All right, so this lesson is going to be all about your brand story. And displaying that through your Instagram grid story is so powerful. So I really want you guys to look at case studies and see what kinds of stories and themes are trying to show us and try to mimic some of those in your own Instagram. This will help you be compelling and will really help you sell and get followers organically on Instagram. So in the last lesson you learned about color, and how the color you choose should activate your brand personality. In this lesson, we will go over story and how to display that through your photography.

Using the right photography is extremely important. Each photo should take your customer and client back to your USP to create a real competitive brand, you must have a compelling narrative throughout your grid. Getting our tone words really helps with this narrative. We know that we want people to feel our tone words when they come across our Instagram grid. We do this through tone, color and narrative. So far we have covered the first two tone and color now We will dig into the content and the photography.

There's something called the brand's story. Your brand story is also defines the imagery and photography you select. I love this quote because it reminds me that you can state the facts, or you can state the facts in a compelling narrative for a more powerful impact. The King died and then the Queen died is a plot. The King died and then the Queen died of grief is a story. A brand story is an emotional narrative that opens up an opportunity for your customers to resonate with your brand.

Brand story is more than what you tell your audience. The story is made complete when your brand elements tone, color palette, brand, experience and even Instagram. operate in such a way to convey the story. Have a story that makes your audience care without a compelling story. You're just another nameless company asking for someone's money or someone's attention. a compelling brand story really brings meaning and clarity to your business.

It makes People care and it tugs at their heartstrings in different ways. Doesn't have to be sad. It doesn't have to be emotional, but it has to be a strong narrative. In branding, we work to create a perception and an emotional connection with our clients and customers. It turns out the brand story is a huge piece of the puzzle. How do you want your clients and customers to feel when they interact with you?

Maybe want your customers to feel empowered, luxurious, free, or like they're making a difference in the world. a compelling narrative matters. People buy your story. Sometimes your story is your selling point. Story is so powerful because it ties into how humans have been wired for centuries across different cultures. Humans create stories to give our life's meaning.

And we've been telling stories even before we had the invention of writing them down. We are storytellers at our core and resonate with powerful and meaningful narratives. A brand story will allow you to create an ongoing narrative and emotion in your customer. So take panco for example. They have a narrative of freedom and living fast and their imagery. One of the tone words we also gave them was free, it ties into their USP.

Think about how important photography is for panco. Their photography can bring out the core of the brand, the beliefs of the brand, and the compelling narrative. They have carefully chosen a narrative through their imagery to display their brand story of freedom, their USP and their tone words. panco features a lot of movement in their photos through wind blowing hair, as well as motorcycles and action in the wide open desert. What if instead, panco had the same USP and tone words, but they had static photos of people smiling at the camera with their hair fixed in position? What if instead of jeans and T shirts, the models were dressed in blazers and nice shoes?

What if there were no motorcycles at all? Would they truly be displaying their USP and Tony Through a compelling narrative, no, not at all, their brand would be very confusing. I say all of this to show you that the imagery you choose, and the narrative you display through imagery matters. So I want you guys to think about what story you're trying to tell through your USP and your tone words, and try to think of what photography would match that story. Keep in mind that your captions also matter, you can give a great deal of your tone words and your USP through your captions. Charity Water does an amazing job of displaying their brand story of hope through their imagery, but they also rely heavily on their captions.

They give snippets of stories from individuals they're helping, they'd say things like, future generations in the non my NGO district will never know what it's like to collect dirty water. They're always bringing us back to their message and story of hope and action through their imagery of people and their captions. So it's okay to use both but try not to just use one don't just use captions, and don't just use Photos tried to bring them both together. Charity Water and P and co are doing the same thing just in a different way. They're both tugging at our heartstrings and appealing to our human nature. One is giving us a story of hope and action.

And the other is giving us a story of freedom. Remember Billy as well to raise your brand we talked about, they're creating a narrative on acceptance and a whole lot of fun. We don't have time to fully dig into brand story because it's a big big topic. But if you want to learn more about it, you can go to bad bitch branding, calm and take my course I have a full course on everything from brand story, the unique selling proposition tone words, your mission, your values, everything. So go ahead and check that out. If you want to dig more into your brand story today.

A big part of creating the right story for your brand is having the right photos. These could be lifestyle shots or even product shots. How you want your customer to view you will determine your photography. I've seen a lot of different smaller brands using photos that are not consistent or perhaps just bad quality overall. These things as we no matter, you cannot create a good perception for your brand if you have shitty photos. Now don't get me wrong.

Maybe a brand is intentionally going for a shitty vibe. Maybe you're creating a dive bar. You may then choose gritty and blurred images to create the tone you are going for. It is important to be authentic in your brand, but also intentional. Make sure your photos are consistent with subject matter background color, lighting and brand personality. This can be especially important with your Instagram grid.

As a starting point, you might ask yourself what do I want in these photos? Do I want animals people? Do I want scenes? Do I want to speak to my apartment or maybe art galleries or maybe you're outside think about what you want in the photos in general. Also think of what type of story you're trying to tell. This should tie back to your USP and what kind of mood you're conveying.

Also ask yourself how you will edit the photos This is very important. your photos should have one overall look and general color palette. Black and white photos will appeal to a different USP then bright and colorful photos, if we start to take some time to really take in the visuals, we get a gut feeling in a certain mood from a collection of images. Let's take a look at some images I pulled together and try to determine what story they're telling us. Let's take a look at this first collection. There are some great action shots in this collection.

The blue is very calming, while the orange gives us energy just like the active subjects. These photos feel youthful, carefree and active. I get salt water vibes, adventure and friends from these photos. I imagined the subjects being at the beach all day until sundown. See how consistent These photos are. These photos are showing us a lot of recreation with a relaxed vibe.

What kind of brand Do you think these photos would fit? Well? I initially thought GoPro when I saw these images, GoPro sells action cameras meant for mountain biking, surfing and other extreme sports. How about this selection of images? What kind of feelings are these images conveying? To me, they feel serious, deep, dark and a little creepy.

Some of the images are taking close up giving us a feeling of intimacy with the subject. Try thinking outside of the box as you create your Instagram or photo galleries on your website and social media. Think about the angle of the shot or how close you want the shot to be. Think about different focal lengths that may make the viewer feel different things. This brand is really bringing a certain tone out through their consistent imagery. How about this set of imagery?

To me it feels a little mystical, earthy and adventurous. Take note of the green and blue tint you see over each photo. This photo sample users faceless people mixed with nature and scenic shots. What kind of story do you think these images are telling us? We see a road mountains trees and a boy with a camera. This gives me the feeling of being on the road, perhaps traveling across the country in October.

Think about the overall story as you start to create your photography style. Take a look at some of your favorite brands and examine how they're using Photography in their Instagram.