Upgrading your Digital Marketing with StoryBrand

Last Updated on June 23, 2022

Hear ye, hear ye! Ever heard of StoryBrand? At US Digital Partners, we love storytelling, so of course, when we discovered StoryBrand a few years ago, we pounced on the opportunity to become a StoryBrand certified agency. What is StoryBrand you ask? StoryBrand is a proven messaging framework that positions the customer as the “hero” and you as the “trusted guide” who offers a plan of action for solving the customer’s problem, resulting in success.

Almost all great movies follow the same storyline of the StoryBrand framework. The elements of this storyline are what make these great films resonate with us. That’s why we thought it was best to use one of our favorite movies to help explain the effectiveness of StoryBrand… (Cue dramatic intro music.)

What movie, you ask? Only the best one, that already is a story WITHIN a story (too much?). Welcome to upgrading your digital marketing with StoryBrand, as told by The Princess Bride.

Step 1: You are not the hero.

You can tell a customer all day long that you’re the best, better than any of your competitors, and offering the best product or services. You’ve probably heard it before: “Leading the nation in XYZ,” “Challenging the norm since 1895,” “America’s #1 rated car,” etc, etc. You get the point.  

Even if all these things may be true, your words won’t matter. Why? Because it’s not about you winning. It’s about your customer winning. You may be a terrific 5-star company, but if you only talk about yourself your customer will feel disconnected. Tell your customer how they will win and how your product or service will help lead to their success.  As much as you may want to be the hero in the story, you have to put your customer first. Rather than positioning yourself as the hero, StoryBrand teaches you how to position yourself as the guide who is there to help. Check your ego at the door — being the hero will have to wait!

Step 2. Know your audience

One of the key points when marketing with StoryBrand is to know your audience. If you don’t know your audience, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Identify your audience from the start and be specific. Who is your target audience? Maybe it’s a certain age bracket, income, profession, or location. You can have primary audiences and secondary audiences, so make sure you break this down and assess how you can resonate with both groups. If you are advertising to “everybody,” you are casting too wide of a net. Keep it narrow and feel confident in pursuing quality (and relevant) leads. 

Step 3. Empathy

Emotion plays a big factor in storytelling. If you understand your audience at their core, (their fears, their hopes) you can hit home and resonate with them much easier. Pain points are especially effective. For instance, we all know that feeling of frustration when our car unexpectedly breaks down or the dishwasher stops working. Whatever you’re audience’s pain point is, show that you empathize with them and have been in their shoes.

With StoryBrand, we uncover your audience’s fears and levels of failure and then use compelling language to communicate with your audience that you understand the pain, frustration, or annoyance that they are going through. Empathy will hook your customers and make them think, “YES, that’s exactly how I feel!” 

Step 4. Give them a plan.

Now that you’ve identified the pain-point for your audience and shown them that you empathize and understand, it’s time to give a plan that will get them out of their problem. A simple three-step process will do the trick. It’s important to keep your plan simple and not overcomplicate things. If the plan is easy to understand, your user will feel at ease and confident that they can accomplish it. Plus, they know that you will be there to walk them through it every step of the way. 

Step 5. Show the results.

With a plan now solidified, it’s time to look down the road at the results. What does success look like? What happens if they fail? Show the risk, show the reward, and make it clear that working with you leads to a positive outcome. It is important to touch on both success and failure so that your audience understands what’s at stake and can weigh the pros and cons of your product or service. 

Finally, the story has come together, so let’s break it down one more time:

• Position yourself as the guide and your customer as the hero
• Identify your key audience and the problem that they are facing
• Empathize with their problem and give them a plan to get out of it
• Show the stakes and paint a picture of success

Are you ready to start upgrading your digital marketing with StoryBrand? Don’t hesitate! The StoryBrand messaging framework has helped hundreds of businesses clarify their message, invite customers into a compelling story, and grow like never before.

Don’t believe us?

You don’t have to take our word for it. We have clients who will tell you all about their success.

Schedule a call with us to start your marketing with StoryBrand journey.