Transcription
Every day, every person wakes up and views the world through the lens of the main character. Every day, everyone lives their own story, regardless of how altruistic and generous they may be. Every person is the hero of their own [Music] story.
So, if you talk to them about your story, how cool you are, or how your grandfather used to handpick olives to make olive oil, or similar things, you won't be able to capture the attention and trust of your audience. In fact, you may even put yourself in a position where you're competing with the role of the hero in your potential customer's life.
The secret to good storytelling isn't how interesting you are, but how much the customer perceives that you can help them in their story. And there's a precise framework for doing this, described in this wonderful book by Donald Miller, StoryBrand. Let's explore it together.
People are interested in surviving better, first and foremost. They aim to feed themselves and have a roof over their heads. Once that is taken care of, they seek to build relationships, make friends, and be part of a group. After that, they contemplate more philosophical and spiritual matters that give life meaning and significance.
So, if you start talking about yourself and your brand, this doesn't help them survive better. As mentioned earlier, this is the first mistake that companies make. Great stories, on the other hand, center around survival, be it physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual. If your story doesn't revolve around these aspects, it may not be engaging enough.
The second mistake is that company messages are often complicated and require effort to understand, which consumes mental energy. Imagine if every time we talked about our product, the potential customers were on a treadmill. How long do you think they could maintain their attention on what you're saying? It would consume their physical energy, but it's the same for mental energy. If your message is hard to comprehend, to resolve this, stories come to our rescue. Stories are engaging and easy to follow.
The key point of branding is to create a simple message that we can repeat continuously to get into the audience's head with that message. To understand how successful stories work, we will draw many parallels with the world of cinema. All successful stories use a very specific framework: a character wants something, but they encounter a problem that blocks them. In the depths of despair, a guide enters their life, providing a plan and setting it into motion. The steps of the plan help the main character avoid failure and achieve success.
For example, in Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke Skywalker embarks on a journey to become a Jedi Knight and join the Rebellion against the evil empire. To do so, he needs the guidance of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The plan is to trust the Force. If he succeeds, the Rebellion avoids defeat; otherwise, it is crushed. All successful movies follow this formula. It might seem typical, but the skill of screenwriters and marketers lies in using this pattern creatively, instead of in a predictable manner.
What makes a story clear and captivating? If someone watching a movie can't at any moment pause and answer these questions, something is wrong: What does the main character want? Who or what is standing in the way of the main character getting what they want? How will the main character's life change if they do or don't achieve their goal?
For instance, I read this book during a long intercontinental flight, switching between reading and watching movies. I watched Rudy first, a classic sports movie about a guy who wanted to play football but didn't have the physical skills. However, through his determination, he succeeded. It was a fantastic film, and I was hooked and glued to the screen the whole time. Since I liked it so much, I found a similar movie, American Underdog. Overall, it was decent, but at times I found it boring. Why? It's because Rudy simply wanted to play football, and it was clear that was his sole goal, and the entire film revolved around his struggle to achieve it. In American Underdog, the story was combined with a love story involving a single woman, a mother of two children. At times, it wasn't clear whether the protagonist wanted a family and a stable life or to become a professional football player. It's the same for your brand: if you confuse, you lose.
For business stories, there are three questions that the customer must be able to answer if you want them to engage with your brand and your story: What do you offer? How will this make my life better? What do I need to do to buy it? A well-constructed business story enables the customer to do so.
Let's look at the details of the StoryBrand framework, called SB7.
**1. The Character Principle:** The customer is the hero, not your company. A story doesn't truly begin until we have a hero who wants something. As soon as that happens, the question in the mind of the viewer or listener is, "Can they get it?" As a brand, it's essential to define what your customers want very clearly because as soon as we define it and begin addressing them, they start asking, "Can this company help me achieve what I really want?" If you define what the customer wants effectively, the customer is inclined to adjust their story in your direction if they see your company as a trusted and reliable guide.
A critical area where companies make mistakes is by setting too many goals and targeting too many types of people. I understand it's challenging because companies often have multiple sales channels and various products and services. However, to have an effective story, you must strive to find a single, simple desire to fulfill. Initially, you can do this by finding a way to express multiple things in a somewhat generic manner, making them understandable without being overly simplistic. Alternatively, you can start by selecting one thing to focus on. Then, once customers engage with you, they will discover a world beyond your initial offer, including other products and services. However, these shouldn't be promoted initially to avoid confusing your marketing message.
**2. The Problem Principle:** Companies tend to offer solutions to external problems, but customers purchase solutions to internal problems. The more you talk about the problems your customers have and can relate to, the more interested they become in your brand. In movie stories, the problem is usually personified in a villain who obstructs the hero. For businesses, the villain doesn't necessarily have to be a person, but it must exist and share similar characteristics. The company's products and services should be positioned as weapons to defeat this enemy.
There are four characteristics to identify a sensible villain for your business:
1. It must be the root source. Frustration is a symptom; the feeling the villain gives us is the root source. The real villain could be high taxes, in this case, causing our frustration.
2. The villain should be relatable. It shouldn't be something abstract or strange. When people hear about it, they should immediately recognize it as something they don't appreciate.
3. It must be singular. Too many villains in a story only confuse the audience.
4. It must be real. There are plenty of villains out there; choose something real, not based on rumors.
The villain causes the hero three levels of conflict. Typically, the villain presents an external problem to the hero, through which the hero experiences frustration or inner emotions. And philosophically speaking, the villain is in the wrong and cannot be allowed to win. Let's delve into these in more detail.
* **External Problems:** These are the most commonly seen problems. Companies typically solve external problems: the company that produces balls for athletes to play with, the plumber who fixes a leak in the bathroom pipe, and so on. This is the easy part; you won't have difficulty identifying which problems you are trying to solve for your customers.
* **Internal Problems:** Companies try to sell their products based on external problems, but in reality, customers buy for internal reasons. Going back to films for a moment, if the movie were simply the story of how the hero must technically disarm a bomb, it would be rather dull. What makes it interesting is experiencing the frustration and emotions of the main character. In every successful story, the hero faces some internal struggle and asks, "Do I have what it takes?" This is one of the key mistakes companies make: assuming that the customer only wants to solve the external problem. The reality is that these external problems cause frustration or other emotions, and this is precisely what drives customers to call you for the solution. If you can find your customer's frustration and express it in words, communicating how you can solve it along with the external problem, you've hit the jackpot. For example, if you have a house-painting business, the external problem might be customers with aesthetically unpleasing homes, but you might discover that this causes a sense of embarrassment in the customer in front of their neighbors. A powerful marketing message could then be: "Paint that will make your neighbors jealous."
* **Philosophical Problems:** There is an additional level of problems related to something larger than the story itself and has to do with the question, "Why?" Why is the story important in the overall epic of humanity? Why is it important for Hamlet to avenge his father's death? Because the uncle is getting away with murder. Why is it important for Bridget Jones to find love? Because the beauty and worth of every person deserve to be recognized and celebrated by another. Using terms like "shouldn't" and "ought" can help: "Bad people shouldn't be allowed to win," and "People ought to be treated fairly." So, what is the deeper meaning in your story? For example, a pet food store owner put it this way: "Because even animals deserve to eat healthy food." Or here's an example from a travel agent: "Because this summer should be remembered forever."
The perfect promise of a company is when it can combine these three factors and simultaneously solve the customer's external, internal, and philosophical problem with its proposition. When this happens in movies, the viewer experiences a sense of pleasure and relief. It's the climax of the film, the most important scene.
Here are some examples for businesses:
* **Tesla Motorcars:** Villain: Gas, inferior technology. External: I need a car. Internal: I want to be an early adopter of new technology. Philosophical: My choice ought to help save the environment.
* **Espresso:** Villain: Coffee machines that make bad coffee. External: I want better-tasting coffee at home. Internal: I want my coffee machine to make me feel sophisticated. Philosophical: I shouldn't have to be a barista to make gourmet coffee at home.
**3. The Guide Principle:** Customers aren't looking for another hero; they are looking for a guide. In movies, if heroes solved their problems by themselves, would it still be interesting? No, because the audience knows that if they were capable of solving the problem on their own, they would never have had it in the first place. It takes an outsider to somehow guide the hero. Think Neo in The Matrix: how many doubts and problems he initially had, but there was Morpheus to guide him, instill confidence, and teach him how to fight.
In business, you are that guide. Your business, always position your company as the guide, and your customer as the hero. You are Morpheus, and Neo is your customer. The customer must find the answer to the question: "How do you help me win?" It's not about you; it's all about your customer. This is the biggest point I've personally got from this book.
In stories, the hero is never the strongest character initially; they are full of doubts and problems. The guide, on the other hand, has authority, but the story is rarely centered around them; it should be focused on the hero. In business, to be recognized as the guide, you must show empathy and authority. The guide understands the hero's problem with empathy and helps because they have the authority to do so. They already possess or have achieved what the hero wants. Just be careful not to come across as arrogant by showing authority in a way that implies you know it all. Authority means you must demonstrate competence: show testimonials, statistics, awards, and recognized logos of companies you've helped or that have mentioned you.
**4. The Plan Principle:** Customers trust a guide with a plan. The guide must provide a clear plan to the hero. In Star Wars, it's "Use the Force." In The Hunger Games, it's "Win over the public to get more resources to be able to fight for you." This essentially means clarifying how to do business with your company or removing the risk of doing so.
Plans take two forms in practice:
* **Process Plan:** To remove confusion from the customer's mind, we simply outline the steps they need to take. It usually includes between three and six points. For example: A) Schedule an appointment, B) Allow us to create a customized plan, C) Let's execute the plan together.
* **Agreement Plans:** This kind of plan aims to clear up any confusion and calm people's worries. For instance, a used car company understands that customers worry about getting a bad car, so this company explains that they won't sell cars that don't meet their standards, and they put every used car through a process to make sure it meets their quality standards. So, think about what your customers might be concerned about and tell them how you'll address those concerns with real actions.
**5. Call to Action Principle:** Customers don't take the initiative unless they are challenged to do so. In stories, heroes never take the initiative on their own; there's always a challenge that pushes them to act. Liam Neeson in Taken would never have pursued the bad guys if they hadn't kidnapped his daughter. Katniss Everdeen in Hunger Games would never have volunteered if she didn't have to save her younger sister who was chosen by the lottery. If the main character of a story just looks in the mirror and decides to do it on their own, it's not as interesting as being forced by some external factor that creates a challenge.
So, you have to push the customer to do it now, to start now, to make a purchase. You can direct them to your main offer or to a lead magnet, which in the book is called a transitional call to action: something free or low-cost to introduce yourself to the customer and start a relationship that will eventually lead to the sale of the main offer.
**6. Help Them Avoid Failure Principle:** Every human being is trying to avoid a tragic ending. The audience remains in suspense until they know whether the hero will succeed or not. Just as in movies, it should be clear what happens if the hero fails. For your business, you need to specify what happens if your customers don't buy your product or service, what will happen if they don't solve their problem. However, don't overdo this point because talking about it too much could scare away potential customers. To make an analogy, think of it like salt in a recipe: a pinch of salt is needed to add flavor, but too much salt ruins everything.
In the example of used cars, examples of failures that customers might encounter if they don't seek your help include being deceived by the used car seller, buying a lemon, or feeling taken advantage of.
**7. Final Success Principle:** Never assume people understand how your brand can change their lives. Tell them. In the end, we must offer a happy ending to the customer. It must be well communicated. If Kennedy had said, "I have a vision to create a highly competitive and productive space program," no one would have listened out of boredom. Instead, he said, "We're going to put a man on the moon." Clearly define how your customer will be after they've taken your product or service.
There are three dominant ways to complete a story with a happy ending for the hero:
A. They acquire some kind of superpower or status. For the customer, this means gaining a new ability, condition, or a new status.
B. They unite with something or someone that makes them whole. How do you make a customer whole? For example, you help them reduce stress, lighten their workload, or have more time to be themselves again.
C. They experience some sort of realization or new understanding that makes them feel complete. For customers, this means feeling more fulfilled, appreciating themselves more, or helping them feel part of a larger movement that makes them feel like they are having a more impactful life.
Don't overcomplicate it; keep it simple. If you sell cleaning products, your communicated happy ending is a floor that finally looks shiny and clean. If you sell ice cream, it's a rich and creamy ice cream that tastes like heaven. The key is to repeatedly show the customer how your product or service will make their life better.
And these are the seven points of the framework for creating an effective story. But there's still something more to add. In fact, a great driving force that people have is the desire to transform. They want to become a better version of themselves. All businesses, to some extent, participate in the transformation of the customer, but if you embrace this concept fully, you create passionate customers who become true fans. They become brand evangelists. Like the hero at the beginning of the story is full of doubts, and in the end, after defeating the villain and succeeding, they have become a better version of themselves. It is also possible to do and define this transformation with customers.
Smart companies, therefore, clearly outline the aspirational identity of their customers: what kind of person do they want to become? The best way to describe it is to consider how customers would like to be described by their friends. For example, for a pet food brand: "From passive dog owner to every dog's hero." Or for a financial consultant: "From confused and ill-equipped to competent and smart."
Now, with this framework, you have all the elements to create a story for your brand. This is very useful because every piece of marketing communication you create will be based on all or a part of this framework. It's a constant guideline, so it should be used as much as possible, starting from your website, the emails you send, and the promotional materials you distribute.
In addition to this, a business story created in this way serves not only external customers but also internally. The most successful companies create a real corporate culture in which there is a reason, a purpose, and a sense of belonging to work there. Traditional companies used to perceive this need and tried to define a mission statement that could fulfill this purpose. However, the mission statement is not enough; it's too plain and impersonal. A story is different, and for your employees to know and feel part of something that has a purpose and helps heroes (your customers) to get what they want and transform is vital. Most people do not create their own company and their own story, but they love to be part of and align with another's story. This is very important and is a fundamental ingredient for alignment within groups. Do not take for granted that all your employees know the story just because you know it. You can even use one version of the story for customers and another for employees, where in this case, they are the heroes of the story, and the company is always the guide.
Great, we've already covered several things, but there are two more noteworthy concepts from the book that I feel like highlighting. One is related to testimonials. As you know, collecting testimonials is essential, but you need to do it the right way. Simply asking customers to give you a testimonial without guidance leads to responses like, "I had a great experience, highly recommended." Honestly, those are not very useful. No, you should use the strength of stories when gathering testimonials, allowing readers to connect with a specific story and be touched by it. To achieve this, ask customers these questions that are designed to naturally shape a story from their answers:
* What was the problem you were facing before you discovered our product?
* How did the frustration feel like as you tried to solve that problem?
* What was different about our product?
* Take us to the moment when you realized our product was actually working to solve your problem.
* Tell us what life looks like now that your problem is solved or being solved.
Put together the answers, and you will get amazing testimonials.
The final concept is related to explaining what your company does concisely. When you ask people what they do, they often respond with things like, "Well, it's complicated," or they might say things like, "My grandfather started a business, and now I..." This doesn't just happen in conversation but also when people are on your website or reading your promotional materials. Typically, if potential customers don't quickly understand what your business does, they move on, causing you to lose many sales due to this lack of clarity.
Now, imagine having a oneliner: a simple and direct way to explain your company, a clear response to the question, "What do you do?" There are two characteristics that a powerful oneliner must have: imagination and intrigue. If you manage to intrigue the qualified prospect to know more, the oneliner has done its job well.
Here are the four components to create the oneliner. If you have already created your story using the framework from earlier, this should be quite easy:
* **The Character:** This is your prospect, the hero of your story, whom you should have already created. For example, you might be selling Pilates classes to soccer moms. Your prospect should identify. So, when they hear "soccer moms," they should think, "Ah, that's me."
* **The Problem:** Clearly define the internal problem they have, what's on their mind. Soccer moms are challenged with a busy schedule, always bringing their kids to soccer practices and games. When the prospect hears the problem you communicate, they should think, "I do struggle with that."
* **The Plan:** In the oneliner, you don't have time to describe it in detail; just give a clue. For example, for soccer moms, it could be "meaningful weekly workouts." When the prospect reads or hears the plan, they should think, "Hmm, organized that way makes sense. Maybe there's hope."
* **The Success:** This is where you paint how life could be for the customer after using your product or service. For soccer moms, it could be a sense of health, well-being, or feeling more attractive.
Let's provide a few concrete examples incorporating all these components:
When someone asks, "What do you do?" you respond, "We provide busy moms with a short, meaningful workout they can use to stay healthy and have renewed energy." Compare that with a common style of answering, "What do you do?" "I run a gym."
Let's use this channel to provide another example: When asked, "What do you do?" I respond, "I provide engaging, animated, and detailed video summaries of the best business books for busy current or aspiring entrepreneurs who lack the time to read numerous books themselves, helping them grow their businesses."
If this oneliner worked, you should subscribe to the channel. Otherwise, I'll call Donald Miller, the author of the book, to complain. Jokes aside, for me, it was a great book that taught me a lot and changed a couple of crucial points of view on how good storytelling should be done. If you liked it too, you can find more videos of this kind here on the screen or on my channel. Remember, if you confuse, you lose. See you next time.