Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

by Donald Miller

Once a brand defines what their customer wants, they are often guilty of making the second mistake—what they’ve defined isn’t related to the customer’s sense of survival. In their desire to cast a wide net, they define a blob of a desire that is so vague, potential customers can’t figure out why they need it in the first place. A leadership expert recently asked for feedback on his brand. As I reviewed his marketing material, I noticed he was making a critical mistake: in defining what his customer wanted, he was vague. The idea behind his brand is that he imparts knowledge to potential leaders. He saw himself as a storehouse of leadership resources and wanted to be the go-to guy for achieving excellence. In fact, his tagline was “Inhale knowledge, exhale success.” Seems clear enough, but is it? What does exhaling success even mean? He was making potential customers burn too many mental calories to figure out how he was going to help them survive and thrive. I recommended he make an edit to his message. Instead of saying, “Inhale knowledge, exhale success,” simply say, “Helping you become everyone’s favorite leader.” Becoming everyone’s favorite leader means the customer would be more respected and better connected to a tribe, they’d have greater social and career opportunities, and much more. Exhaling success sounded nice, but thriving as the leader of a tribe is directly connected to survival. People will always choose a story that helps them survive and thrive.