Ryan Stoner

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Your First Startup Growth Hack? Focus on Building a Valuable Brand

Your First Startup Growth Hack? Focus on Building a Valuable Brand

I’ve previously written about the importance of crafting a quality brand story for your business. If you want to see true success in your company, you need to grab the attention of consumers and help them invest in your brand’s story. It’s time to focus on the long-game and future goals for bringing the most value to your customers instead of focusing on short-term growth goals or focusing on quick growth tactics.

The problem with how most companies do brand stories

We’ve talked brand stories to death. Every company knows it’s important to have one. So then, why do so many companies fail when it comes to crafting an engaging brand story that draws in their audience? People opt for snappy taglines or lists of facts and numbers that they believe constitute a brand story. Writing a few sentences about why you started your company without any pep or heart does not make a brand story. Including facts is fine, but you need something else too. Recently, other people have begun realizing what’s wrong with the stories companies are trying to sell to consumers.

If your brand story lacks soul and cannot engage your audience, what’s the point of creating one in the first place?

How to make yours more engaging

Instead of focusing on the statistics behind why your company is great, focus on the story. You can weave facts into what you’re saying, but it’s more important to engage your audience. It’s not necessary to tell them exactly how much you fundraised before starting your business or what your numbers looked like last year. Instead, tell them what you’re passionate about. What motivated you to start the business? Why is it your passion? How did your family shape who you are today and how you do business? And most importantly, why your startup is uniquely positioned to solve a core audience need.

Develop a story that draws your readers in and makes them think of your business in a more relatable way instead of something boring. Show your humanity in your brand story. Get emotive. Talk about challenges you’ve faced and overcome or times you’ve failed. Maybe it isn’t directly related to your business, but everything in your life has made you who you are today. Use the interesting details to make something engaging and share it with others.

What happens after you develop an engaging brand story?

After you’ve established your company’s genuine and engaging brand story, you can begin focusing on growth strategies and widening your company’s audience while growing your business. If you attempt these strategies before having a solid story in place, you’ll only succeed in annoying your target audience.

With a strong brand, you’ll receive direct, unattributed traffic to your websites because people think of your brand first when they want a service or product you offer. Ultimately, whatever company can get the closest to their customers and win their hearts will win when it comes to their company succeeding.

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