Do you ever wonder what’s behind the velvet rope of content marketing? How do some brands make the cut while others are turned away at the door?

Celebrity status in content marketing is all about storytelling, baby. With some style, know-how and, most importantly, a willingness to ditch your comfy content sweats you can afford couture. This, is luxury content marketing.

Here’s how you can turn your existing content “don’t” into a “do.”

Target Content That Needs a Makeover

It pays to look back: 29 percent of the most successful content marketers reuse and repurpose content. Sift through your content cache on a regular basis. Pretend you’re one of those relentless fashionistas who tear A-listers’ wardrobes apart. View your content with an equally critical eye.

Did you share a story? Did you incorporate a human hook to engage readers? Did you say anything worth sharing on social media? Did you make it all about your brand and not the customer? If you ask yourself these types of questions you will find that you have content that needs to be cured. Stat.

Tell a Story Using Five Key Elements

Gifted storytelling can elevate your brand to luxury level. Research shows that storytelling prompts the body to produce the neurochemical oxytocin, a “feel-good” hormone. People remember, respond to and repeat stories.

Content marketing is much like the dating scene. No one really falls for lines like, “Can I touch your hand? I want to tell my friends I have been touched by an angel.” (Sorry if we made you throw up a little in your mouth). The way to genuinely connect is through conversation. If you want to build relationships with your customers, start with intelligent, meaningful, memorable stories, not superficial lines. Here are the five components of a good story:

1. Be relevant

Is it the right time to tell your story? Make sure the topic you choose is timely for your audience. Luxury content marketing is all about timing and its relevance. You want to spark debate with your target market and invite others into the conversation with compelling subject matter.

2. Be custom

Are you trying to sell one-size-fits-all content? If so, it doesn’t work that way. Think about your buyer personas. Storytelling needs to be tailored for their consumption.

3. Be original

Are you telling a story your audience has already heard? If you are, own it. Make it yours with a fresh perspective or unexpected twist of the familiar. Same goes for stats: regurgitated numbers need a new spin.

4. Be confident

Are you hiding behind your keyboard? Don’t shy away from getting personal. Luxury content marketing is all about giving an opinion. People want to hear what you have to say, even if they disagree with your stance. Don’t tell people what you think they want to hear. Your customers will read right through it.

5. Be Human

Always remember the human element surrounding your company: Your people and your customers are your brand ambassadors. Readers are interested in the human condition. Add a face to a story and it will generate traffic.

Stalk the Pros

There are so many brands that are killing it in luxury content marketing when it comes to storytelling. Tell a story in video format, a la Pandora’s tissue-worthy tearjerker Unique Connection campaign, and you’ve got viral potential. Microsoft’s blog, Stories, is all about connecting people through powerful storytelling (consumers are invited to share inspirational tales). And —love him or hate him — a Tiger Woods spot that demonstrated his influence on rising golf star Rory McIlroy’s career was genius. It didn’t focus on the Nike brand at all; it told a riveting story associated with the brand (big difference).

Don’t stop with a Google search in your quest to overhaul content. Make the “Storytelling Masters” a part of your social media fix by following brands like Southwest on Twitter. #SouthwestHeart is focused on customer and employee stories and experiences with the airline. Red Bull’s Instagram feed is second-to-none when it comes to telling stories their audience wants to hear in their preferred medium. If you incorporate brand storytellers into your daily feed, we guarantee you will be inspired.

How do you incorporate stories into your content marketing strategy?