How to find your brand story
- Lucy
- Sep 24
- 4 min read
Stories hook us. They make things stick. In fact, Stanford research shows that 63% of people remember a story, compared to just 5% who recall a single statistic.
We’re wired to remember emotion more than information. Making it one of your most powerful tools for building trust, communicating your values, and showing your customers why you’re the one for them. A strong brand story will build emotional connection and gives people something to believe in and something to root for. It can also shape customer perception by showcasing the why behind your work and enabling customers to see themselves in what they're saying.
Without a story, your business is just another option, but with a story, you can become the obvious choice.
Every good brand story has three core elements:
A moment of challenge or change
A transformation that aligns with your audience’s own desires
A message that’s more about them than you
If you want people to care, you need to tell them why it matters. So here's how to find your relevant brand story...
Step 1: Start with the moment that mattered
This isn’t about your job title, your credentials, or when you launched your business. It’s about the moment everything changed. The point where something clicked, or all hell broke loose and you decided to build what you’ve now built.
That’s what makes your story worth telling.
Chances are, your audience is in that same moment right now. They might also be confused or burnt out or stuck between two paths as they're starting out. They need to know that you've also been there, and most importantly, that you didn't stay there.
Step 2: Show the transformation
The story isn’t just that you started a business. It’s why you did it, and what you had to figure out along the way. And ultimately, where you've got to now.
The transformation is what connects you to your audience. It shows them you’ve faced something hard, messy, or meaningful, and you came out the other side with something valuable to share. That shift might be big or small:
Maybe you moved from being burnt out to finding that elusive work life balance.
Maybe you turned a failed launch into a completely reimagined offer that took off.
Maybe you realised the traditional path didn’t work for you, and so you've created a new one others can now follow.
Whatever it is, the transformation is what gives your business depth. And it helps your audience see that transformation as possible for them too.
Step 3: Find the sales connection
Your story should tie directly into your offer, your values, and the way you show up.
What connects your past experience to the work you do now? What have you always cared about, even before this business existed?
That’s the connection to what you're trying to sell.
This connection then allows you to stand for something rather than just selling something. It might be freedom, clarity, connection, inclusivity, impact. Whatever it is, it’s the golden thread that weaves your entire business together. Most people don't like being sold to, but everyone likes a story. So this is what can help your story to stick.
Step 4: Write for relation
You’re not writing your story to impress your peers. You’re writing it to connect with your people.
Forget the polished industry jargon or clever metaphors. You want this to feel real, grounded, and human. Tell your story like you’d explain it to someone across the table from you. You want them nodding along, recognising themselves in your words, and feeling quietly reassured that you get it.
Personally, I'm someone who talks with their hands a lot. So if I can't imagine myself reading a sentence aloud and moving my hands as I'm doing so, then I know I'm not excited about it enough to ever want to explain it at a dinner table. Make sure you're writing something you'd want to be talking about.
Step 5: It’s not about you
Yes, your brand story can come from your lived experience, but your customer is still the main character. So ask yourself: Why should they care? Why should they listen? What’s in this story for them? Great brand stories invite the customer in.
Especially if you're selling a service, you need to be the guide. Show them that you've been where they are and can also help them get where they want to go. You need them to be able to easily slot themselves into the story so they can see and believe in that transformation.
How to use your brand story across your business
Your brand story should shape the entire experience of your brand. Your customer needs to get the same feeling from your site, your services, your content, and your visuals. You want to be building a cohesive world through that story that helps them connect the dots.
That might look like:
Homepage: Lead with your message or mission. Why you do what you do, and who you’re here for.
About page: Tell the fuller version of your story, including the transformation and the values it represents.
Service pages: Link your story to why your offer exists, and how it’s designed to help your audience through something you’ve been through too.
Social media: Share stories, moments, and insights that reinforce the tone and purpose behind your brand.
Visual identity: Make sure your photography, design, and voice all reflect the emotions and values at the core of your story.
Ready to find your brand story?
If you want to create a brand that sticks, start with the story.
Not sure where to start? Book in for a Business Blueprint sprint week where I can help you define exactly that.
Ready to go? Let's bring your story to life with a new website design.
And remember: tell your story with honesty and intention, so that people don't just listen, but they remember.
