Sometimes topics like plants, exercise, and healthy eating can be boring. The world of natural health and wellness is also surrounded by skeptics who want to debunk alternative healing methods. Your customers hear these same claims too, but those who are open to alternative healing sometimes need a little nurturing. Tell them a story!
Sometimes my eyes glaze over when reading company profiles or an “About” page where I had no idea why they existed, who was involved, or anything about their own challenges.
Don’t be boring.
Here are 5 things you are lacking in your brand story(with tips on how to develop them) that is making you lose connection with customers.
-You Don’t Think Your Story Matters That Much
Think your story isn’t relevant? Think again.
In case you haven’t heard, storytelling is the new content marketing strategy. This strategy is transparent and offers value to your customers. As a wellness brand, this is your ticket to authentically speak of your commitments to health, environmental/social issues, or the people who are involved in your mission. This is a way to show compassion for your customer’s health troubles and that you can be a trusted source in your industry.
It’s not enough to:
Just state your company or product facts without having an emotional connection.
Brag about all of the successes your company has made.
Tell the timeline of your brand existence and growth in chronological order.
Your story is unique- It has ah-ha moments, personal truths, and failures that people connect with.
- The Way You Tell Your Story is Boring
A lot of companies are afraid of showing a little personality- but you shouldn’t be. Exhibiting competence may make you seem accomplished, but it won’t get you the results you want.
Sure. Natural health and wellness brands are using marketing buzzwords. Their website content is also filled with unrelatable intense medical jargon or on the other hand, bohemian slang-both that can’t hold on to our short attention spans for very long. And this type of branding is not forming the types of relationships they seek.
So how do you want to tell your story? For starters, you should remove all unnecessary details. Be the ones that others want know about. You’re more than a company name and list of products or services. So give them what matters.
- You’re Too Focused On Yourself
Don’t make the mistake of listing off all the amazing things you’ve done. Your company and personal accomplishments are great, but it’s much more important that your customers know some of your messes and where you are flawed.
After all, people don’t connect with successes, they connect your messes- John Bates(Leadership Communications Coach)
Think about it for a second. Chances are your first instinct is to show your credibility by talking all about the awards you have won, your education, etc. But wait- does your audience care how much of a health superstar you are?
Most of the time, the answer is not so much. And if you decide to go the bragging route, you’ll probably:
Bore them- When it comes to telling your story, save the accomplishments for your LinkedIn profile.
Lose them- They will feel like they are wasting their time because you are all about you and not them.
Confuse and anger them- Those fancy degrees and all that boasting will only come off as pretentious.
Bottom line: Speak your truths and wisdom, but be relatable.
- You’re Giving Too Much Detail
Respect your audience. They don’t usually need to know the details of every time you moved your office location or when the power kept going out that one summer. And they don’t want to read about ONLY your rose-colored viewpoint.
What they usually want is very simple…
Just tell us the juicy parts.
Lose all the crammed in unnecessary information and stick with what matters to your audience or they’ll lose interest. Any company can brag, boast, and fluff all day long about how they are the best at what they do. It’s your job to bring the key valuable things to the top that will benefit your audience.
- You’re Missing The Emotion In Your Content
If your “About” page has some impersonal history of your company smeared across it, you’re doing storytelling wrong.
I mean, company history, awards, and accomplishments are helpful in building confidence. But you need to evoke a feeling with your customers too- and they WANT to resonate with your brand. The natural health and wellness industry is in a strong position to do that.
Post pictures and videos of you and your team and the impact you are having on others in your community. Commit your online environment to your company lifestyle. What does your look, feel, and content say? Communicate emotion, then use information to support it. Make your company feel alive.
The point is this: The human brain values a story. You’re not a dull company. Don’t settle for bland, robotic content that make readers want to tear their eyes out.
Camille Thomas is the founder/writer at DiligentCopy.com, a freelance video transcription company specializing in turning videos into blog posts or ebooks in the natural health and wellness industry. She helps wellness entrepreneurs reach their goals with transcribed, creative content (Blogs, whitepapers, ghostwriting, etc.) about alternative medicine and healing, spirituality, veganism, ethical fashion, and more.