5 Ways the Storybrand Framework Instantly Improves Your Marketing
Every business’s goal is to use its resources wisely and succeed in its field.
However, the sad truth is that many businesses waste thousands and thousands of their precious dollars on marketing that doesn’t get them results.
At LifeX Marketing, we don’t think it should be that way!
We think every business deserves to get a return for its marketing dollars. Over our years of marketing experience, we’ve discovered one of the secrets to good marketing: clarifying your message.
The method we use for clarifying your marketing voice is called the Storybrand Framework. This framework has helped many of our clients not only increase their leads but convert them, increasing their business.
If you would like to learn what the storybrand framework is and how it could help your business succeed, this article is for you!
Let’s get started! (Feel free to read through the whole article, or click on the section in the table of contents that interests you the most).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What Is The Storybrand Framework?
“You confuse, you lose”
Have you ever heard the saying “You confuse, you lose?”
We’ve found that saying to be true. In the business world, it’s not always the people with the best products and services that win. In reality, it’s the people who know how to communicate about their product who come out on top.
The first step to good marketing is getting your product in front of your customers’ eyes. But, even if customers see your product, they may never buy it if you don’t communicate your message effectively. The second step in good marketing is communicating your message to potential clients in a clear, compelling way.
In other words, if your message is confusing or unclear, you cut your chances of success down to a fraction.
“Facts tell, stories sell”
So how can you communicate your message in a clear, compelling way?
Through the principles of story-telling.
Humans have told stories ever since the beginning of time! We are compulsive storytellers and nothing draws us in like a well-told tale. Stories captivate us, and once we’re invested in them, it’s hard to leave until “happily ever after.”
Just ask any bookworm how easy it is to put down their favorite book!
So what better way to communicate your message than through a “story?”
7 stages of storytelling
When humans tell stories, we repeat ourselves more than we think.
If you break down the plots of numerous major movies or classic books, you’ll start to find patterns repeating themselves. Storybrand Marketing takes these patterns, breaks them down into 7 stages of storytelling, and molds these 7 stages into a framework you can use to create a clear, compelling message for your business.
Here are the 7 Storybrand stages of storytelling:
- Start with a character
Every good story needs a character. In this case, the character is your customer, not your business. Your customer is going to be the hero of this story.
- Who has a problem
A story would be no good without a problem. In this case, the problem is whatever problem your customer has that your business can solve for them.
- And meets a guide
Enter, your business! In this story, your business is the strong, capable guide who can help your customer-hero on their journey to success.
- Who gives the hero a plan
The guide (your business) can give the hero (your customer) a plan that could lead them to success. Here is where you introduce your product or service.
- And calls them to action
Heroes need to be motivated to take action (aka invest in your product or service!) The guide gives the hero the call to action he needs to get started.
- That ends in success
Your hero wants to succeed. The plan the guide gives him needs to succeed for the story to be a happy one.
- And avoids failure
But of course, it’s a boring story if there is no chance of failure. A good story needs some stakes. The hero needs to know what might happen if doesn’t take action.
Example
You can find this formula in lots of popular and classic stories. For instance, take the Lord Of The Rings:
- Frodo (a character)
- Comes by a dangerous ring of power (has a problem)
- And is befriended by Gandalf (a strong guide)
- Who shows him that the Ring needs to be destroyed in the Crack of Doom (a plan)
- And empowers him to go on the journey to Mordor (calls him to action)
- Which results in the Ring being destroyed (success!)
- And prevents the Dark Lord from conquering Middle Earth (not failure)
See? It works! It lines up with other well-known stories as well. Star Wars…Harry Potter…The Matrix…it even pops up in Greek tales like The Odyssey from way back in the 7th century!
Remember: you are the guide
One of the main parts to remember with Storybrand is that your business enters as the guide character, not the hero. Think about it for a second: who is the strongest character in your story?
The guide of course! Heroes in stories are the weak ones – they need help finding a solution to a problem they face. They end up being a hero because, thanks to the guide, they overcome the problem they had to face.
Translation: You want your customer to be the hero of the story, while you are the guide that reaches out with a helping hand.
In other words, you want your story to be focused on your customer, not your business.
Remember: your customer probably doesn’t care as much about your business’ history and qualifications as they do about themselves and the pain or problems they face. By making your customer the hero, you captivate their interest much more than you ever could by making yourself the hero.
How Does Storybrand Help You Clarify Your Message?
As crazy as it sounds, the principle of storytelling really works for marketing.
Here is how the Storybrand helps you clarify your message so it’s compelling and understandable:
- You write customer-focused copy that positions your customer as the hero and your business as the strong guide who has the solutions.
- You emphasize your customers’ problems so they see why they need you. (Just be sure to do so kindly and empathetically, so your customers know you are on their side.)
- You provide your customers with a clear plan so they know exactly how to acquire your product or service.
- You clearly call your customers to action so they know exactly what you want them to do.
- You paint a picture of what your customers’ lives could be like with your product or service (success) or without it (failure…or if that’s a little overdramatic, then at least not complete success!)
The result is that instead of being confused, your customers understand exactly what you can do for them, why they need you, and how to proceed.
Which means success in your marketing, and ultimately, success for your business!
Where Can You Use The Storybrand Framework?
Now the question is: where exactly do Storybrand principles apply? Could you use them on a website? Or in an email? How about in a product catalog?
The answer is all of the above!
You can use these principles anywhere you use words to communicate your message
Your website is a big one, and you should absolutely have Storybrand messaging on your website. But you can (and should) also use it in:
- Email campaigns
- Articles
- Speeches
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Announcements
- Print articles and magazines
- Social media posts
- Advertisements
And anywhere else you use words to communicate your message!
LifeX has seen clear messaging built off of Storybrand principles help numerous businesses (including us!) grow and thrive over the years we have been in business. Trust us when we say these principles work!
What Is A Storybrand Certified Guide?
If you look further into Storybrand you may hear of Storybrand Certified Guides.
A Guide is a marketer trained and certified by the Storybrand company in all the ins and outs of Storybrand marketing. Guides have access to ongoing training and a large community of other Storybrand Guides from which to get help and advice.
It takes time and training to become a certified Guide. The result of that time and training is that certified Guides can offer improved marketing services to their customers.
Conclusion
We hope this article has been inspiring and informative for you!
We also hope you can effectively apply Storybrand principles to your marketing so you can get a return on your marketing dollars and enable your business to grow and thrive.
If you want to learn even more, contact us here at LifeX Marketing! As a Storybrand Certified company, we offer various online marketing services, including:
Visit our website or contact us today for more information!
We look forward to hearing from you.