Building a StoryBrand

Key Takeaways

1. Clarify Your Message: The Key to Being Seen, Heard, and Understood

"If you confuse, you'll lose."

Clarity is crucial. In today's noisy marketplace, businesses that communicate clearly stand out. Customers don't buy the best products; they buy the ones they can understand the fastest. The StoryBrand Framework helps clarify your message by organizing it into seven key elements:

1. A character (your customer)
2. Has a problem
3. And meets a guide (your brand)
4. Who gives them a plan
5. And calls them to action
6. That helps them avoid failure
7. And ends in success

By filtering your message through this framework, you create a clear, compelling story that resonates with customers and drives engagement.

2. Position Your Customer as the Hero, Not Your Brand

"The customer should be the hero of the story, not your brand."

Your customer is Luke Skywalker. You are Yoda. This fundamental shift in perspective is crucial for effective marketing. Instead of positioning your brand as the hero, focus on your customer's journey and how you can guide them to success. This approach:

• Creates a stronger emotional connection with customers
• Demonstrates empathy and understanding of their needs
• Positions your brand as a trusted resource and mentor
• Increases customer engagement and loyalty

By making this shift, you invite customers into a story where they play the starring role, with your brand as the essential guide to their success.

3. Define Your Customer's Problem on Three Levels

"Companies tend to sell solutions to external problems, but customers buy solutions to internal problems."

Problems are multilayered. To truly connect with customers, address their challenges on three levels:

1. External Problem: The tangible, surface-level issue
2. Internal Problem: The emotional frustration or self-doubt caused by the external problem
3. Philosophical Problem: The larger "why" that makes resolving the problem important

By addressing all three levels, you:

• Demonstrate a deeper understanding of your customer's struggles
• Create a more compelling case for your product or service
• Tap into the emotional and aspirational aspects of decision-making

This comprehensive approach to problem-solving makes your brand more relevant and valuable to customers.

4. Establish Yourself as the Trusted Guide

"Customers aren't looking for another hero; they're looking for a guide."

Be the Yoda to their Luke Skywalker. To position your brand as a trusted guide, focus on demonstrating two key characteristics:

1. Empathy: Show that you understand and care about your customer's challenges
2. Authority: Demonstrate your competence and ability to help them succeed

Ways to establish authority:

• Share testimonials from satisfied customers
• Highlight relevant statistics or results
• Display awards or certifications
• Showcase logos of well-known clients or partners

By balancing empathy and authority, you build trust with potential customers and position your brand as the ideal partner in their journey to success.

5. Provide a Clear Plan for Success

"Customers trust a guide who has a plan."

Make it easy to do business with you. A clear, simple plan reduces customer confusion and hesitation. Provide a step-by-step process that shows customers how to:

1. Engage with your brand
2. Purchase your product or service
3. Achieve the desired outcome

Two types of effective plans:

• Process Plan: Outlines the steps to purchase or use your product/service
• Agreement Plan: Addresses common customer fears or objections

By offering a clear plan, you:

• Reduce customer anxiety about doing business with you
• Increase the perceived value of your offering
• Guide customers confidently towards a purchase decision

6. Call Your Customers to Action

"Customers do not take action unless they are challenged to take action."

Be bold in your calls to action. Many businesses are too passive in asking for the sale. To drive engagement and conversions:

1. Use clear, direct language in your calls to action (e.g., "Buy Now," "Schedule an Appointment")
2. Make your primary CTA button stand out visually on your website
3. Repeat your CTA throughout your marketing materials

Two types of calls to action:

• Direct: Leads directly to a sale (e.g., "Buy Now")
• Transitional: Moves the customer closer to a purchase (e.g., "Download Our Free Guide")

By consistently and clearly asking customers to take action, you guide them through the buying process and increase conversions.

7. Show How You Help Customers Avoid Failure and Achieve Success

"Every human being is trying to avoid a tragic ending."

Paint a picture of transformation. Customers are motivated both by avoiding pain and achieving gain. To create a compelling story:

1. Clearly define what's at stake if the customer doesn't use your product/service
2. Vividly describe the positive outcomes of engaging with your brand

Effective ways to illustrate transformation:

• Use before-and-after scenarios
• Share specific, measurable results
• Tell stories of customer success

By showing both the potential pitfalls and the path to success, you create urgency and desire for your offering.

8. Participate in Your Customer's Transformation

"Brands that participate in the identity transformation of their customers create passionate brand evangelists."

Help customers become their ideal selves. People are drawn to brands that help them transform into better versions of themselves. To tap into this powerful motivator:

1. Define your customer's aspirational identity
2. Show how your brand helps them achieve that identity
3. Celebrate and reinforce their transformation

Examples of aspirational identities:

• From: Confused investor → To: Savvy financial planner
• From: Overwhelmed parent → To: Confident, organized caregiver
• From: Amateur photographer → To: Skilled visual storyteller

By aligning your brand with your customer's desired transformation, you create deeper emotional connections and long-term loyalty.

9. Implement Your StoryBrand BrandScript Effectively

"To the degree that you implement your StoryBrand BrandScript is the degree to which people will understand why they need your products."

Put your story into action. Once you've created your StoryBrand BrandScript, implement it across all your marketing channels:

1. Website: Ensure your homepage clearly communicates your offer and passes the "grunt test"
2. Email signatures: Include your one-liner to reinforce your message
3. Sales presentations: Structure your pitch around the StoryBrand framework
4. Social media: Use your BrandScript to guide content creation and messaging
5. Employee training: Teach your team to communicate using the StoryBrand framework

By consistently applying your BrandScript across all touchpoints, you create a cohesive, powerful brand story that resonates with customers and drives growth.

10. Create a Lead Generator and Nurture Campaigns

"E-mail is the most valuable and effective way you can spread the word about your business, especially if your company revenue is under $5 million and you don't have a large marketing budget."

Build relationships through valuable content. Create a lead generator to attract potential customers and nurture them through email campaigns:

1. Offer a valuable resource in exchange for email addresses (e.g., free guide, webinar, trial)
2. Develop an automated email nurture sequence:
   • Provide helpful, relevant content
   • Build trust and demonstrate expertise
   • Occasionally include offers and calls to action

Email campaign structure:

• Email 1-3: Nurturing content
• Email 4: Sales offer with call to action
• Repeat cycle

By consistently providing value and building relationships, you turn leads into customers and customers into loyal advocates.

11. Collect and Share Customer Transformation Stories

"People love movies about characters who transform, and they love businesses that help them experience transformation themselves."

Showcase your customer success stories. Testimonials and case studies are powerful tools for demonstrating your brand's impact. To collect compelling stories:

1. Ask customers specific questions about their transformation:

2. Use these stories in various formats:

By sharing authentic transformation stories, you provide social proof and inspire potential customers to take action.

12. Generate Referrals Through a Systematic Approach

"Various studies conducted by the American Marketing Association have shown that referrals and peer recommendations are up to 2.5 times more responsive than any other marketing channel."

Harness the power of word-of-mouth. Create a system to consistently generate referrals from satisfied customers:

1. Identify your ideal, existing customers
2. Develop a referral campaign with easy-to-use tools and resources
3. Offer incentives for both the referrer and the new customer
4. Follow up and show appreciation for referrals

Benefits of a referral system:

• Lower customer acquisition costs
• Higher quality leads
• Increased customer loyalty and lifetime value

By systematically encouraging and rewarding referrals, you create a sustainable engine for growth and build a community of brand advocates.

Last updated: January 22, 2025

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