized the pointers and created a brand story following this approach, consider sharing the idea across all social media platforms, your website, and even seek help from PR media.
Since your business is new, you would want your users or audience to associate your brand with this new disruption story, as your brand name has no positioning yet in the market.
Andrei Goraș, Marketing Director, Index
