Here are a few of them:

1. Your brand is not the hero in a story, your customer is. What this means is we all have to switch our mindset from thinking of ourselves as the hero to thinking of ourselves as the guide. We are like Haymitch in Hunger Games, Yoda in Star Wars or Peter Brand in Moneyball. Our job is to empathize with the needs of our customers and provide a solution to their problems.
2. Customers buy solutions to their internal needs more than external ones. While most companies sell solutions to external problems, most customers are looking for solutions to how those problems make them feel. At StoryBrand, we explore the internal concerns our customers face and how we can talk about those concerns in our marketing material.
3. Most corporate marketing material uses too much inside language. Each of our clients assumed their customers knew more than they did. We call this the “curse of knowledge.” Over and over we’d point out their material wasn’t clear enough. Do you want your customer to attend a workshop, buy a candle, call you for an appointment? Then this should be said clearly and plainly. And it should be the obvious button to click on your website.

And as always, one of the best parts about the StoryBrand Workshop is that a community is created. We eat together, laugh together, and sometimes even cry together.

When you start talking about communicating your dreams, things get real.

At the end of our time together, each client leaves with a BrandScript they can use for years to come. Their BrandScripts help them know exactly who they are, what they offer and why it matters to their customers.

We’re expecting each of their businesses to see a significant uptick because they’re being more clear and direct.

Congrats, StoryBrand Alumni. Can’t wait to see where your business goes now that you have a complete marketing plan!

We just wrapped up a Workshop, but it’s not too late to join us at the next one. Our little family of well-equipped business owners is growing. Register today. These workshops are intentionally small and fill up fast.

The post Three Paradigm Shifts That Will Improve Your Marketing appeared first on StoryBrand.

Every story is heading toward a happily ever after or sad ending. If we don’t know what those endings might be, the audience gets lost.

We have to know the guy can get the girl, or the hero might disarm the bomb, and the story lives in the suspense as to whether those things can happen.

Every person responds to story because they’re living in one.

They want things and have to work to get them, and they believe if they get them their life will be better. And if we sell good products, we can actually provide a happy ending to a story our customers are living.

We can provide a great meal if we own a restaurant, or a lawn mower that won’t break down or a night of entertainment or whatever.

A common mistake companies make in their advertising, though, is they describe the features and benefits of their products rather than the results (or happily ever after) their customers will experience.

But remember, people buy results, not features.

The car we are selling might have power windows, which is a feature. But customers don’t buy power windows, they buy the result, which is not having to reach across the seat to roll a window down.

They don’t care that the weed-eater has an auto-adjusting line, they only care that they don’t have to bang the head of their weed eater against the sidewalk all the time.

Some companies think their customers can connect the dots, and of course they can — except they don’t.

They don’t have time.

And they aren’t giving you the creative space necessary to do so.

In our marketing copy, then, we need to describe the results our customers will experience if they use our products. How will they feel?

What trouble will we be saving them from?

The post A Communication Trick That Makes Customers More Likely to Buy appeared first on StoryBrand.

The story element customers are subconsciously scanning for as they watch a commercial (or browse a website) is this: results.

By that I mean they want to know what is going to happen if they engage in the story you’re pitching to them.

We are hardwired to think in the form of story, and most stories are going to one of two places: a successful ending or a tragic ending.

When brands help their customers understand how they can create a successful ending for them, or how they can help them avoid a tragic ending, customers pay attention.

Here’s a great example.

H&R Block released two ads in their Get Your Billion Back, America campaign. Both take place on an aircraft carrier and both send the same message. But they go about it differently.

Both commercials focus on their plan to get your billion back.

The first winsomely shows a tax accountant greeting his money as it returns to him from air, land and sea. Before the end of the commercial, they display the tagline “Your Money is Waiting, Get it Back with Block”. In just over 15 seconds they have established themselves as a guide who is able to provide their customer with the successful ending they desire — more of their money returning on their tax return.

The second video does the same thing, but with the addition of one element.

It shows the negative outcome of what could happen to someone who doesn’t use their service.

“This is your money — a billion dollars.”

It’s what’s left over when people do their own taxes, maybe get a refund and think they’re done.” It’s a tragic ending that causes fear to resonate with most people — the fear of not claiming money you are entitled to.

This possible outcome may even trigger the internal fear of being stupid (it does for me).

In most good stories, the author will allude to a potential tragedy on the pathway to a successful ending. Audiences want to be shown what could potentially happen to the hero on their quest. Without disastrous potential, victory wouldn’t taste as sweet.

The comedy that ensues in the end of the second video is the same as the first — as a client of H&R Block, you will have the tools you need to keep the money you deserve.

Notice the subtlety of the tragic allusion.

Since tragedy is not far from our minds, there’s no need to belabor the point, to do so may even cause the potential customer to feel manipulated. But hinting to how your product can help prevent tragedy for the customer along their journey is a great ingredient to have in the mix.

Like salt in a recipe for bread, it only takes a little; too much tragedy could bring about a similar ending for your brand.

The post What Gets a Customer’s Attention in an Ad? appeared first on StoryBrand.

It’s tax season, and Turbo Tax seems to be making about as much money as the IRS these days.

They’re everywhere.

A campaign I saw recently was clear, compelling and effective. We could break down entire campaign, but for now, I want to focus on one element that worked well for them. You may not even have noticed it.

But the element was this: Time is running out.

Brands find if they let the customer know when an offer is expiring, customers are much more likely to place an order. When a customer knows the opportunity is soon going to go away, they won’t delay.

In story structure, storytellers use an expiring time factor to make the story more exciting.

A guy has to disarm a bomb before it’s too late. A woman has to get the story written before the newspaper deadline and so forth. Adding an expiring time dimension to a story ramps up the dramatic tension and makes the story more compelling.

It works similarly in your marketing campaign.

Suddenly the ad feels more compelling, as though the hero of your story (the customer) needs to take action soon or they will miss out.

And of course, when it comes to filing taxes, we are all under a deadline.

The post What Makes A Customer Purchase? appeared first on StoryBrand.

Our friend Claire Diaz-Ortiz recently live-tweeted the birth of she and her husband’s first child.

And the world paid attention.

Claire is an executive at Twitter, one of the better story-telling companies in operation today. Twitter is all about communication, after all, so the fact she live-tweeted the drive to the hospital, the car breaking down, the screaming ladies in the ER and on and on makes complete sense.

Twitter is how we share our lives.

What’s amazing, though, is her story got picked up in international news and got Twitter an enormous amount of winsome, fun press.

Claire was strategic in what she shared.

Humorous, charming and delightful, she kept her audience of hundreds-of-thousands enthralled as the day went on.

What’s important to remember, though, is Claire knew how to tastefully tell a story. And in 140 characters or less, we might ad.

Tweets like:

…kept us all enthralled, but only because a clear story structure was in place.

  1. We knew what was going to happen (A baby was going to be born)
  2. We knew there was a challenge (It’s called having a baby)

When a character wants something and has to face a challenge to make it happen, you’ve got the stuff of stories.

Many people simply tweet the routine happenings of their day, but how many of your employees know enough about story structure to frame their tweets in such a way they are interesting? Tell a good story, after all, and you’ll capture the attention of the world.

How did Claire’s Twitter story end? Quite beautifully.

Welcome to the world, Lucia. If you’re anything like your wonderful mom, you’ll be telling quite a story with your life.

Follow Claire on twitter at @Claire. And baby Lucia at @Lucia.

The post Why Your Team Members Should be able to Tell a Story appeared first on StoryBrand.