Think about the last post you saw on social media. Can you confidently say you understood the purpose of that post? 

A lot of content on social media has become very monotonous and “samey”. No one wants to post boring content that people scroll past without a second glance, yet many still go for the hard sell without realising it’s completely pointless if your target audience isn’t engaged.

You need to captivate more than just your target audience. If you continually share content that is of low quality or overly promotional, even the algorithms will eventually lose interest! Meaning that your post’s reach will be lowered and no one will even be seeing your social media posts.

How to attract and maintain an audience with purposeful, engaging content?

The answer: Tell the story of your business.

Now, I’m not saying you should use your grid to create a comic strip – but instead use your posts to showcase your community or your values in a way that keeps your audience engaged. You need to understand your audience fully to be able to guide them through the story of your business, through social media content.  

Some brands that tell engaging stories on social media are:

Smart Water

Smart water is one of the best when using storytelling in their social strategy. From showing the development of the product to people using their product in real life. They create FOMO by sharing content their audience has posted, and showing the product in different scenarios.

https://www.instagram.com/smartwater_uk/

Burt’s Bees

Burt’s bees also use their audience’s content to showcase their product. They tell its story through posts about the ingredients and ethics behind the product. When you look at Burt’s Bees Instagram, you feel like you’re part of their community. 

https://www.instagram.com/burtsbeesuk/

Why should you use storytelling on social media?

• Storytelling encourages engagement from your audience
• It’s evergreen, meaning it won’t lose relevance and you can make content about it for months or even years
• It can highlight key features of your product or services (and help you subtly sell it to your audience)
• It helps develop long-term customer relationships
• Helps develop your brand personality and awareness

If you have a mission statement, use it. If you have interesting product packaging, use it. Anything that makes your brand unique – shout about it. 

How to use brand storytelling on your socials

The purpose of social media is to be social, so let people get to know the real-life humans hiding behind the business, and share your brand story. 

Storytelling can be a variety of posts. Video tours of your office, or chats with the people who work there. Take people on a day out, either on a busy day of client meetings or a trip to see your product in stores. Share images to show the development of your products, or meetings in your office discussing services. 

What you need to aim for in order to create great brand storytelling:

• Iron-clad marketing strategies for socials and your overall marketing plan
• Create content that takes your audience on a journey
• Show them why they should choose your business, not just your product or service
• Show details of your services or products that wouldn’t usually be seen
• Take time to talk to your audience, sit down with a camera and chat, and create relationships with your audience

Alternatively, you can outsource to an agency (like us here at Superfly) to set up a strategy for social growth using storytelling and let us do the leg work. 

You can carry on the conversation with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or view some of our client case studies. 

FAQS

How do you do storytelling on Instagram?

Create snackable, micro-stories that tie into the brand’s values, mission and purpose. Get creative with both image and video.

How do you do storytelling on Facebook?

Stories, lives and written posts can all strengthen your digital storytelling. Make your story attractive with a visual-focused lead in.

How do you do storytelling on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the place to leverage employee voices and showcase the very best of your company.