Once upon a time in the vast world of digital marketing, a brand decided to leverage the magic of storytelling. With every tale told, it created a captivating world where the audience felt valued, understood, and excited. And guess what? It worked! But you’re not here for a fairytale; you’re here for a road map to branding success.
This post will guide you on the magical journey of creating compelling brand stories through social ads. The truth is, the world doesn’t need another ad; it needs stories – authentic, relatable, and intriguing narratives. So, let’s dive in!
The Heart of Your Story: Brand Values
Identify Your Brand Values
Stories without substance are as good as a car without an engine – they won’t take you anywhere. Start with your brand values. Nike, for instance, is not selling shoes and workout clothes; they’re promoting an athletic lifestyle. The company tells stories that reflect perseverance, determination, and victory, in alignment with the brand’s core values, as you can see in the Nike ad campaign below.
Develop Your Brand Persona
What does your brand sound like? Is it formal, conversational, quirky, or fun? By defining your brand’s voice, you make your brand more personable and engaging. Think about Old Spice – the company’s zany, energetic persona makes its stories impossible to forget. You can see this demonstrated in this memorable Old Spice ad campaign.
The Perfect Story Structure: The Three C’s
Now that you’ve identified your brand values and persona, it’s time to move on to the story structure. You’ll need three elements to make it work.
1. Conflict
Every good story starts with a problem or something your target audience can relate to. For example, Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign capitalized on the conflict of unrealistic beauty standards in media, which was something their target audience could relate to.
2. Climax
Here is where your brand comes into play as the hero, providing a solution to the conflict. Slack’s ads, for example, typically position their platform as the climax – the solution to disorganized workplace communication. See the many solutions provided in the Slack ad campaign.
3. Conclusion
End your story on a high note, offering a resolution that leaves the audience with a positive feeling. This type of ad storytelling can be found in the Airbnb “Belong Anywhere” campaign where the conclusion promotes a world where anyone can feel at home, anywhere.
Audience-Centric Storytelling: Know Your Characters
Before you get too far developing your story structure, make sure you understand your audience. Knowing your audience allows you to create stories they can connect with. REI’s #OptOutside campaign is a masterclass in this. The company understood its outdoorsy audience’s need for adventure and rolled out an ad campaign encouraging them to spend Black Friday outside instead of shopping.
Make sure to segment your audience. Not all your audience members are the same. So why should their stories be? Create different stories for different audience segments to make your ads more effective. Meta loves to use creative and ads as targeting, so this is really fueling your campaign for success. For example, Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign used this approach by targeting different demographics with personalized Coke bottles as you can see below.
The Twist: Standing Out in the Crowd
This next part of storytelling in advertising is possibly the hardest requirement of all. You need to find a way to stand out against all the other media available in a user’s feed on social media platforms. You need to tell your stories in fresh, exciting ways. Consider the wildly successful “Dumb Ways to Die” campaign from Metro Trains. The brand’s entertaining approach to safety messages, using a catchy tune and cute animations, was truly unique.
How can you accomplish something similarly distinctive? There are a lot of ways! Here’s a quick tip. Get together in groups of five to ten people, and throw ideas around. It doesn’t matter if everyone has a creative background – perspective matters. Be honest and open to new ideas. More minds are better than one. Creative collaboration can yield the most amazing ideas and can be a great solution to ensuring your brand is staying competitively creative and innovative.
Need some thought starters for your creative collab? Use current trends to explore making your story more relevant and interesting. Spotify does this brilliantly in its annual “Wrapped” campaign, where the brand creates a narrative around each user’s music history.
The Art and Science of Ad Creatives: Copy and Visuals
At this point, you’ve laid the foundation for an awesome ad campaign. Now it’s time to take all of those ideas and put them into play. Let’s go over the key components of your ad so you can confidently share your brand message.
- Powerful Headlines
Depending on the ad placement, your headline is sometimes your only shot at grabbing attention. Keep it clear, concise, and compelling. Airbnb does this beautifully with the headline, “Belong Anywhere,” which not only attracts attention but also encapsulates its brand story in just two words.
- Engaging Copy
Your ad copy should add depth to your headline, creating a narrative that speaks to your audience’s needs and desires. Remember, you’re not selling a product; you’re selling a solution, an experience. For example, Squatty Potty’s viral ad copy doesn’t just sell a bathroom stool; it tells a whimsical, memorable story about “the right way to poop.”
- Striking Visuals
Humans are visual creatures, so the imagery you choose is crucial. Your visuals should work hand-in-hand with your copy to tell your brand story. Take Apple’s minimalistic product photos and video ads, for example. The clean, crisp visuals echo the company’s brand story of sleek, user-friendly design. Apple’s ads are striking and immediately encourage you to stop scrolling and see more. These visual examples can be seen in the new promo video for Apple’s Vision Pro product.
Create multiple visuals. Test videos, carousels, statics – all the formats. Test various styles. For example, Apple wouldn’t want to exclusively use minimalistic product photos in their ads. There are other ways to tell the brand story that will expand Apple’s reach and appeal.
- Call to Action (CTA)
Every ad needs a strong CTA. It’s your story’s climax – the step you want the viewer to take. Whether it’s “Shop Now,” “Learn More,” or “Sign Up,” your CTA should be clear, direct, and action-oriented.
- Consistency
Being consistent in your copy and visuals across all ads is key as it fortifies your brand image. When you think of the brand Red Bull, you immediately recall the company’s consistent messaging around “giving wings” and its high-energy, extreme sports visuals.
- Testing and Iterating
No ad is perfect on the first go. Use A/B testing to find out which elements of your copy or visuals resonate most with your audience. Then, iterate, reiterate, and repeat! MailChimp’s ongoing playful experiments with their own name in their ad campaigns demonstrate the power of testing different creative approaches.
That’s a Wrap: Now Go Tell Your Story
Crafting compelling brand stories in paid social ads isn’t just about selling a product or service – it’s about creating an engaging, emotional connection with your audience. By blending your brand values, audience insights, creativity, and strategic use of copy and visuals, you can conjure a powerful narrative that not only attracts but also resonates with your audience. So, are you ready to weave some storytelling magic?
