Brand marketing today is a completely different animal from what it was just five years ago, with AI tools like StoryLab.ai enabling marketing teams, no matter how small, to create dynamic, engaging content that tells unique, brand-specific stories in seconds.
That does not mean leaving everything to automation; you, the business owner, startup founder, or marketing professional, have a vital role to play. It’s up to you to ensure that your content expresses your values, unique proposition, and story.
Whether you are creating a video, blog post, or ad copy, there is one element that can keep audiences glued to the screen: joy.
Many would agree that, given the overload of negative headlines and uncertainty about the future, joy is the one element that connects us to our “inner child” and reminds us of the importance of sounding our voice and sharing our thoughts, hopes, and dreams.
Chapters
Defining Your Brand’s Unique Joy
All brands seek to meet a demand or address a pain point by offering clients or customers a signature product, service, or “joy.” Start the journey by asking yourself what type of joy your brand seeks to create. Do you wish to provide clients or customers with a sense of playfulness, time to enjoy what matters to them, a sense of calm, or the joy of belonging? Aim to choose one or two “joy goals” and make them central to your promises and stories.
To put this goal into practice, map three to five situations where your customers already comment positively, feel relieved, or smile when using your brand. Give a specific name to their emotions, for instance, “long-lasting calm,” “playful experimentation,” or “quick relief.” Next, turn it into a type of mission statement that describes what you do. For instance, your statement might be, “We create long-lasting calm for stressed executives,” “We invite users to tap into their childlike selves through playful experimentation,” or “We create clarity for overwhelmed decision-makers.”
Embracing Joy-Centric Stories and Symbols
When telling your story, aim to use language, metaphors, and visuals that convey your signature joy, so it is easily recognizable across the channels your customers use.
When it comes to storytelling, show your clients how they can move from their current pain point to the specific joy you offer. Use language that expresses a moment, not just your products or services. For instance, you can use phrases such as “soothing sounds for restful sleep,” or “making clear, confident decisions even in the face of uncertainty.” If apps or interactive websites are part of your offerings, heed the advice from New York consumer tech founder Zibo Gao.
He notes that smart brands lead with welcoming aesthetics that feature softer, rounder forms through careful selection of shapes, colors, and imagery. Those evoking lightness, warmth, and approachability are more likely to evoke joy than harsh, minimalist, or overly dramatic symbols and messages. Ensure your apps are user-friendly and simply to use, too.
Even the brightest and sunniest of apps can turn into a frustrating experience for users if key information is difficult to find or features are too complex for everyday users.
Pay Attention to Detail
Making joy a strong part of your brand identity is as much about creating “pops” of joy for your customers as it is about choosing joyful colors for your logo or revamping your website. Recall the moments of joy you experienced when brands went above and beyond to show that they value you… an extra sample of perfume when you purchase a fragrance, a hand-illustrated artwork accompanying a gift basket, or a branded keychain when you purchase a bag.
Even if you have a small budget and time is of the essence, you can engineer these moments of delight through unexpected messages, joyful animations, or kind greetings and goodbyes in your e-mails. It is equally important to prioritize ease of use.
Remove any friction that may stop your customers from enjoying your products or services to the fullest. For instance, if clients have complained about waiting too long to hear back from you, consider offering a 24/7 chatbot or enlisting staff to respond to customers within a set number of hours via WhatsApp.
Making Joy a Companywide Value
Making joy part of your mission is vital, but it is only a first step. Staff should be trained to make joy part of their everyday processes. For instance, you can provide them with short training courses on how to answer the phone or how to address clients via e-mail or direct messaging. If you use automation, ensure it only enhances, not replaces, the personalized messages frontline staff should send to customers. Finally, whenever you create a new joy-centered strategy, measure its success through surveys, customer loyalty, and sentiment analysis.
Joy is an emotion that many would say is in strong demand in what is sometimes a stress-filled world. Brands wishing to make this sentiment part of their story can start by defining their joy and ensuring that all their efforts, including their social media pages, websites, and logos, make their unique joy present and felt by customers. They can take it further through micro-efforts and staff training. If you value joy, it should be present in everything from interactions on social media to how you greet customers in e-mails and messages.