StoryBrand Genius
By John Brown
Politicians (especially our wonderful citizens running for
local county offices), business folks, and any of the rest of us who what to
persuade people to listen, I’ve got something for you.
I will bet that most of you aren’t aware that you’re
muddling your message and losing votes, sales, and converts to your causes.
Of course, maybe you’re way ahead of me. I thought I knew
what I was doing. I have a master’s degree in business, spent a few years in
business consulting, have created a few small startups, and currently am a
product manager for large software company. Despite all of that, I had somehow
missed something vital. Something simple and powerful. Something that has a
dramatic effect on sales, votes, and converts. On getting people to even listen
to what I had to say.
And I’m not alone. I saw another company struggling with it
this weekend.
On Saturday I went and watched the latest Marvel movie at a
theater in Logan. One of the pre-movie video ads was for a local company called
Conservice. I don’t know how many thousands of dollars they spent on the ad
they played. Or how much they spent on the many other ads we’ve seen over the
years. But when it finished, I turned to Nellie and said, “I still don’t know
what that company does or why I should care.”
“I know,” she said. “I know.”
We were both baffled. After years of seeing their ads, we
still have no idea what they do, how it would make our lives better, or what
action we should take to use their service. They have wasted thousands and thousands of dollars on their
marketing.
There’s another local company that advertises during those
pre-movie slots. It’s called ARS. I saw one of their ads this weekend as well.
But it only reminded me of what I already know. I know exactly what they do,
how it would make my life better, and what action to take.
If you have a flood, fire, or plumbing backup—whatever—they
clean it up. “Got a mess? Call ARS.” That’s their one-liner. If I ever have a mess, I will call ARS. I will never call
Conservice. I have no idea what they do.
What’s the difference here?
Clarity.
And what generates that clarity?
A complete focus on the customer. The ARS ads are all about
the customer and their problems and needs.
The Conservice ads, on the other hand, are all about
Conservice. We’ve been in business for x years. Here’s what our building looks
like. Here’s a worker planting a bush. Blah, blah, blah.
The ARS ads are all about me, the guy in the theater seat,
the thing I want and the problem I have. ARS features me as the hero in my own
story. They present themselves as the helper—the Yoda or Gandalf or Haymitch
who helps the hero get what they want. You got a mess? We’ll help you.
The difference in the power of the two ads is night and day.
Of course this means it’s been verified that I’m a dolt.
After all the years in business and education, I should have known this. But
the surprising truth is that I’m not alone.
I look at the marketing we do at the billion-dollar company
I work for and see this same issue everywhere. Millions of dollars spent on
muddles. I look at company websites on the internet and see more muddles. I
recently listened to pitches by many of our local citizens running for office
and saw the same thing. It seems this communication muddle afflicts a lot of
us.
About five years ago, when I began investigating an idea for
a new company, I came across the Lean Startup method pioneered by a guy at
Stanford and began to see the light. But a few months ago, the curtains were
completely pulled aside to let in the sunshine. And wow! What a revelation.
If you want to get people to listen, you have got to hear
what Donald Miller has to say. He’s consulted with thousands of companies on
how to clarify their message so people will listen. His framework and method
make clarifying your message so easy.
He calls it the StoryBrand framework, and it’s brilliant. What
it does is help you clarify your message so that a customer or voter or whoever
will know within three seconds:
1 What you offer.
2 How it will make their life better
And what action they should take if they are
interested.
But it goes beyond that. It helps you actually define what
you should be offering in the first place. It’s a powerful product development
tool. I’ve started using this in all my business efforts. And in my training
and presentations.
For example, I just used it to develop a presentation I
delivered at a huge writer’s conference last week. The results were that after
the presentation, I had a line of people wanting to thank me. I had people
telling me I made them cry. Others wanted to give me a hug. They were grateful.
I had people tell me it was the best presentation of the conference.
This was not because I’m brilliant. I’m a dolt, remember. It’s
because I used the StoryBrand framework to focus on those people. Their needs.
Their problems. Their aspirations.
If you’re running for office, if you have a business, if you
want to persuade anyone to do anything, then let me recommend you listen to
this guy and learn about this framework.
·
Start by signing up for the free 15-minute intro to the
framework (the sign up is at the top).
·
Next watch this 30-minute presentation on the
StoryBrand framework
·
And then this 1 hour expanded application
of framework
·
Finally, read Building a Story Brand by Donald
Miller (you’re going to love this book)
Get the revelation. Get out of the
muddle. And get people to listen.
And when you’ve finished the Miller stuff above, read How to Write Copy That Sells by Ray
Edwards, the guy who has partnered with Miller. It’s all about clarifying your
message as well.
