I have an English degree with a concentration in creative writing, which did not come easy. I’ll never forget the first day of one of my upper-level creative writing classes when the professor walked in and tore apart everything we knew about creative writing. He told us we were not there to write happy stories but to dig deep within ourselves and write tragedies.
It was a little intense and not something I excelled at, but it taught me more about the writing process than anything I’d had before or after.
I think about Dr. Brent Spencer every time someone says they need to tell their brand’s story or they need to figure out how to be better at brand storytelling.
Outside of practicing the craft, which includes writing every single day—even if you don’t hit publish—it takes a lot of gumption to craft a brand story. It’s as easy as digging deep into yourself to write a tragedy you will have to share with your peers and let them pick it apart.
And that’s why most brand stories simply disappear into the void. We’ve all seen it happen: the meticulously crafted campaign that generates no engagement, the “authentic” brand narrative that feels painfully contrived, or the compelling story that somehow fails to translate into measurable results.
But unlike digging deep inside yourself to write a tragedy you don’t want to have to see the light of day, most brand storytelling falls flat because it’s too self-serving. It places the company at the center of a narrative that customers simply don’t care about.
Others miss the mark by being disconnected from their audience, telling stories that fail to resonate with the very people they’re trying to reach. And many brands sabotage their efforts by delivering inconsistent narratives across channels, confusing customers about who the brand is and what it stands for.
But effective brand storytelling isn’t just possible—and it’s not scary, either.
Your Brand’s Story Must Include the Customer’s Journey
How many of you have been asked to produce content or write a news release or create social content that you know, deep down, no one cares about? No one cares about your latest hires or your new product release or the big client you just won.
It’s the equivalent of going on a first date and talking about yourself for two hours straight. No second date for you!
What is the story?
No one wakes up thinking about your brand’s achievements (except maybe the CEO). They wake up thinking about their own challenges, goals, and desires. When you make your brand the hero, you’re essentially asking customers to celebrate someone else’s success rather than imagining their own.
So what should you do about it?
Flip the script entirely.
Your brand isn’t Luke Skywalker—it’s Yoda. You’re not Frodo carrying the ring to Mordor; you’re Gandalf guiding the way. Your brand isn’t Harry Potter destined to defeat Voldemort—it’s Dumbledore providing the wisdom, tools, and guidance needed for the journey. You’re not Katniss Everdeen winning the Hunger Games—you’re Haymitch sending in the life-saving supplies at just the right moment.
Shall I go on? (I’m kind of proud of myself for those! 
)
This mental shift transforms everything about how you communicate.
Start mapping your customer’s journey—not your brand’s journey—your customer’s journey as an actual story with these elements:
- What pain points are they experiencing right now?
- What obstacles keep getting in their way?
- How does your brand step in as the guide to help them?
- What does their success story look like after working with you?
Tips For Getting Started Right Now
Stop saying things like “Our software automates workflows” and start saying, “Meet Sarah, a marketing manager drowning in manual tasks. With [Your Brand], she automates her workflows, saves 10 hours a week, and finally gets time to focus on strategy.”
Try this exercise today: take your current brand messaging and rewrite it using this simple template: “Before using our product/service, our customers struggled with [specific pain point]. After using our solution, they were able to [achieve specific outcome or success].”
This completely changes how you think about your brand’s role in the customer’s life instead of your customer’s role in your brand’s life.
Take a Proactive Approach to Brand Storytelling
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: if you’re not actively shaping your brand’s story, someone else is doing it for you—your competitors, unhappy customers, or industry critics. You and I have both seen examples of when brands get caught flat-footed, constantly reacting to conversations they should have been leading.
Most brands take a passive approach, letting the market define who they are. They wait until there’s a problem, then scramble to correct misconceptions that have already taken root. By then, it’s often too late.
Though I may be preaching to the choir, this is worth repeating: you need to be proactive, not reactive. Shape your narrative deliberately across all channels. This doesn’t mean controlling what others say about you (impossible), but it does mean establishing such a clear, consistent story that it becomes the framework through which others understand your brand.
Tips For Getting Started Right Now
First, do a quick audit. Look at your last month of content across your PESO Model© channels and ask yourself:
- Are we telling a consistent story or multiple disconnected ones?
- Is our customer positioned as the hero in every piece of content? Or are we being too self-serving?
- Where are the gaps in our narrative that competitors could exploit?
This audit will immediately show you where you’re ceding control of your story. Once you understand your gaps, you can start by creating pillar content—comprehensive resources that define your perspective and approach.
Owned media is the best place to start because you can control the story and the narrative. Use this content to reach your audiences through shared, earn credibility through earned, and amplify through paid.
Build Trust Through Authentic, Reputation-Protecting Stories
Let’s be real—nobody trusts corporate-speak anymore. We’ve all grown allergic to jargon, buzzwords, and carefully sanitized messaging that feels like it was approved by seventeen lawyers before seeing the light of day. Heck, many of us (cough, cough) have corporate BINGO that we play during meetings. And we all collectively roll our eyes when we hear certain words. We all hate it and yet…
The biggest mistake brands make is confusing “brand-approved” with “authentic.” We collect generic testimonials (“Great product, highly recommend!”) instead of real stories. We polish everything to perfection, removing any hint of struggle or imperfection—which is exactly what makes stories relatable in the first place.
Stop hiding behind corporate language and perfect case studies. Start showcasing real customers with real struggles who achieved real results—but not without some challenges along the way.
And when things go wrong (they will), resist the urge to hide. The most powerful trust-building tool you have is transparency, especially during difficult times. If you hide when you’re going through difficult times, you damage your reputation far more than brands that acknowledge problems and show how they’re addressing them.
Tips For Getting Started Right Now
I was struck during the Grammys this year when Recording Agency CEO, Harvey Mason, Jr., introduced The Weeknd after he had boycotted the event three years in a row.
Instead of chalking the artist’s performance up to being childish, Mason leaned into the boycott to learn more. He listened to what The Weeknd had to say, and they made amends. When he introduced him before he performed, he spoke to all of the things they did to listen and to make change. And, because of that, he was thrilled to welcome The Weeknd back to the stage.
He didn’t hide. He didn’t criticize back. He listened, which in turn ended the boycott.
Try this today: Find one customer story (a real one, not a testimonial) and restructure it to include:
- The specific problem they faced (not generic pain points)
- The obstacles that made solving it difficult
- How your brand guided them through the process
- The tangible effect it had on their life or business
This shift from testimonials to stories transforms your content from promotional to persuasive—and puts someone new in the customer’s shoes to understand exactly how you can help them.
Keep Brand Storytelling Consistent Across Channels
Brand storytelling consistent across all channels is where things fall apart for most brands. The social media team is telling one story, PR is pushing another angle, the website has different messaging, and the sales team is working with another script.
In all of the PESO Model work we do with big brands and small, the most common issue we find is lack of integration and inconsistency. The LinkedIn page talks about being enterprise-focused, while the Instagram shows you as quirky and casual or boutique and fun. The website emphasizes quality, while the advertising pushes low prices.
Customers encounter these contradictions and simply don’t know which version of your brand to believe.
A brand storytelling playbook will solve that. It will create alignment across all channels and departments. This isn’t about being rigid—it’s about ensuring that whether someone encounters your brand on social media, through a news article, through an ad, or via your website, they’re getting the same story.
Define your core narrative, the non-negotiable elements of your brand story that must remain consistent everywhere. Then, train everyone—not just marketing—on how to communicate within that framework while still adapting to different channels and audiences.
Tips For Getting Started Right Now
Do this today: Audit 10 random touchpoints where customers might encounter your brand (social posts, web pages, emails, ads, PR mentions). I recently had a friend do this for her business. She wants to attract higher-paying customers who already value marketing and communications versus small businesses who just need someone to take it off their plates, but don’t really understand it.
She came back and said, “You were right. I’m attracting micro businesses.”
See how all of this works together? You can’t just tell a story through your thought leadership content and expect it to translate automatically in all of the spots.
When you do your audit, examine each for:
- Is the customer positioned as the hero?
- Is our brand role consistent (are we the guide, not the hero)?
- Do the key messages align or conflict?
This quick audit will reveal whether you’re telling one cohesive story or multiple competing narratives.
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