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The more simple and predictable the communication, the easier it is for the brain to digest. Story helps because it is a sense-making mechanism.
Essentially, story
formulas put everything in order so the brain doesn’t have to work to under...
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The first mistake brands make is they fail to focus on the aspects of their offer that will help people survive and thrive.
if we position our products and services as anything but an aid in helping people survive, thrive, be accepted, find love, achieve an aspirational identity, or bond with a tribe that will defend them physically and socially, good luck selling anything to anybody. These are the only things people care about. We can take that truth to the bank.
The second mistake brands make is they cause their customers to burn too many calories in an effort to understand their offer.
if we don’t say something (and say something quickly) they can use to survive or thrive, they will tune us out.
These two realities—the reality that people are looking for brands that can help them survive and thrive, and the reality that communication must be simple—explain
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 understan...
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we have a mantra: “If you confuse, you’ll lose.”
customers make buying decisions not based on what we say but on what they hear.
Blaise Pascal is often credited for sending a long letter stating he simply didn’t have time to send a short one.
Story is the greatest weapon we have to combat noise, because it organizes information in such a way that people are compelled to listen.
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.
At no point should we be able to pause a movie and be unable to answer three questions: 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?
there are three questions potential customers must answer if we expect them to engage with our brand. And they should be able to answer these questions within five seconds of looking at our website or marketing material:
1. What do you offer? 2. How will it make my life better? 3. What do I need to do to buy it?
StoryBrand Principle One: The customer is the hero, not your brand.
At the highest level, the most important challenge for business leaders is to define something simple and relevant their customers want and to become known for delivering on that promise. Everything else is a subplot that, after having delivered on the customer’s basic desire, will only serve to delight and surprise them all the more.
In business, if we don’t communicate clearly, we shrink. When we’re motivating a team, convincing shareholders, or engaging customers, we must define a desire our customers have or we will have failed to open a story gap and our audience will ignore us. Remember, customers want to know where you can take them. Unless you identify something they want, it’s doubtful they will listen.
The more we talk about the problems our customers experience, the more interest they will have in our brand.
Every Story Needs a Villain
The villain is the number one device storytellers use to give conflict a clear point of focus.
If we want our customers’ ears to perk up when we talk about our products and services, we should position those products and services as weapons they can use to defeat a villain. And the villain should be dastardly.
What is the chief source of conflict that your products and services defeat? Talk about this villain. The more you talk about the villain, the more people will want a tool to help them defeat the villain.
Can your products be positioned as tools your customers can use to fight back against something that ought not be?
How are you helping me win the day?
Always position your customer as the hero and your brand as the guide. Always. If you don’t, you will die.
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.
The two things a brand must communicate to position themselves as the guide are
Empathy Authority
When we empathize with our customers’ dilemma, we create a bond of trust.
People trust those who understand them, and they trust brands that understand them too.
Once you create your process or agreement plan (or both), consider giving them a title that will increase the perceived value of your product or service. For instance, your process plan might be called the “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.”
There should be a “Buy Now” button in the top right corner of your website, and it shouldn’t be cluttered with a bunch of other buttons.
The same call to action should be repeated above the fold and in the center of your website, and again and again as people scroll down the page.
The reality is when we try to sell passively, we communicate a lack of belief in our product. When we don’t ask clearly for the sale, the customer senses weakness.
If a storyteller doesn’t clearly let an audience know what no-good, terrible, awful thing might befall their hero unless she overcomes her challenge, the story will have no stakes, and a story without stakes is boring.
What will the customer lose if they don’t buy our products?
people are more likely to be dissatisfied with a loss than they are satisfied with a gain.
We must tell our customers what their lives will look like after they buy our products, or they will have no motivation to do so.
So how can our brand offer status? There are many ways:
Offer access:
Create scarcity: Offering a limited number of a specific item
Offer a premium: Most companies earn 70 percent or more of their revenue from a small percentage of their clients.
So what are some of the ways we can offer external help for customers looking to become complete or whole?
Reduced workload:
