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August 20 - August 23, 2022
Your customer should be the hero of the story, not your brand. This is the secret every phenomenally successful business understands.
Can your entire team repeat your company’s message in such a way that it is compelling?
The more simple and predictable the communication, the easier it is for the brain to digest.
story formulas put everything in order so the brain doesn’t have to work to understand what’s going on.”
The first mistake brands make is they fail to focus on the aspects of their offer that will help people survive and thrive.
All great stories are about survival—either physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual. A story about anything else won’t work to captivate an audience.
The second mistake brands make is they cause their customers to burn too many calories in an effort to understand their offer.
When having to process too much seemingly random information, people begin to ignore the source of that useless information in an effort to conserve calories.
In a story, audiences must always know who the hero is, what the hero wants, who the hero has to defeat to get what they want, what tragic thing will happen if the hero doesn’t win, and what wonderful thing will happen if they do.
People don’t buy the best products; they buy the products they can understand the fastest.
Here is nearly every story you see or hear in a nutshell: A CHARACTER who wants something encounters a PROBLEM before they can get it. At the peak of their despair, a GUIDE steps into their lives, gives them a PLAN, and CALLS THEM TO ACTION. That action helps them avoid FAILURE and ends in a SUCCESS.
What do you offer? 2. How will it make my life better? 3. What do I need to do to buy it?
It’s no accident that guides show up in almost every movie. Nearly every human being is looking for a guide (or guides) to help them win the day.
if it’s printed in a book, everybody else is probably doing it. But are they? How many people read the first twenty pages of a book and then stop reading? I’d say most, which means you’re already passing them.
The competition may be more talented than you are, but they will never outwork you if you don’t let them.
In a story, a villain initiates an external problem that causes the character to experience an internal frustration that is, quite simply, philosophically wrong.
In almost every story the hero struggles with the same question: Do I have what it takes?
After their near collapse, Apple didn’t find their footing until Steve Jobs understood that people felt intimidated (internal problem) by computers and wanted a simpler interface with technology.
The campaign positioned Apple Computers as the company to go to if you wanted to enjoy life and express yourself but felt intimidated by all the tech talk.
many marketing experts say we shouldn’t express authority at all, that what people want is a brand that puts their arm around their customer’s shoulder and walks alongside them as an equal.
Schedule an appointment. 2. Allow us to create a customized plan. 3. Let’s execute the plan together.
Download the software. 2. Integrate your database into our system. 3. Revolutionize your customer interaction.
An agreement plan is best understood as a list of agreements you make with your customers to help them overcome their fear
“easy installation plan” or the “world’s best night’s sleep plan.” Your agreement plan might be titled the “customer satisfaction agreement” or even “our quality guarantee.”
When we don’t ask clearly for the sale, the customer senses weakness. They sense we’re asking for charity rather than to change their lives.
In other words, people hate losing $100 more than they like winning $100. This, of course, means loss aversion is a greater motivator of buying decisions than potential gains.
Whatever it is you sell, show us people happily engaging with the product.
So how can our brand offer status? There are many ways: Offer access:
Create scarcity: Offering a limited number of a specific item creates scarcity,
Offer a premium:
The reason was simple. Gerber defined an aspirational identity for their customers and they associated their product with that identity.
Playing the guide is more than a marketing strategy; it’s a position of the heart. When a brand commits itself to their customers’ journey,
The main purpose these scenes serve is to mark the transformation the hero has experienced so the audience has a point of reference that contrasts the hero’s character from the story’s beginning.
it is the way he frames the customer’s journey as a narrative and participates in their transformation that sets him apart.
people don’t read websites, they scan them.
Remember, if you aren’t asking people to place an order, they won’t.
If people come to our website and see pictures of our building, we’re likely wasting some of their mental bandwidth on meaningless messages,
“The Key to Success Is a Customized Plan” over an image of a facilitator mapping out a plan on a whiteboard for a satisfied client.
You need a lead generator. You need a PDF, e-course, video series, webinar, live event,
about anything else that will allow you to collect e-mail addresses.
Collect and Tell Stories of Transformation.
The final step is to turn around and invite happy customers to become evangelists
This will only happen if we create a system that invites and incentivizes them to spread the word.
following four components, you’ll craft a powerful one-liner: 1. The Character 2. The Problem 3. The Plan 4. The Success
The Problem: Busy schedules • The Plan: Short, meaningful workouts • The Success: Health and renewed energy
We provide busy moms with a short, meaningful workout they can use to stay healthy and have renewed energy.”
Parents were given a referral card to hand out to friends,
