Brands and storytelling match. Donald Miller’s bestseller, ‘Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen‘ exploits this particular idea and generates some useful insight for brand owners.

Here is what I found interesting enough to share with you:

First of all, let’s remember how the brain works. Its first main function is to secure our physical survival – eat, drink, live. Then, the brain gets preoccupied with safety matters and after these elementary needs are met, the brain deals with physiological, psychological and spiritual needs. This is why it is recommended to keep the communication as simple as possible, because the brain will find it difficult to process all that information. 

Storytelling

Storytelling will help you by creating a mechanism that identifies meaning. Brands that manage to understand the fact that clients are people filled with emotions, eager to transform (they want to be different, better), will do more than sell products. They will change people. How? Smart brands will present clients with an identity to aspire to, by associating the product with that identity. Just think about the Apple story.  Steve Jobs stopped selling computers. He started selling the aspirational identity that you will acquire if you engage in the Apple story. Apple gives you a tool to make you feel heard and feel like a genius. The computer was only the tool.

The formula for a story that sells – CLARITY

We do not want the client to struggle in understanding your offer. The unnecessary noise will kill any business.  Don’t overburn your client’s energy.

Alfred Hitchcock said that a great story is life without the boring parts. We should filter the confusing content and any information that serves no purpose to your story. 

All great stories revolve around survival and thriving after overcoming some obstacles. We don’t complicate things, but we keep them interesting enough to captivate the audience. Keep in mind that hiatus!

Telling your story is important but it is even better to invite the customer into other stories and show them how you helped those brands. Other companies might see that as a trailer of their future and think – ‘I want that to happen to me’.  

The 3 main characters of the story:

1. The Hero
2. The Guide
3. The Villain

Who is the Hero?

The hero is the client, not your brand.

Who is the Guide?

Looking for mentorship is something longed for by people. Communication expert Nancy Duarte explains it better – For an impactful presentation, you must position yourself as Yoda, so that the audience gets the part of Luke Skywalker. This means we are positioning ourselves as the experts, the leaders that offer wise advice for the wellbeing of our clients. 

We have identified a problem and we offer a solution. We are the guide. But don’t insist on statements such as I am/ I do etc. We must be guided by empathy and authority.

When we understand our clients’ problems we show empathy and manage to create an honest connection. As once Oprah said, people want to be seen, heard and understood. 

When we want to show authority, remember, nobody likes a know it all person that will keep on preaching and boss you around. Authority should translate into competence. It can help letting others speak on your behalf – testimonials, statistics, prizes, but don’t overdo it by bragging excessively. 

Who is the Villain?

Every story needs a villain. The villain is the main tactic storytellers use to offer conflict a focal point. Just as James Scott Bell said – ‘ Readers want to be worried’.

The villain is the problem you have identified and for which you will offer a solution. The worse the villain is, the higher sympathy the hero will attract. Define one clear villain, so people can keep up. There may be different angles. Choose one to keep your customers focused.

How should an efficient villain be:

• Credible 
• Unique
• Real

Then you have to analyse what types of conflict the villain creates:

• internal problems
• external problems
• philosophical problems

Let’s take the example of Tesla cars:

• The villain: gas usage, inferior technology
• The external problem: I need a car
• The internal problem: I want to be among those that adhere to this new technology.
• The philosophical problem: The car I choose should help protect the environment.

Invite the client into your story

After positioning yourself as a guide, you need to come up with a plan to solve the problem and offer clients a vision. A successful outcome will captivate the audience. Ryan Deiss from Digital Marketer has developed a tool to help imagine the afterlife of a client after using your product/service. Just answer these questions for both scenarios: Before and After your brand.

• What do they have? 
• How do they feel? 
• How does a regular day look like for them? 
• What is their status?

According to Khneman, in certain situations, people are more motivated to make a change to avoid a loss than to obtain a gain.

Call To Action

Clients will not act, unless they are told to. We need a convincing, clear, direct CALL TO ACTION. We sometimes assume that clients can read our minds, which is not true.

How do we convince them to take action? We show them the cost they will suffer unless they choose us. We help them avoid the negative outcome and show them how good their life will be with us.

We can ask people to take action directly or indirectly

Direct call to action:

• Order now
• Call now
• Enroll today
• Buy now
• Schedule a meeting

Indirect call to action:

• free information; guides, podcasts, webinars, live events
• testimonials
• samples
• free testing

More useful information you will find reading his books or listening to his podcast, Business made simple with Donald Miller.

Simply put, storytelling generates energy. And energy will fuel your brand.