Who are you? How do your customers know? Can they taste it in your content? Or does your brand voice melt like ice cream dropped on August-hot blacktop with each new platform or post? Maybe you serve up scoops of plain vanilla instead of risking the rainbow of flavor truly at the heart of your business in an effort to appeal to a broader base?

If a solid storyline doesn’t season all your content, design and strategy decisions, you’re missing the chance to transform all your marketing ingredients into an experience customers crave. Your branded content drives customer loyalty and builds deeper connections. A clear, authentic voice can seem risky. But, be not afraid! Your story distinguishes you from the competition and feeds buy in.

• Align your content with what you believe, and the right people will follow where you lead. Haven’t pinned down who you truly are? Consider the following to start cooking up your unique story:
• Why do you do what you do?
• How are you different from others?
• What feeds your passion?
• Define your essence. By happy, do you mean joyful or positive? By driven, is it ambitious or determined? If you’re funny, is that snarky or goofy?
• Remember everything is branding from thank you emails to logos to your user interface, so look for places where you miss the opportunity to showcase who you are.

If this seems daunting, connect with branding experts to brew up the perfect story blend.