A “brand’s story” has become a huge marketing buzz-phrase in recent years. But how clear are you on what that means? And how you can use it to elevate your event? 

When you harness the power of brand storytelling you’ll be able to engage more effectively with your attendees – developing an emotional response to your brand and building a greater level of community. 

What does brand storytelling mean?

In basic terms, brand storytelling is about helping your attendees connect emotionally with your event’s brand. It’s about creating a narrative that humanises what you do and communicates with your audience on a deeper level instead of a purely transactional one. 

Brand stories bring your brand to life and give it character. They make it a living, breathing entity with its own ideas and beliefs. They give it its own voice and a distinct way of communicating and set the tone through which your brand sees the world. 

Why should brand storytelling be an important part of your event? 

You may be thinking that your tickets have been selling just fine without any real thought towards your brand’s story, so why bother making the effort now? It may be that you have without trying, and created a brand story organically, which is a great start.  The next step is to get this down into a written document so you can clarify all the details of your brand and its ethos. This will ensure consistency across your marketing channels as well as providing an easier onboarding process for any new staff. 

If you fall into the category where you feel like you don’t have a distinct brand personality yet, putting the work into developing one can help you stand out within your niche. By creating a clear idea of who you are and what you stand for, it makes it easier for your attendees to understand if you are what they’re looking for. 

It goes far beyond just writing a great ‘about us’ section on your website. You have to connect with people’s imaginations when you sell to them and brand storytelling is the perfect tool to allow you to do that. 

So where do you start when creating your brand story? 

Every brand and event has its own individual story. Below is a list of questions that act as a great starting point for you to think about. You can either write your answers down or if you’re not the event’s creator maybe work on getting an interview with them to get the details of how the event came to be. 

• What led to the creation of the event? 
• When and where was your event launched? 
• What were you doing previously to the event being created? 
• What goals did you set out when you first created the event? 
• Were there any challenges along the way? How did you overcome them? 
• Has your event changed or developed from its creation? If so, how? 
• Who are your event attendees and why do you think they choose your event? 
• Have you reached the goals you previously set out? 
• What would you like to achieve with your event in the future? 
• Do you have any wider values that you consider to be essential to your event? 

Creating a clear narrative and timeline gives you an idea of where you’ve been and where you’re heading. It can also help you define your audience more clearly. 

A “brand’s story” has become a huge marketing buzz-phrase in recent years. But how clear are you on what that means? And how you can use it to elevate your event? 

When you harness the power of brand storytelling you’ll be able to engage more effectively with your attendees – developing an emotional response to your brand and building a greater level of community. 

What does brand storytelling mean?

In basic terms, brand storytelling is about helping your attendees connect emotionally with your event’s brand. It’s about creating a narrative that humanizes what you do and communicates with your audience on a deeper level instead of a purely transactional one. 

Brand stories bring your brand to life and give it character. They make it a living, breathing entity with its own ideas and beliefs. They give it its own voice and a distinct way of communicating, and set the tone through which your brand sees the world. 

Why should brand storytelling be an important part of your event?

You may be thinking that your tickets have been selling just fine without any real thought towards your brand’s story, so why bother making the effort now? It may be that you have without trying, and created a brand story organically, which is a great start.  The next step is to get this down into a written document so you can clarify all the details of your brand and its ethos. This will ensure consistency across your marketing channels as well as providing an easier onboarding process for any new staff. 

If you fall into the category where you feel like you don’t have a distinct brand personality yet, putting the work into developing one can help you stand out within your niche. By creating a clear idea of who you are and what you stand for, it makes it easier for your attendees to understand if you are what they’re looking for. 

It goes far beyond just writing a great ‘about us’ section on your website. You have to connect with people’s imaginations when you sell to them and brand storytelling is the perfect tool to allow you to do that. 

So where do you start when creating your brand story?

Every brand and event has its own individual story. Below is a list of questions that act as a great starting point for you to think about. You can either write your answers down or if you’re not the event’s creator maybe work on getting an interview with them to get the details of how the event came to be. 

• What led to the creation of the event? 
• When and where was your event launched? 
• What were you doing previously to the event being created? 
• What goals did you set out when you first created the event? 
• Were there any challenges along the way? How did you overcome them? 
• Has your event changed or developed from its creation? If so, how? 
• Who are your event attendees and why do you think they choose your event? 
• Have you reached the goals you previously set out? 
• What would you like to achieve with your event in the future? 
• Do you have any wider values that you consider to be essential to your event? 

Creating a clear narrative and timeline gives you an idea of where you’ve been and where you’re heading. It can also help you define your audience more clearly. 

How can brand storytelling help you better communicate with your audience?

One of the most important parts of brand storytelling is understanding your audience. For example, the language you’d use to write a children’s book would be completely different from the language you’d use to write a crime novel. 

This works the same way when writing a copy for your event so it speaks directly and clearly to your attendees. To understand what will get them excited about your event, you need to look past mere demographics – you need to know and understand them as people. To do this you’ll need to create target personas. 

Identifying the key ‘types’ who attend your event and the underlying needs of that individual are key to understanding how to communicate more effectively with them. Take a greater interest in what makes them tick. What bothers and irritates them? What challenges are they facing in their daily lives? What are they worried about and scared of? What do they dream about? 

The more you know and understand about your attendees, the better you can reach out and communicate more effectively with them. Create different stories for each persona about who you think they might be as people, and from there you can tailor your message to be more appropriate for each persona. 

How do you identify your events persona?

When you have identified the personas of your attendees, it’s time to take that approach to identify the persona of your event. You have to imagine your event as an actual person, and build a description of that ‘person’ in the same way you would any other persona. 

Ask yourself the same questions you’ve previously used to identify who your attendees are, to help you build the image of a real person. Whilst this may seem a bit ridiculous, it can help you build a tangible personality for your event’s brand story. From there it becomes far easier to work out your brand’s tone and how it should express itself. 

How can this affect your day-to-day communications?

You should aim to communicate your brand’s and event’s story through every step your attendees will take whilst interacting with your event brand on and off-site. Whether that be through your website, social channels, advertising, or even your event registration, customer service and post-event thank you a message. 

It goes beyond just ensuring your brand has a consistent tone of voice:  it’s about consistently stimulating people and continually communicating the values of your event. Brand storytelling is about always expanding the narrative you’ve created. By telling personal stories you’ll be able to trigger an emotional response from the attendee. It’s about reinforcing that human element in an ever-digital world. 

How are you able to keep your brand story original?

When making sure you keep your story and narrative original, it may be best to turn to the stories of your attendees. They are the crucial element when it comes to running an event and they can be a fantastic source of inspiration. 

Sharing their stories and their experiences with you builds confidence and loyalty and it’s the best way to demonstrate the impact your event has on your attendees. Making your attendees a part of your brand story and your communications will ensure that your event and its values will always seem authentic. 

Everyone loves a good story, especially one that’s organic and authentic, so if you want your attendees to be more engaged with your events, give them a narrative they can engage with. Put your event attendees at the centre of your brand’s story and you will have their attention. 

Help build your brand and event story here with Helm Tickets! 

Everyone loves a good story, especially one that’s organic and authentic, so if you want your attendees to be more engaged with your events, give them a narrative they can engage with. Put your event attendees at the centre of your brand’s story and you will have their attention.