by The definition of Digital Branding has evolved from simply having a good visual identity and an effective promotional message, to now needing to convey more than just what a brand looks like and what it says. Digital Branding is now about building connections with people through meaningful communication and connection to emotion, as well as showing true authenticity as part of digital communications.
The Role of Storytelling in Modern Digital Branding
Branding that is digitally-based typically relies on Story Telling for creating a connection with its target market, and through this connection, the audience’s perception of the company changes.
Emotionally charged story lines evoke a level of empathy, inspiration, and curiosity from consumers about the brand. Harvard Business Review recently shared a study that demonstrated that customers who emotionally connect with a brand are more likely to exhibit loyalty towards that brand than would customers who do not emotionally connect with a brand. Through storytelling, a stronger mental connection is established between the consumer and the brand.
The introduction of digital platforms has changed the delivery of storytelling.
Narrative Structure and Content Strategy
Brands find their strongest voices in clear narrative descriptions. Thus, each piece of content supports the same goal.
A content strategy defines the structure of how your brand will tell its story. It includes the types of content you’ll create, the timing of when the content will be published, and the order in which you’ll publish it. Because brand storytelling is built upon the structure of a content strategy, brands will avoid falling into the trap of focusing solely on the next latest fad because it may compromise the identity of the brand.
When brands implement a content strategy, the way they tell their stories will continue to be consistent over time.
Building Long-Term Relationships Through Storytelling
This interaction builds long-term relationships.
Ongoing interaction prepares the audience for deeper brand loyalty and prepares the audience for the future use of visual storytelling and audio storytelling.
Personalization in Digital Brand Storytelling
Technology will also allow brands to present a more personalised experience to their customer. Personalised Content can now be tailored according to the user’s interests, geographic location, behaviours etc. Personalised Digital experiences will increase your brand’s engagement by giving Consumers a sense of recognition and value.
Additionally, technology also helps brands in coordinating their Stories across multiple Media. Through Automation Tools, a brand can quickly distribute their Story in a consistent manner while still maintaining the integrity of the original Narrative. This helps to keep brand messaging consistent and congruent across all of the digital media touchpoints that Consumers interact with.
Technology, Data, and Immersive Storytelling
The using of creative data to guide Storytelling allows brands to find a Better Balance Between Emotions and Relevance. With the introduction of Technology to the Storytelling process, brands can create a greater level of immersive experience without sacrificing the authenticity of their Narratives. The combination of these two factors will ultimately provide Brands with an increase in their Long-term Digital Brand Performance.
Emotional Storytelling and Brand Authenticity
Emotion-filled stories about hardship and triumph are easier for an audience to relate to, which provides a deeper connection with a brand when an audience can see similar stories about real people.
Brand authenticity is created through brand stories based on customers or employees.
Because of the personal nature of emotional stories audiences will typically comment on these types of stories. As such sharing and commenting creates organic growth for the brand.
Maintaining Consistency Across Digital Branding Channels
When using storytelling as a means of building an effective Digital Brand, it is important to have Consistency within your Storytelling. Your Audience will be looking for the same tone, message and Values across all Digital Channels. Having an Inconsistent Narrative will weaken trust amongst your Audience and confuse your brand identity. Therefore, being consistent communicates Reliability and Recognition.
A good Content Strategy will allow your Brand to maintain Narrative alignment through Storytelling.
When Stories are told consistently, it creates Familiarity for the Audience and increases their confidence. This increases the chances of Long-Term Engagement and allows for Scalable Digital Branding.
Measuring Engagement and Performance of Storytelling in Digital Branding
To assess how Digital Branding goals are supported via Immersive Storytelling – Engagement Metrics are a Critical Component in determining how Audience members interact with Brand Narratives across Multiple Platforms.
Engagement Metrics illustrate how an Audience member demonstrates their Emotional and/or Behavioural Response to Brand Narratives by Liking, Sharing, Commenting & Completing Narratives.
Advanced Performance Metrics and Optimization
In addition to Surface Engagement Metrics, additional Performance Indicator Metrics provide additional information about an Audience’s level of Interest & Immersion in a Brand Narrative. The Time spent consuming a Brand Narrative indicates the Heightened Level of Interest/Immersion of an Audience Member; however, the Click-through rates and Conversions indicate how and when the Brand Narrative was a triggering factor in facilitating a decision-making process.
Through the use of Advanced Analytic Tools, Brands can Compare Different Storytelling Formats such as Video, Audio, and Interactive to better understand which Format(s) resonate most effectively with a Target Audience; for example, Streaming Service Provider, Netflix gathers large amounts of Engagement Data to facilitate Continuous Improvement of their Narrative Experiences through Data-Driven Optimization to enable Continued Optimization of Future Content Strategy Decisions.
Short-Form Storytelling Trends
Short-form storytelling will remain the main form of engagement. Most digital platforms reward brands with short narratives that quickly grab consumers’ attention. Hence, brands must be able to convey a clear message to consumers during the very short time frames available to them when telling a story. Because of the growing use of more visual forms of storytelling, this trend is changing the traditional planning of content strategies.
Establishing a Stable Brand Narrative
Having a clear narrative from the beginning of a campaign allows brands to produce consistently through various channels. Building a stable brand narrative will give the brand credibility over time.
