When building a brand some of us tend to focus the voice of the brand as professional, corporate-like, and formal. As new younger brands pop into the picture we realize that they aren’t so “formal” or “professional” but more like an old or new friend you can instantly relate and connect with. The reason these brands are so easy to talk to and so easy to understand, follow, and eventually buy their product or services is because they add value to your life. They become your friend, confidant, mentor, or support system. Why? Because they become part of your story.
Storytelling is very important and sure, as a marketer or business owner, you might have heard this a few times. So you take the time to build a relatable, intimate, and interesting story about your business or brand and yet this doesn’t seem to be helping.
So let’s get something straight, when telling a story, it’s not about making you the main character. Your main character is your customer/client always. Not only the main character but the hero.
Donald Miller has an amazing book called Building a Story Brand, that explains how to understand the basics of storytelling and applying it to your business. Here, he explains the importance of your brand being part of your customers heroic story that makes them grow and accomplish their goals and how your brand is part of that growth. This is why it is so important that many brands fail, in answering the question of what is it that they offer that makes their customers survive and thrive. Another cause of failure is making your customers “burn too many calories” in an effort to understand exactly what it is that you offer and create such a difference in their life. Many companies fail not because they don’t have a great product but because potential customers can’t figure out how their product will make their lives better.
In business, if we don’t communicate clearly, we shrink
When we, a brand, walk into a person's life we need to identify their problem before they do - not by attempting to sell solutions with external problems but internal problems. We need to communicate clearly ‘What will the customer lose if they don’t buy our products?’
Miller breaks it down easily in a template any business can use to first, understand how and why they make a difference in their customer’s lives and second, how to communicate it.
Fill Out Your Storybrand
The Character: What do they want?
They have a problem
Villain
External Problem
Internal Problem
Philosophical Problem
So then they meet you, their guide
How do you show empathy
How do you express authority
You give them a game plan
The process
Make an agreement
That pushes them to action
Direct → That ends in success
Transitional → That helps them avoid failure
With this roadmap you will be able to compare who your customer was before they met you and after.
