Why wait? Tell your story anyway!

“Do you dream of ever running your own business one day or you’re fine working for someone?” I asked.

This was a conversation with a colleague when he asked me to help him build his brand identity as a young man growing in the tech space. I shared with him my experiences with like-minded tech practitioners, having worked in the tech industry for some years. He laughed in agreement, when I shared similar traits I have witnessed with people in tech which he could relate to. Majorly, ‘tech people’ are focused on breaking the codes and milking money out of it, yet little attention is placed on positioning their brands, going through the processes of building their startups/business and most importantly, not being intentional on telling their unique stories.

“If you want to have a brand where people can connect with you, not just with your product/service but with your personality as well, then you need to tell your story always, don’t wait till it’s right for you, tell your story anyway. Start little, start where you are with the aim of growing your audience”. This was one of my responses to him.

Some individuals and organisations are doing well using their social media pages and other creative mediums to let people know who they are and what they do. In our growing digital age, social media is a common platform for use and reach in telling your story. According to Datareportal January 2024 global overview, more than half of the world uses social media (62.3%) amounting to 5.04 billion people, while there are 266 million users who have come online within the last year.

The question now is, what story do you tell?

What is the end goal of your social posts or interactions?

How do you connect your personality with your brand?

From personal observation, I’ve identified two categories of social media users:

1. People who use social media on the basis of the ‘individual’s view’ with the kind of message they want to tell or the kind of response they want to elicit from their audience about a product/service or subject of interest

2. Few others who capitalise the art of storytelling to communicate a message in order to influence audience perception/behaviour about their subject/brand.

The latter is not very common, and this blog is to encourage you to embrace this too.

In most instances, organisations or individuals would jump on social platforms to tell their story when it’s in connection to an international event, a launch of a product/service, birthday celebration or react to trending issues. However, it’s essential people get to know you for who you are and not just give them information. I’ve observed that brands who leverage storytelling as a continuous tool for communicating, connect with their audience emotions and in response, build customer loyalty and grow brand awareness.

Telling your story is a powerful tool to:

• Keeping your audience engaged
• Growing your database
• Allowing your audience to walk with you in the journey of growing your personal/organisational identity
• Being easily remembered

You don’t have to wait till you feel it’s right to come out. Let people get to know you; connect with them personally. And most importantly, always ensure that the story you’re telling is genuine, authentic and appeals to your audience interest.

By taking this into consideration, you’re telling a good STORY about YOU.

I will be coming your way with more content, until then practice these tips.

Thanks for reading, and be intentional wit telling your story.

Photo credit-Featured image: Tracy Le Blanc (pexels.com)

Your girl,

PEN.