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Started reading
August 23, 2023
Your customer should be the hero of the story, not your brand.
The more simple and predictable the communication, the easier it is for the brain to digest.
The first mistake brands make is they fail to focus on the aspects of their offer that will help people survive and thrive.
The second mistake brands make is they cause their customers to burn too many calories in an effort to understand their offer.
The key is to make your company’s message about something that helps the customer survive and to do so in such a way that they can understand it without burning too many 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.
If we haven’t identified what our customer wants, what problem we are helping them solve, and what life will look like after they engage our products and services, for example, we can forget about thriving in the marketplace.
What we think we are saying to our customers and what our customers actually hear are two different things. And customers make buying decisions not based on what we say but on what they hear.
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.
1. What does the hero want? 2. Who or what is opposing the hero getting what she wants? 3. What will the hero’s life look like if she does (or does not) get what she wants?
In every line of copy we write, we’re either serving the customer’s story or descending into confusion; we’re either making music or making noise.
1. What do you offer? 2. How will it make my life better? 3. What do I need to do to buy it?
Alfred Hitchcock defined a good story as “life with the dull parts taken out.”2
STORYBRAND PRINCIPLE ONE: THE CUSTOMER IS THE HERO, NOT YOUR BRAND.
when giving a speech, position yourself as Yoda and your audience as Luke Skywalker.
STORYBRAND PRINCIPLE TWO: COMPANIES TEND TO SELL SOLUTIONS TO EXTERNAL PROBLEMS, BUT CUSTOMERS BUY SOLUTIONS TO INTERNAL PROBLEMS.
By talking about the problems our customers face, we deepen their interest in everything we offer.
heroes encounter external, internal, and philosophical problems.
STORYBRAND PRINCIPLE THREE: CUSTOMERS AREN’T LOOKING FOR ANOTHER HERO; THEY’RE LOOKING FOR A GUIDE.
Nearly every human being is looking for a guide (or guides) to help them win the day.
Every human being wakes up each morning and sees the world through the lens of a protagonist.
STORYBRAND PRINCIPLE FOUR: CUSTOMERS TRUST A GUIDE WHO HAS A PLAN.
we’ll look at two kinds of plans: the agreement plan and the process plan.
STORYBRAND PRINCIPLE FIVE: CUSTOMERS DO NOT TAKE ACTION UNLESS THEY ARE CHALLENGED TO TAKE ACTION.
STORYBRAND PRINCIPLE SIX: EVERY HUMAN BEING IS TRYING TO AVOID A TRAGIC ENDING.
STORYBRAND PRINCIPLE SEVEN: NEVER ASSUME PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HOW YOUR BRAND CAN CHANGE THEIR LIVES. TELL THEM.
People will always choose a story that helps them survive and thrive.
customers want to know where you can take them.
Define a desire for your customer, and the story you’re inviting customers into will have a powerful hook.
Companies tend to sell solutions to external problems, but customers buy solutions to internal problems.
Companies tend to sell solutions to external problems, but people buy solutions to internal problems.
What Frustrations Do Our Products Resolve?
Why does this story matter in the overall epic of humanity?
Brands that give customers a voice in a larger narrative add value to their products by giving their customers a deeper sense of meaning.
Always position your customer as the hero and your brand as the guide.
the day we stop losing sleep over the success of our business and start losing sleep over the success of our customers is the day our business will start growing again.
Those who realize the epic story of life is not about them but actually about the people around them somehow win in the end.
The two things a brand must communicate to position themselves as the guide are Empathy Authority
Real empathy means letting customers know we see them as we see ourselves.
Testimonials, logos, awards, and statistics will allow customers to check the “trust” box in the back of their minds.
two questions people subconsciously ask when meeting someone new: “Can I trust this person?” and “Can I respect this person?”
all effective plans do one of two things: they either clarify how somebody can do business with us, or they remove the sense of risk somebody might have if they’re considering investing in our products or services.
The best way to arrive at an agreement plan is to list all the things your customer might be concerned about as it relates to your product or service and then counter that list with agreements that will alleviate their fears.
spend some time defining the plan or plans you want to implement to ease your customers’ fears and concerns
brainstorm the simple steps a customer would need to take to do business with you (either a pre- or post-purchase process plan or a combination of both).
What fears do your customers have related to your industry? What agreements could you make with them that would alleviate those fears?
Do you share unique values with your customers? Can those values be spelled out in an agreement plan?
