Using Stories to Communicate Your Brand Promise

Thanks to Cathy Goodwin, PhD, I came across an article  in Amercian Express’s Open Forum titled Storytelling: The New Brand-Building Machine.

One of the companies it features is PetRelocation.com, a company that provides…well…pet relocation services.

If you go to their site, you see a great example of how to use customer stories to communicate your brand promise.

Even if you have never had to relocate along with your pets, you can probably imagine how anxiety-producing that is for pet lovers. Besides the horror stories of pets running away or dying en route, there’s the general worry about them being traumatized by the process.

One of the best ways to reduce the fear of the unknown is to share stories from  people who have “been there and done that.”

About this, PetRelocation.com is genius.

They have over 200 customer stories recounting their delightful experiences with the company and its staff.

For instance, check out Pet Move Customer Story: Miller and Safa Move to Shanghai

So…are you using stories about your customer or client experiences to communicate who you are, what you do, and how you do it?

Are you using stories to communicate what makes you unique (and awesomeness)?

One of the most common questions I hear from people who KNOW storytelling is effective and WANT to use storytelling more in their work is “Where do I find stories?”

Well…start with your customers or clients.

Think of examples of why they love you. Remember the experience and what happened. Better still, ask them to tell you it from their side.

Now you have stories you can use not just in your marketing materials, but in your conversations and presentations at events.

So…start collecting those stories…