Your brand social posts are getting tumbleweed, your mailing list community is minuscule, your customer conversations are running dry and your sales aren’t remotely where you want them to be. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be! What is it that your business is missing? You know you have an awesome product that makes a huge difference in your customers’ lives – why the heck aren’t they picking up what you’re putting out into the world?! You might be panicking and thinking you need to throw more ad budget at the problem. Actually, there may be a simpler, more lasting fix. And that fix lies in the chemistry of brand storytelling.
That chemistry is what makes it all “click” and turns lurkers into superfans. Building chemistry with your ideal customers takes time and great storytelling; forming a life-long emotional bond means tapping into something deeper than posting a pretty picture on Insta every once in a while. And if you’re feeling all at sea right now, Make Us Care is here to navigate you through these choppy waters.
This blog series is going to help you dig into the chemistry behind selling by (story)telling. And in this blog post, we’re kicking things off by sharing how you get people to care by promoting their Oxytocin response.
Oxytocin is commonly known as the “love drug” as it is known to be associated with empathy, trust and building relationships. These are all fundamental to building an engaged audience of loyal customers and, happily, you can establish all of these wonderful feelings with your ideal customers through creative brand storytelling.
By eliciting the Oxytocin response in your ideal customers through your brand story – from your logo to your website to your product copy – you make falling in love with you kind of inevitable. And what makes people fall in love? A dream of a better future, the potential to be their best selves, feeling truly SEEN. This isn’t a wham-bam thing, this is a lasting, enduring love thing.
Our client Nimble has a vision of a world where every clean counts. They’re on a mission to reduce the stress around cleaning, give kinder cleaning products to every child and help keep the planet clean too.
Picture the most exhausted, sleep deprived, irrational-thinking person you know. Chances are, they’re a parent. This is Nimble’s customer. Nimble knows this, and makes those customers feel seen and understood. Nimble raises parents up, supports them and shows them that there is meaning in every messy moment – all through brand storytelling that creates chemistry.
You can check out Nimble’s full client story over here.
Struggling with chemistry? Here’s a sneak peek at our chemistry set (a.k.a. brand storytelling framework). We call it The Make Us Care storybook. This is how it works:
Your Make story shows your customers how your products benefit them. They get to clearly see how your business can have a positive impact on their lives.
Your Us story creates connection and empathy between you and your customers. This story is where they see themselves and feel like you really get them, on a whole new level.
Your Care story gives your customers a reason to assemble, to rally around you, because they believe that your vision and values are in sync with theirs. They’ll choose you over your competitors because they believe that together, you guys can make the world a better place.
We have a tried and tested formula for sifting through all the elements of your story to uncover the most precious and potent stuff but you can get started with crafting your brand story right now, with these key questions.
Through brand storytelling that taps into your customers’ Oxytocin response, you can create irresistible chemistry and unshakeable loyalty to your brand. This is all about empathy, trust and relationship building. This is all about making your customers’ feel seen and understood. When you nail this, you can say hello to hearty chin-wags, a bulging mailing list, social notification overload and the kind of sales you deserve.
These clients have been in our “lab” and have seen the alchemical transformations that are possible when we put our chemistry set to good use. Take a look at their stories and see for yourself what is possible for your brand. And do keep your eyes peeled for the next instalment of this series on the chemistry of storytelling.
P.S. Yes, we know that *technically* Oxytocin is known as the “love drug” but we’ve co-opted it as the “care drug” because, well loving and caring are very similar aren’t they – and we’re all about caring – it’s in our name after all!