What is the most common brand mistake?
Did you watch or read The Hunger Games? Both? Me too. Raise your hand if you walked away thinking how much you wanted to be like the drunk and slovenly Haymitch. No one? Of course not! You wanted to be like the brave and heroic Katniss! Here’s the thing: Everyone wants to be the brave hero of their own story, your customers included. They need you to be their Haymitch, without the drunk and slovenly part, who guides them to success.
The most common mistake brands make is positioning themselves as the hero of the story, when their customers are the ones who should be the hero. The brand should be the guide. Allow me to demonstrate.
M Agency, you have probably figured out, is a marketing agency. If you ask me what we do, and I said we create a strategy for full-funnel marketing with measurable ROI that demonstrates the value of the customer acquisition model, what you hear is a bunch of jargon you don’t understand about how M Agency heroically drives results.
Now imagine, instead, that I responded with: Well, you know how you spend a lot of money on marketing and you aren’t really sure if you’re getting the results you want? We help you fix that.
I did two things here, in two sentences. I identified my ideal potential customer’s problem, and I positioned myself as the guide who will help you solve the problem and achieve success, so you are the hero. I also had a clear message that told you immediately if you’re my ideal potential customer, or you aren’t.
The Storybrand Framework positions your brand as the guide, so your customers get to be the hero.
What is the StoryBrand framework?
The Storybrand framework applies the power of story to marketing messages, marketing materials and clarifies your message. It positions your customer as the hero of the story, and you as the guide who will help them achieve success and avoid a tragic ending.
Let’s examine a story that has become a cultural phenomenon: Star Wars. Would that story have been at all interesting if Luke Skywalker, the hero of the story, hadn’t met Obi Wan or Yoda, his guides? He probably would have stayed on the dirt farm in Tatooine and never had a single adventure. Instead, he became a Jedi and saved the galaxy from evil, all because of his guides.
The StoryBrand framework is a powerful tool because it positions the customer as the hero and you as the guide. You are the one who can provide the roadmap to success and help them avoid failure. It tells your potential customers a story they can connect with emotionally, and shows them how you help them survive and thrive.
Why is the StoryBrand Framework So Effective?
The human brain loves stories. It particularly loves stories it can see itself as the hero in. Donald Miller created StoryBrand because he saw how businesses struggled with clear and impactful marketing messaging. He leveraged the power of story to create the Storybrand framework.
The reason building a StoryBrand is so effective is because it identifies the customer’s problem, how it makes them feel, and tells them how you can solve the problem, with a clear message. It shows them what a happy ending they can have and what the tragic ending looks like if they don’t let you solve their problem.
As a StoryBrand Agency, we have StoryBrand Certified Guides who can help you create your brandscript, which maps the hero’s journey from having a problem, that makes them feel frustrated, empathizes with the hero and offers them a simple plan to solve their problem and calls them to action, so they can enjoy success and avoid failure. This is also the narrative of just about every movie you’ve ever watched. That’s what makes it a powerful tool. Humans love stories, especially the ones that follow this formula.
Start your StoryBrand journey
M is a StoryBrand agency, with certified guides who can help you position your customer as the hero. We help you create a clear message, sales funnel and call to action that actually drives leads. Here’s how we do it:
- Call us! Talk with one of our account executives about your goals and challenges.
- We create the playbook: We give you a marketing strategy customized for your needs and budget
- You start winning!
So call us today so you can confidently move your business forward with a partner by your side.
(See what I did there? 😉 )
