This collection has the best free Instagram Story templates currently available. They come in various formats, including Photoshop PSD, Figma, Sketch, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, and Premiere Pro.

Whether you’re a social media manager, a business owner, or just an Instagram enthusiast, these templates will help you maintain a consistent and professional look. So go ahead, give them a try, and see how much easier and quicker it is to post high-quality Instagram Stories!

Instagram Story Templates for Photoshop

These easy-to-use Photoshop PSD templates are great for anyone wanting an elegant look for their Instagram Stories.

Travel Instagram Stories Template

Free to Download and in Photoshop PSD Format

This free set includes twelve unique templates suitable for personal vacations, landscape photographers, or even travel business promotions. Each template has smart objects for easy customization, making it perfect for creating eye-catching travel Stories.

Instagram Stories Vol. 4 Templates

In Photoshop PSD Format

If you’re looking for an Instagram Story template with elegant and stylish typography, you should try one of the templates included in this pack. The download pack includes nine Photoshop PSD files.

Noir Minimalist Instagram Story Templates

Free to Download and in Photoshop PSD Format

Noir Beauty has a striking black-and-white aesthetic. This free Story template collection is perfect for fashion bloggers and brands. Simple yet bold, these Photoshop PSD templates are an excellent choice.

Minimal Fallen Instagram Story Template Pack

In Photoshop PSD Format

This minimally designed Instagram Story template has an elegant design that would be great for a fashion brand or influencer. The download includes ten templates and ten regular Instagram posts, so you can keep the design consistent.

Instagram Mood Board Templates

Free to Download and in Photoshop PSD Format

This free pack includes thirty individual Photoshop PSD templates that will help you quickly create mood boards that reflect your personal style or brand. They are an excellent resource for project inspiration or promotion.

Glorious Instagram Quotes Stories Pack

In Photoshop PSD Format

Quotes are one of the most engaging post types on Instagram, so if you want to motivate or inspire your audience, check out this template pack. You’ll get more than 50 easy-to-edit quote templates. Simply replace the quote with your own, customize the colors, and save the design.

Shimmer Fashion Instagram Story Templates

Free to Download and in Photoshop PSD Format

Shimmer is a free Instagram Story collection of six high-resolution Photoshop PSD templates. It is perfect for photographers, fashion enthusiasts, bloggers, and brands. Customize the templates by dragging and dropping your images into the smart object layer and adding your text.

Instagram Stories Vol. 3

In Photoshop PSD Format

Instagram Stories Volume 3 is a collection of fun Story templates with various designs. You can use these Photoshop templates to promote your sales and special offers, announce new product launches, or share a quote or behind-the-scenes photos.

Everyday Adventure Instagram Templates

Free to Download and in Photoshop PSD Format

The Everyday Adventure Instagram collection is a multi-purpose set of Story templates that are perfect for promoting travel, lifestyle, fashion, and other types of posts on Instagram. They have a colorful design and modern typography.

Hepburn Instagram Templates

Free to Download and in Photoshop PSD Format

Any brand that caters to a female audience would do well with this Instagram template pack. The collection includes nine stylish PSD templates with elegant typography and a soft color palette. You’ll find templates for quotes, regular posts, sales announcements, and more.

Tanska Instagram Template Collection

Free to Download and in Photoshop PSD Format

Consider the Tanska templates if you’re promoting a Scandinavian brand or lifestyle. This collection has ten Photoshop templates featuring soft color palettes and stylish geometric shapes.

Instagram Story Quote Templates

Free to Download and in Photoshop PSD Format

This free PSD template includes two designs: one for sharing quotes and one for quick announcements. The template has a neutral color palette, but you can easily customize it to your brand’s colors.

Instagram Story Templates for Figma

These customizable Figma templates are ideal for anyone looking to create professional Stories quickly and efficiently.

We’re Hiring Instagram Story & Post Template

Free to Download and in Figma Format

The colorful and modern “We’re Hiring” Story template is perfect for businesses and organizations that need to announce job openings on Instagram. This free Figma template offers beautiful typography and engaging design elements, making it ideal for attracting top talent.

Instagram Text-Based Post & Story Templates

Free to Download and in Figma Format

This free Instagram Story template has been created specifically for text-based posts and Stories. It greatly simplifies the process of creating quotes and announcement-style posts directly in Figma. This template can also be used for Facebook and TikTok.

Colorful Instagram Story Templates

Free to Download and in Figma Format

This free Figma template includes safe areas and guides, ensuring your content always looks its best. It is incredibly versatile and perfect for anyone looking to inject a bit of color into their Instagram Stories.

Instagram Story Templates for Sketch

These templates have been specifically tailored for Sketch App users. They offer a variety of customizable and user-friendly designs, allowing for the quick creation of Instagram Stories with minimal effort and maximum creativity.

Vana Fashion Instagram Story Templates

Free to Download and in Sketch App Format & Photoshop PSD Formats

Vana is a stylish Instagram Story template pack that can be edited in Sketch or Photoshop. Thanks to the minimal design, these templates can be used for any type of post. You’ll get eight templates in total.

Lush Social Media Templates for Instagram

Free to Download and in Sketch App Format & Photoshop Formats

This is an elegant set of 24 Instagram Story templates that makes it easy to promote your brand and share quick updates, as well as to announce product launches, sales, and more. The template comes with smart shapes, so replacing the photos and text with your own is easy.

Instagram Story Templates for After Effects

These After Effects templates are perfect for those who want to add an extra layer of dynamism to their Instagram Stories. These video templates turn ordinary Stories into professional-quality animations.

Different Stories Templates for Instagram

Free to Download and in After Effects Format

This free template is a creative and modern solution for creating animated Instagram Stories. It features five vertical design options, all perfect for making your Stories stand out. You can easily edit text and media placeholders and adjust the color to suit your style.

Stylish Instagram Story Video Templates

In After Effects Format

These After Effects templates offer a variety of layouts and bold designs that are both modern and easy to customize. It’s perfect for brands, influencers, or anyone wanting to create professional-looking Instagram Stories quickly.

Instagram Story Fashion Video Template

Free to Download and in After Effects Format

This elegantly animated After Effects template is perfect for anything fashion-related. It’s incredibly user-friendly, easy to customize, and requires no extra plugins. It is ideal for businesses and brands looking to quickly promote their products on Instagram.

Instagram Story Templates for Premiere Pro

These templates make creating Instagram Stories simple in Premiere Pro. They offer a variety of styles and are incredibly easy to customize, perfect for anyone wanting to improve their Stories with a professional look and feel.

Instagram Story Video Template

Free to Download and in Premiere Pro Format

This modern and dynamic collection of ten Premiere Pro templates has been designed for quick and easy use. Add your photos or videos and replace the text, and your Story is ready to post on Instagram. No plugins are required.

Brutalism Instagram Story Video Template

In Premiere Pro Format

This brutalist Premiere Pro template pack will add an edgy and bold style to your Instagram content. With their stark, impactful design, these templates bring a unique and modern look to your Instagram Stories. They are perfect for animated posters and promos.

Instagram Story Templates for Final Cut Pro

These Story templates are tailored for Final Cut Pro users. They’re perfect for anyone looking to post on Instagram with polished and engaging video content.

Simple Instagram Story Video Templates

Free to Download and in Final Cut Pro Format

This free Final Cut Pro template has five stylish Instagram Story title overlays. It’s user-friendly, letting you easily edit text and adjust colors. You can also use this free template to create video content for WhatsApp, Facebook, and Snapchat.

Fashion Instagram Story Video Templates

In Final Cut Pro Format

These beautifully animated Final Cut Pro templates are perfect for creating Stories for Instagram. With its stunning typography and vintage aesthetics, your Instagram Stories will transport your audience back in time.

Instagram Story Design Guidelines

Here are some key guidelines and requirements to keep in mind when creating an Instagram Story:

1. Aspect Ratio & Size: Instagram Stories should have an aspect ratio of 9:16. A common resolution is 1080 pixels wide by 1920 pixels tall. This is the full-screen format on most smartphones.
2. Length: Each Story clip can be up to 15 seconds long. If you upload a longer video, it will be split into multiple 15-second segments.
3. Content Type: You can use photos, videos, or text-based images. Instagram also offers built-in features like Boomerang, Superzoom, or Hands-Free recording.
4. File Format: For videos, MP4 or MOV format works best. For images, JPG or PNG is recommended.
5. Text & Stickers: You can add text, emojis, and stickers to your Stories. Remember to keep them away from the top and bottom of the screen as Instagram overlays like your profile icon and call-to-action (“Swipe up”) can cover them.
6. Duration: Photos in Stories are displayed for 7 seconds by default, but videos will play for their full duration (up to 15 seconds).
7. Interactive Elements: You can include interactive elements like polls, questions, and swipe-up links (if you have access to this feature, often available to accounts with over 10,000 followers or verified accounts).

Boosting Instagram Engagement

Instagram Stories are the perfect way to keep your followers engaged in your brand. They’re quick and fun and can help boost your Instagram engagement rate like never before.

With these modern Instagram Story templates, you can create Stories that look professional and polished without spending hours brainstorming and designing.

More Social Media Templates

The post 20+ Best Free Instagram Story Templates in 2025 appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

I had no experience with working at a firm, nor was I technical enough to get deeply involved in the backend work. But my cover letter told them that I would be able to communicate clearly and effectively with their customers, while at the same time putting them at ease and perhaps making them laugh a little. I am pretty funny, after all.

The stories we tell prospective employers have a dramatic impact on whether or not we will be successful at what we do. They can literally make or break your career, so it’s important to choose and develop them wisely.

What is Storytelling?

You may be thinking to yourself, ‘I’m a designer – why do I need to worry about telling stories?‘ But storytelling is more than literally sitting down and writing a tale of heroics or romance or wizards who speak Latin.

We encounter storytelling in everyday aspects of our lives, like when we see a man pull a dog out of a busy intersection, or when we watch a group of protesters march by, carrying hand-painted signs for a cause they believe in. All of these things are stories; they’re tiny moments of people taking action and affecting the world around them. Because at the heart of it, that’s all a story really is.

I’ll bet that every movie you’ve ever seen goes something like this: there’s a person who does something in reaction to something that happened around them, which in turn causes another thing to happen that the person also has to do something about, and so on.

See? Story isn’t that complicated after all. Everyone already knows the basics. The key is incorporating them effectively in the way you communicate with your clients and your viewers.

Articulate the Vision For Your Clients

A few years ago, story artist Emma Coats tweeted a series of essential “story basics,” guidelines that she used at Pixar to create gripping narratives. Much of her advice had to do with simplifying and focusing on essentials that had a universal application. One of my favorites was #14:

“Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.“

What’s the essential thing you are trying to convey to your audience? When you walk into a client meeting, what do you want them to take away the most? You aren’t selling them on a website, or a branding campaign. You’re selling them on a story, an idea, a dream.

Your client dreams of something bigger than just “website” or “brand.” They dream of loyal customers who say glowing things about them. They dream of changing the world through the work they do. They dream of some story that, as the designer, it’s your job to uncover.

Words or Images?

As designers, visuals are highly important in our work. We use pictures to tell stories all the time – from the smiling mother pushing a shopping cart in a print ad to a sun-kissed row of crops on a site about sustainable farming. But what about words? You may think writing is the job of the writers, and it is, but that’s not the end of it.

Working with type means working with words – arranging them in a way that will reach out and grab the reader’s attention. Just like images, words can tell a different story depending on the way they look. Typography is a much more expressive medium than most people give it credit for. Traditional print designers typically have a good handle on this idea, but for web designers, the merits of a strong background in type can sometimes be overlooked a bit.

But what about the actual words themselves? Just because you’re not a professional author doesn’t mean your words aren’t valuable. Plenty of designers and artists have catapulted to tremendous success simply because they wrote or blogged about something that other people found valuable.

Austin Kleon’s bestselling book, Steal Like An Artist, is a great example of this. Kleon wrote the original blog post as an illustrated transcription of a talk he gave at Broome Community College in New York. Soon, it went viral, and within just a couple of years, the print version was selling like crazy.

Kleon had a story to tell that resonated with many people – not because he was paid to tell it, but because it was a simple truth that he had to share.

In Conclusion

The most important thing you can do as a creative professional is capture your audience’s imagination. A true visionary has a narrative, and tells the story of the work in whatever way he or she can.

Remember, nobody buys your skills – they buy an idea, a vision, a dream of how they can reach their business and personal goals with your help. They buy the story that tells the why, not the what, of what you do. Use the personality, passion, and drama of your stories to inform your designs. The more specific your stories, the more in-demand you will be as a designer.

The post The Importance of Storytelling in Design appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

The goal is to take any potential client on a journey, leading them through your thought process, creative journey, and perhaps even your design philosophy. It allows you to showcase your work in an informative and entertaining way, creating a deeper connection between clients and your personal brand.

The use of storytelling techniques can vary, from immersive and interactive experiences to more traditional and straightforward narratives. It ultimately depends on your design style and your goals.

When done well, like the ten examples we have for you below, storytelling in portfolio design can make a powerful impact on visitors and leave a memorable impression.

Niccolo Miranda

Through his unique and imaginative illustrations, Niccolo Miranda’s portfolio invites you into an animated low-tech newspaper world. Despite being a relatively small website, with just three pages, the homepage and presentation of the designer’s work and personal brand are nothing short of beautiful.

Niccolo’s attention to detail is evident in every aspect of his portfolio, making it a delightful storytelling experience.

Fishfinger

Fishfinger is renowned for their vibrant, colorful, and cartoonish website designs. Their design team has poured their heart and soul into every aspect of their projects, and it shows.

From the intricate details to the well-thought-out layout, every element of their portfolio has been meticulously crafted. The sheer joy and positivity that radiate from their designs are truly remarkable, making Fishfinger a standout in the world of web design.

Digital Meal

Digital Meal’s portfolio is a masterpiece of fully illustrated design that creatively showcases the agency’s expertise. The theme of their website is unusual, blending elements of Minecraft, retro gaming, and cosmic aesthetics. The result is a skillful and exciting mixture of quirky design, brutalism, and storytelling that is truly captivating.

Sido

Sido’s portfolio is an excellent example of gamification in storytelling. It’s a classic browser adventure game that lets you explore the universe and learn about the designer.

The level of detail in the game mechanics and world-building is impressive, resulting in an immersive experience that seamlessly integrates portfolio design with storytelling and gameplay.

Jeremi Walewicz

Jeremi Walewicz has crafted an impressive personal portfolio. The “Briefing” section is particularly noteworthy, with a Star Wars-like quality that draws you in and makes you feel fully immersed.

This unique portfolio is so well-crafted that you can’t help but trust in the skills of the designer.

Dara Sami

Dara Sami’s portfolio is another example of game-based storytelling. The plot revolves around a game developer and takes you on an interactive journey that invites you to explore more.

By hovering over objects, you will discover interesting tidbits about the designer. The result is a highly engaging and immersive experience that perfectly showcases Dara’s talents and creativity.

Hey, I’m Phil

Phillip Pastore has taken the concept of a personal portfolio as a storytelling experience to a new level. His website has just one page with a relatively short biography, but it’s worth exploring. The text includes underlined links that, upon hovering, reveal more information and accompanying visual material. It’s a refreshing change from traditional personal portfolio design.

Mariano Pascual / Erik Bernacchi

Mariano Pascual and Erik Bernacchi have taken a unique perspective on the storytelling experience, eschewing the traditional portfolio approach in favor of an honest and raw aesthetic. Their portfolios have a 90s-style charisma with an authentic feel that adds to their charm.

Both designers tell their personal stories in a non-traditional way, inviting visitors to explore their world and learn more about their work.

Moonfarmer

Moonfarmer’s website is a beautifully designed cosmic journey that perfectly reflects the company’s name and design style. The stunning space-related logo and illustrations set the tone for the entire site, which features sections such as “mission” and “crew,” each named as if they were from another world.

The navigation is easy to use and intuitive, guiding you through a small cosmic journey that showcases the company in the best possible “Moon-light.”

Storytelling: A Time-Tested Method

As you have seen, the storytelling narrative can be structured around a particular theme or storyline, using elements such as character development, plot progression, and conflict resolution. The goal is to make your work more memorable and compelling by framing it within a larger context or story.

By incorporating storytelling techniques into your next portfolio design, you will be able to create a truly unique and memorable experience for any new clients.

The post 10 Beautiful Examples of Storytelling in Portfolio Design for Inspiration appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

It’s bad news if you’re a parent trying to get your kids to sleep. For web designers, however, it’s the beginning of a stunningly beautiful future.

Substance before Design

You can create a visual masterpiece, a panoramic plethora of treats for the eye, but if it doesn’t have a point, then it’s just… pointless.

The idea behind web design, in relation to storytelling, isn’t to overshadow your message with gaudy and impressive visuals. It’s to create a cohabitation of story and sights that complement and enhance one another.

In order to accomplish this you have to start with the story. So before you even consider what sort of iconography, symbolism, or imagery you want on your website, begin by crafting an effective narrative for your brand.

What is the moral of your story? What are you offering, and where do your customers fit within the plot you’re creating? Ask yourself these questions and move forward from there.

Nonlinear Visual Storytelling

While it’s important to note that each element of your website must adhere to an overarching theme, you also want each element to be standalone. Because you never know which page of your site a visitor may land on, it’s important that they be able to find their bearings within the story you’re telling.

To manage this, you have to provide content-orientation cues. In other words, bookmarks that will help your visitors understand where they are, and what the content they’re looking at has to do with your brand in general. You can do this with your main text on each page, but also with all of the smaller pieces of text. Things like:

• The URLs
• Headings
• Navigation labels
• Hyperlinks
• And button text

Being descriptive in each area of your site will help your visitors get a feel for your brand’s narrative, regardless of which part of the story they start off with.

Elements of Visual Storytelling

Images are essential to visual storytelling, and you need to be sure that you have a web design platform that’s compatible with all of your creative ideas. After all, there’s no way to paint a masterpiece without a proper canvas.

The way you use images in your web design is almost unlimited in variability, and that makes them much more interesting as a consequence. You can use visual cues to direct attention, such as a pointing finger, or a photograph of a person staring in a certain direction. Or a symbol to put a universally recognized theme on display. An example of this would be Superman’s “S” shield as a symbol of heroism.

You can also use iconic imagery, which is perhaps not the definition you may be used to: having a fixed formulaic style. Iconic in this case means that it looks like what it’s representing. A glyph for the men’s room at the airport is an iconic image. From the iconic to the mundane, there are a lot of different options for a visual storyteller to choose from.

The fundamental elements of visual storytelling even go beyond imagery. You can use unique or eclectic forms of typography to set certain sections of your text apart. You can even decide you want your entire site in an uncommon font to display your modern appeal. Just stay away from Comic Sans. You’ll attract an undesirable response.

Telling the Story

There are three key directives when attempting to tell a visual story in your web design:

1. Understanding Your Audience

Your understanding of your audience should inform your storytelling. In fact, it should be your guiding influence. Who are you speaking to? What do they need? How will you provide it for them? These are the questions you should ask when making visual choices for your website.

For example, are you promoting an offer with an expiration date? If so, it’s a good idea to display images that convey a sense of urgency. Red is an impulsive color with which to highlight the deal, and images of a ticking clock could be effective symbolism for such an occasion.

In the same vein of thought, it’s important to understand your audience so that you can better keep them attentive and engaged. User experience is the number one concern for today’s website owners. So keep it attractive, but more importantly make it interactive. If a visitor can be their own narrator in this visual narrative, they’re twice as likely to become a follower, subscriber, or customer.

2. Clearly Defined Goals for YourStory

This goes back to your moral, though it’s a bit different. Your visual narrative should be moving toward an end result. Even if it’s doing so in a nonlinear fashion. The end result, in and eCommerce setting, should be the conversion. If your site is designed to draw in advertising revenue because of high volumes of visitor traffic, then you goal should be to inform and entertain.

Don’t be satisfied with simply having a website for the sake of being a high-tech hobbyist. Include a meaningful direction in your visual storytelling.

3. Concise and Lucid Meaning to Your Visuals

All of this talk will end in stuff and nonsense unless you choose carefully correlated imagery to go along with your message. It’s not enough to throw striking imagery up on a web page for its own sake. You’ve got to include images that add to, or connect with your narrative. That means staying away from anything too abstract. Unless, of course, you’re selling surrealist art. Then abstract makes a lot of sense for you.

To be clearer, every aesthetic choice you make on your website should be carefully considered in relation to the story you wish to tell. To go even further, it should relate to the impression you want to give in this particular segment of your story.

For example, a serious subject matter requires stark and severe imagery. Darker, more subdued colors along with Helvetica style fonts would be appropriate. A site designed for humor should feature silly pictures, cats are usually a good choice.

Concluding

Storytelling is the oldest form of entertainment, and it’s still the most popular. The methods have gotten more advanced, but the thematic elements remain the same. Take your time while developing your online narrative, and be sure to make it shine with serendipitous visuals.

The post Visual Storytelling: Designing for the Web in a Nonlinear Format appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

“This is the decade of User Experience Design” – we’ve heard this many times during meetings with inspirational people such as Dave McClure, Paul Singh (both 500 startups), Hiten Shah (KissMetrics), Brandon Schauer (Adaptive Path), when together with my team, we’ve visited Silicon Valley to validate our long-term strategy. Since we’re not only UX Designers, but also creators of tools for User Experience Designers, this particular declaration made us jump for joy.

Is the future bright for us? It certainly is, but we still need to work hard on the way we act as a community. User Experience Design must show its merits in front of stakeholders and prove its value in financial terms.

Here comes the danger

I have a feeling (based on my UX Manager experience) that many people consider UX Designers as wireframers. By wireframers I mean unfortunate people who just do wireframes and perhaps clickable prototypes from time to time.

It’s about time to state: UX Design does not equal wireframing. Let’s make it clear: anyone can wireframe – it’s a rather simple activity, but not everyone can design experiences.

What does it mean to design experiences? What’s the real job of a User Experience Designer?

To design an experience means to plan and act upon a certain set of actions, which should result in a change in the behavior of a target group (when interacting with a certain product).

A UX Designer’s work should always result in a change in behavior. This means that we need to:

1. Plan an experience using a different means of communication (Personas, Flow Charts, Sitemap, Wireframe, Mockup, Prototype…) and our knowledge (cognitive psychology, HCI, interaction design, research…)
2. Tell the design story in such a convincing way that the whole product team and stakeholders will actually want to create the product that we designed.

These two points above cannot be separated. To create a stunning user experience for our users we need to do both – design & tell the story. If we just create a wireframe based on our own opinion (not knowledge and research) and tell a very persuasive story to stakeholders – we’ll risk creating a poor experience. If we design the experience well, but don’t tell a persuasive design story – the final experience will be poor as well. After all this, our well-crafted product won’t exist.

Tell the design story

You may wonder – why not just create a wireframe? Simple as this – a wireframe without a context is meaningless. It doesn’t represent the design, nor does a clickable prototype.

Why? The design should solve certain problems for a certain group of people. Wireframes and prototypes do not present the problem that needs to be solved and do not describe a targeted group of users.

Wireframes are only one chapter of the design story that we need to tell. Accompanying diagrams and documents are meant to help you communicate your design. Tell the whole story not just one chapter. It will help your team and stakeholders understand your intentions.

Final piece: collaborate

Most probably, you can’t create a product on your own. You need your team to believe in your design. There’s only one right way to do it. Engage them in the process as early as possible. Define the design problem with your developers, product manager and visual designer. Share all the research you have. Let them prototype with you…

Let them co-author the design story and watch them getting highly motivated

Tools

We all know there’s couple of decent wireframing and prototyping tools on the market. The question is how can we add more chapters to our design stories? How can we make them really speak clearly?

1. Have a look at this great list of tools by the Information Architecture Institute. Tons of ready-to-use templates may guide you through the process. I’d recommend, for the sake of collaboration, you upload all the templates to Google Drive and use it in Google Docs. Equal access to information will help you build a great team.
2. You can upload all the chapters of your story to UXPin – The User Experience Design Tool.
   UXPin lets you create wireframes and interactive prototypes, convert paper prototypes into digital html wireframes and add additional deliverables (Persona, Project Canvas, Business Model Canvas templates – included) to projects formed as stories.
3. Usability tools – a set of tools that will help you improve the usability of your site. Mainly testing tools, but there’s also a ”persona creator”, which may form a nice chapter of your design story.

The post Don’t Just Wireframe – Tell the Design Story appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

One thing, however, that will never go out of style or become irrelevant is your company story, especially if that story is compelling enough that it commands the attention of consumers and makes them take notice.

Producing a company story that achieves this kind of response is not an easy mission. It’s one thing to slap an “About Us” page onto your website and an entirely different (and much more difficult) task to make a genuinely gripping company story that captivates consumers and encourages them to stand by your brand for years to come.

Arguably, this is why so many people choose the former and don’t spend the time to craft an excellent company story; it’s easier for them to chase the next trend or new marketing channel than it is to think about how to make a standout story.

What Stops Companies From Creating A Superb Company Story?

Aside from the idea that businesses pursue other tactics because they are easier than crafting a great company story, the second biggest roadblock for companies creating their story is themselves. A lot of business owners settle for a simplistic ‘About Us’ page because they don’t believe that their story is worthy of anything better. It’s all too easy to get bogged down in feelings of being regular and run-of-the-mill.

You don’t want to lie and over embellish. If you didn’t get the vision for your company on the top of a Himalayan mountainside, then don’t tell your customers that you did. That said, even humble beginnings can make for a compelling story if you know what you’re doing.

A mobile app builder, Bizness Apps, started from humble beginnings in a college dorm room. But since then, it’s turned into a large company helping small businesses figure out how to build apps to compete with big brands.

The other deterrent that prevents people from writing their story is knowing how and where to begin.

The 4 Steps To Crafting A Great Company Story

It’s probably been awhile since you’ve written any story. But, if you reach back into the memory bank to your grade school English class, you’ll remember that stories have components like Who, What, Why and When. Your company’s story is no different. There are four steps to writing this piece.

The Why And The What: This is the single most important aspect of your company story. It’s your mission, your quest. Frodo set out for the Shire to destroy the One Ring; Luke Skywalker strived to defeat Darth Vader, Odysseus journeyed to return home.

What did you set out to do? Why did you make your company? Maybe you wanted to be the most ethical or environmentally friendly business in your industry. Or, you wanted your restaurant to serve the freshest, healthiest food.

Whatever your company’s unique mission may be, this Why is what we are talking about when we say ‘Pitch Your Promised Land.’ It’s the end goal that your company is striving to achieve and acts as a commitment to your customers, both current and future. It lets them know the What that they can expect from your brand and how you can change their world in a way that no other similar company promises.

The Who: Next, you have to identify the characters that make your quest possible and what their roles are. As a business owner, are you the hero? Or is it your collective team?

It may even be your customers. By describing the Who in as much detail as possible, you humanize your company and put a face (or faces) to the brand. Every story needs characters.

The Where: Your company environment is the next big component to your company story. The setting, in this case, can mean a number of things.

It could be the physical location of your offices, how they are structured, even details like how employees dress and act around the office can allow customers to envision what the environment and business culture is like. This helps give your story more shape and tone.

The How: The last consideration for your company story is the How. More specifically, how do you want customers to feel when they read your story. Should it be quirky and make them laugh? Serious and pull at the heartstrings?

The How is a blend of how you want the customer to feel and what they want to believe. Not everyone may want a serious company story. You have to understand the customers you are trying to reach and what sort of emotional level they are willing to connect on.

How To Pitch Customers On Your Company’s Promised Land

As we mentioned above, the single most important element to your company story is the why and the what, specifically your Promised Land. What sort of future do you promise to bring to customers? It also helps set a waypoint for everyone in your company.

The Promised Land is the North Star, and everyone from product development to sales and marketing to the new, college intern should be headed in that direction to the point that, when friends ask them what they do for a living, they forego their job title and reply with the end goal of your Promised Land.

As you craft your company story and dream up its Promised Land, there are several considerations you want to think about.

Aligned With Customer Desires And Emotions: This is the most obvious trait, but people have to want to go to your Promised Land. You may aspire to have the only coffee shop that requires everyone to talk in Pig Latin, but unless you have a customer base that also shares in this weird desire (unlikely), then your Promised Land is going to be a party of you.

When your Promised Land is aligned with customer desires, they are going to be more emotionally invested in the journey to reach that place.

Unique: Businesses are often told to identify their unique selling point (USP), what makes their products, services or experience different from anyone else’s.

Your Promised Land is very closely connected to your USP. As such, whatever future you promise customers should be unique to your company. In other words, they won’t be able to reach this goal without you, and they especially won’t be able to get there with any of your competitors.

The best app makers are very similar but they all try to differentiate with a different unique selling point.

Attainable, Yet Whimsical: A lot of companies tout a rigid and unimaginative Promised Land; they tell us what their company does and how their products work. They may even go so far as to tell us how they are different from competitors.

But, they fail to make any compelling case as to why this matters or why the customer should care and take an interest. Your Promised Land should be concrete enough that people have a clear idea of what it looks like, but it should also have an air of mystery and fantasy to it.

Consider Coca-Cola’s original slogan: Drink Coca-Cola. It’s too concrete and doesn’t produce any imaginative thoughts or feelings. Now, consider their current slogan: Taste The Feeling. Essentially, we’re still being told to drink Coca-Cola, but in a way that’s more whimsical and promises both something real and concrete, but also aloof and imaginary.

Your Promised Land can even push the envelope on what is actually attainable. It could be an extreme limit or unachievable goal, as long as people are motivated to pursue it anyways. In this case, it isn’t about reaching the Promised Land but coming as close to it as possible.

Conclusions

A strong, compelling company story will generate more long-lasting, hyper-loyal customers. Before a customer truly buys into your brand and its products, they first must buy into your company story. Once they have bought into this story, your products and services become a vessel for them to attain this dream future that you’ve promised.

Since creating a compelling story is challenging and takes a high level of creativity, if you are really at a loss as to what your Promised Land looks like and where, to begin with creating your story, think about asking your customers why they choose your brand.

You’ll be surprised at the wealth of material and responses you’ll get back. They may tell you more about your Promised Land then you even know.

The post Pitch the Promised Land – Designing Your Company Story appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.