Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

by Donald Miller 

The roadmap to building a great brand through storytelling… 

The human brain, no matter what region of the world it comes from, is drawn toward clarity and away from confusion. The reality is we aren’t just in a race to get our products to market; we’re also in a race to communicate why our customers need those products in their lives. Even if we have the best product in the marketplace, we’ll lose to an inferior product if our competitor’s offer is communicated more clearly.

“Their marketing is too complicated. The brain doesn’t know how to process the information. The more simple and predictable the communication, the easier it is for the brain to digest. Story helps because it is a sense-making mechanism. Essentially, story formulas put everything in order so the brain doesn’t have to work to understand what’s going on.”

The first mistake brands make is they fail to focus on the aspects of their offer that will help people survive and thrive. All great stories are about survival—either physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual. A story about anything else won’t work to captivate an audience. Nobody’s interested. This means that if we position our products and services as anything but an aid in helping people survive, thrive, be accepted, find love, achieve an aspirational identity, or bond with a tribe that will defend them physically and socially.

The second mistake brands make is they cause their customers to burn too many calories in an effort to understand their offer. When having to process too much seemingly random information, people begin to ignore the source of that useless information in an effort to conserve calories. In other words, there’s a survival mechanism within our customers’ brain that is designed to tune us out should we ever start confusing them.

These two realities—the reality that people are looking for brands that can help them survive and thrive, and the reality that communication must be simple—explained easily. 

If we haven’t identified what our customer wants, what problem we are helping them solve, and what life will look like after they engage our products and services, for example, we can forget about thriving in the marketplace. Whether we’re writing a story or attempting to sell products, our message must be clear. Always. Simple mantra: “If you confuse, you’ll lose.”

What we think we are saying to our customers and what our customers actually hear are two different things. And customers make buying decisions not based on what we say but on what they hear.

Story is atomic. It is perpetual energy and can power a city. Story is the one thing that can hold a human being’s attention for hours.

The essence of branding is to create simple, relevant messages we can repeat over and over so that we “brand” ourselves into the public consciousness.

Apple did this by (1) identifying what their customers wanted (to be seen and heard), (2) defining their customers’ challenge (that people didn’t recognize their hidden genius), and (3) offering their customers a tool they could use to express themselves (computers and smartphones). Each of these realizations are pillars in ancient storytelling and critical for connecting with customers.

People don’t buy the best products; they buy the products they can understand the fastest.

Customer is the Hero

1.  What does the hero want?        

2.  Who or what is opposing the hero getting what she wants?        

3.  What will the hero’s life look like if she does (or does not) get what she wants?

Advice from my filmmaker friends: anything that doesn’t serve the plot has to go. Just because a tagline sounds great or a picture on a website grabs the eye, that doesn’t mean it helps us enter into our customers’ story. In every line of copy we write, we’re either serving the customer’s story or descending into confusion; we’re either making music or making noise. Nobody remembers a company that makes noise.

Three questions potential customers must answer if we expect them to engage with our brand. And they should be able to answer these questions within five seconds of looking at our website or marketing material:        

1.  What do you offer?        

2.  How will it make my life better?        

3.  What do I need to do to buy it?

“Could a caveman look at your website and immediately grunt what you offer?”

CLARITY PRODUCES RESULTS

FRAMEWORK 

1. PRINCIPLE ONE:A Character: THE CUSTOMER IS THE HERO, NOT YOUR BRAND.

PRINCIPLE TWO: COMPANIES TEND TO SELL SOLUTIONS TO EXTERNAL PROBLEMS, BUT CUSTOMERS BUY SOLUTIONS TO INTERNAL PROBLEMS.

What most brands miss, however, is that there are three levels of problems a customer encounters. In stories, heroes encounter external, internal, and philosophical problems. 

PRINCIPLE THREE: CUSTOMERS AREN’T LOOKING FOR ANOTHER HERO; THEY’RE LOOKING FOR A GUIDE (Culture Finders)

Brands that position themselves as heroes unknowingly compete with their potential customers. Every human being wakes up each morning and sees the world through the lens of a protagonist. The world revolves around us, regardless of how altruistic, generous, and selfless a person we may be. Each day is, quite literally, about how we encounter our world. Potential customers feel the same way about themselves. They are the center of their world. When a brand comes along and positions itself as the hero, customers remain distant. They hear us talking about how great our business is and start wondering if we’re competing with them for scarce resources. Their subconscious thought pattern goes like this: Oh, this is another hero, like me. I wish I had more time to hear their story, but right now I’m busy looking for a guide.

PRINCIPLE FOUR: CUSTOMERS TRUST A GUIDE WHO HAS A PLAN.

Making a purchase is a huge step, especially if our products or services are expensive. What customers are looking for, then, is a clear path we’ve laid out that takes away any confusion they might have about how to do business with us.

People are looking for a philosophy they can embody or a series of steps they can take to solve their problems.

PRINCIPLE FIVE: CUSTOMERS DO NOT TAKE ACTION UNLESS THEY ARE CHALLENGED TO TAKE ACTION.

In stories, characters don’t take action on their own. They must be challenged. Characters only take action after they are challenged by an outside force. This principle is true in story because it’s true in life. Human beings take action when their story challenges them to do so. You would be surprised how many companies don’t create obvious calls to action for their customers. A call to action involves communicating a clear and direct step our customer can take to overcome their challenge and return to a peaceful life. Without clear calls to action, people will not engage our brand.

One call to action is direct, asking the customer for a purchase or to schedule an appointment. The other is a transitional call to action, furthering our relationship with the customer. Once we begin using both kinds of calls to action in our messaging, customers will understand exactly what we want them to do and decide whether to let us play a role in their story. Until we call our customers to action, they simply watch us, but when we call them to action (the right way), they will engage.

PRINCIPLE SIX: EVERY HUMAN BEING IS TRYING TO AVOID A TRAGIC ENDING.

Stories live and die on a single question: What’s at stake? If nothing can be gained or lost, nobody cares.

If there is nothing at stake in a story, there is no story. Likewise, if there’s nothing at stake in whether or not I buy your product, I’m not going to buy your product. After all, why should I? Simply put, we must show people the cost of not doing business with us.

Brands that help customers avoid some kind of negativity in life (and let their customers know what that negativity is) engage customers for the same reason good stories captivate an audience: they define what’s at stake.

It’s important to note that not all of the seven elements should be used evenly in our communication. Think of it like a cooking recipe. Different amounts of ingredients- a little salt, a stick of butter, some chocolate. All are vital but play a different role.

PRINCIPLE SEVEN: NEVER ASSUME PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HOW YOUR BRAND CAN CHANGE THEIR LIVES. TELL THEM.

We must tell our customers how great their life can look if they buy our products and services.

Perhaps the most important element of your messaging strategy: offering a vision for how great a customer’s life could be if they engage your products or services.

A story starts with a hero who wants something. And then the question becomes: Will the hero get what she wants?

To understand the power of a story gap is to understand what compels a human brain toward a desire. The opening and closing of a story gap is a magnetic force that drives much of human behavior. Arousal is the opening of a story gap and sexual fulfillment brings its closing. Hunger is the opening of a story gap and a meal ushers its closing. There is little action in life that can’t be explained by the opening and closing of various story gaps.

When we fail to define something our customer wants, we fail to open a story gap. When we don’t open a story gap in our customers’ mind, they have no motivation to engage us, because there is no question that demands resolution. Defining something our customer wants and featuring it in our marketing materials will open a story gap.

Until we’ve defined a specific desire and become known for helping people achieve it, we shouldn’t add too many conflicting story gaps to our.

Freud “the chief desire of man is not pleasure but meaning.”

So how do we offer potential customers a sense of meaning? Not unlike giving our customers the opportunity to be generous, we invite them to participate in something greater than themselves. A movement. A cause to champion. A valiant fight against a real villain, be that villain flesh and blood or a harmful philosophy.

“Helping you become the leader everybody loves,” ’ brains were able to translate that message into multiple survival categories, including social networks, status, the innate desire to be generous, the opportunity to gain resources, and even the desire for deeper meaning.

Every Story Needs a Villain. The villain is the number one device storytellers use to give conflict a clear point of focus.

Advertisers personify the problems their customers face in order to capture their imagination and give their frustrations a focal point. Fuzzy hairballs with squeaky voices living in your drains, making nests, and clogging up the pipes? Yellow globs of living, breathing, talking plaque vacationing between your teeth? These are all personified versions of conflict. They’re all villains.

Here are four characteristics that make for a good villain.       

1.  The villain should be a root source. Frustration, for example, is not a villain; frustration is what a villain makes us feel. High taxes, rather, are a good example of a villain.        

2.  The villain should be relatable. When people hear us talk about the villain, they should immediately recognize it as something they disdain.        

3.  The villain should be singular. One villain is enough. A story with too many villains falls apart for lack of clarity.        

4.  The villain should be real. Never go down the path of being a fearmonger. There are plenty of actual villains out there to fight. Let’s go after them on behalf of our customers.

The three levels of problems heroes (and customers) face are 

1.External Problems 

2.Internal Problems 

3.Philosophical Problems

The purpose of an external problem in a story is to manifest an internal problem.

In almost every story the hero struggles with the same question: Do I have what it takes? This question can make them feel frustrated, incompetent, and confused. The sense of self-doubt.

What stories teach us is that people’s internal desire to resolve a frustration is a greater motivator than their desire to solve an external problem.

By assuming our customers only want to resolve external problems, we fail to engage the deeper story they’re actually living. The truth is, the external problems we solve are causing frustrations in their lives and, just like in a story, it’s those frustrations that are motivating them to call you.

The only reason our customers buy from us is because the external problem we solve is frustrating them in some way. If we can identify that frustration, put it into words, and offer to resolve it along with the original external problem, something special happens. We bond with our customers because we’ve positioned ourselves more deeply into their narrative.

Framing our products as a resolution to both external and internal problems increases the perceived value (and I would argue, actual value) of those products.

The philosophical problem in a story is about something even larger than the story itself. It’s about the question why. Why does this story matter in the overall epic of humanity?

A philosophical problem can best be talked about using terms like ought and shouldn’t. “Bad people shouldn’t be allowed to win” or “People ought to be treated fairly.” 

“Is finding your dream job possible?”

What’s the Deeper Meaning? People want to be involved in a story that is larger than themselves. Brands that give customers a voice in a larger narrative add value to their products by giving

Is there a deeper story your brand contributes to? Can your products be positioned as tools your customers can use to fight back against something that ought not be? If so, let’s include some philosophical stakes in our messaging.

The Perfect Brand Promise 

If we really want to satisfy our customers, we can offer much more than products or services; we can offer to resolve an external, internal, and philosophical problem whenever they engage our business.

TESLA CARS:         

Villain: Gas guzzling, inferior technology         

External: I need a car.         

Internal: I want to be an early adopter of new technology.         

Philosophical: My choice of car ought to help save the environment.

Culture Finders Example:

Villain: Working in a job and culture that makes you miserable 

External: I need a job that makes me happy

Internal: I don’t want the anxiety and fear of rejection that goes with getting a job

Philosophical: Finding a job with a great culture will make me happy 

Is there a single villain your brand stands against? And what external problem is that villain causing? How is that external problem making your customers feel? And why is it unjust for people to have to suffer at the hands of this villain? These are the four questions we want to answer, and when we do, the story our brand is telling will take shape because our hero, the customer who wants something, is being challenged. Will they win? Will their problems be resolved? Perhaps. The thing is, they will have to engage your brand to find out.

Principle Three: Customers aren’t looking for another hero; they’re looking for a guide.

EVERY HERO IS LOOKING FOR A GUIDE When I talk about a guide, I’m talking about our mother and father when they sat us down to talk about integrity, or a football coach who helped us understand the importance of working hard and believing we could accomplish more than we ever thought possible.

If a hero solves her own problem in a story, the audience will tune out. Why? Because we intuitively know if she could solve her own problem, she wouldn’t have gotten into trouble in the first place. Storytellers use the guide character to encourage the hero and equip them to win the day.

Just like in stories, human beings wake up every morning self-identifying as a hero. They are troubled by internal, external, and philosophical conflicts, and they know they can’t solve these problems on their own. The fatal mistake some brands make, especially young brands who believe they need to prove themselves, is they position themselves as the hero in the story instead of the guide. As I’ve already mentioned, a brand that positions itself as the hero is destined to lose.

The larger point here is simple: the day we stop losing sleep over the success of our business and start losing sleep over the success of our customers is the day our business will start growing again.

The guide, not the hero, is the one with the most authority. Still, the story is rarely about the guide. The guide simply plays a role. The story must always be focused on the hero, and if a storyteller (or business leader) forgets this, the audience will get confused about who the story is really about and they will lose interest. This is true in business, in politics, and even in your own family. People are looking for a guide to help them, not another hero. Those who realize the epic story of life is not about them but actually about the people around them somehow win in the end. It’s counterintuitive, but it’s true. In fact, leaders who think the story of life is all about them may achieve temporary successes but are usually remembered in history’s narrative as a villain.

The two things a brand must communicate to position themselves as the guide are Empathy Authority

A guide expresses an understanding of the pain and frustration of their hero. Empathy

When we empathize with our customers’ dilemma, we create a bond of trust. People trust those who understand them, and they trust brands that understand them too. Oprah Winfrey, an undeniably successful guide to millions, once explained the three things every human being wants most are to be seen, heard, and understood. This is the essence of empathy. Empathetic statements start with words like, “We understand how it feels to . . .” or “Nobody should have to experience . . .” or “Like you, we are frustrated by . . .”

ARE YOU LIKE ME? Empathy is more than just sentimental slogans, though. Real empathy means letting customers know we see them as we see ourselves. Customers look for brands they have something in common with. Remember, the human brain likes to conserve calories, and so when a customer realizes they have a lot in common with a brand, they fill in all the unknown nuances with trust. Essentially, the customer batches their thinking, meaning they’re thinking in “chunks” rather than details. Commonality, whether taste in music or shared values, is a powerful marketing tool.

I’m really talking about competence. When looking for a guide, a hero trusts somebody who knows what they’re doing. The guide doesn’t have to be perfect, but the guide needs to have serious experience helping other heroes win the day. So how do we express our authority without bragging about ourselves so much that we step into the role of hero? As customers view our websites, commercials, or e-mails, they simply want to check off a box in the back of their minds that gives them confidence in our ability to help them. There are four easy ways to add just the right amount of authority to our marketing.        

1.  Testimonials: Let others do the talking for you. If you have satisfied customers, place a few testimonials on your website. Testimonials give potential customers the gift of going second. They know others have worked with you and attained success. Avoid stacking ten to twenty testimonials; otherwise you run the risk of positioning yourself as the hero. Three is a great number to start with and will serve the need most customers have to make sure you know what you are doing. Also, avoid rambling testimonials that heap endless praise on your brand. It won’t take long for a customer to trust you, so keep a testimonial brief.        

2.  Statistics: How many satisfied customers have you helped? How much money have you helped them save? By what percentage have their businesses grown since they started working with you? A simple statement like the e-mail marketing platform Infusionsoft’s “125,000 users trust [our] award-winning automation software”6 is all your potential customer needs. Moreover, this scratches the itch of the left-brained consumer who loves numbers, statistics, and facts.        3.  Awards: If you’ve won a few awards for your work, feel free to include small logos or indications of those awards at the bottom of your page. Again, there’s no need to make a big deal about it, but awards go a long way in earning your customer’s trust, even if they’ve never heard of the award.        

4.  Logos: If you provide a business-to-business product or service, place logos of known businesses you’ve worked with in your marketing collateral. Customers want to know you’ve helped other businesses overcome their same challenges. When they recognize another business you’ve worked with, it provides social proof you have the ability to help them win the day.

Remember, you don’t have to brag about yourself. Testimonials, logos, awards, and statistics will allow customers to check the “trust” box in the back of their minds. The questions they’re asking themselves are, “Does this brand know what they’re doing? Is investing my time and money going to be worth it? Can they really help me solve my problem?”

Amy Cuddy has spent more than fifteen years studying how business leaders can make a positive first impression. Cuddy distilled her research into two questions people subconsciously ask when meeting someone new: “Can I trust this person?” and “Can I respect this person?” In her book Presence, Cuddy explains human beings value trust so highly, it’s only after trust is established that a person begins to consider getting to know us further.

Once we express empathy and demonstrate authority, we can position our brand as the guide our customer has been looking for. This will make a significant difference in the way they remember us, understand us, and ultimately, engage with our products and services.

Principle Four: Customers trust a guide who has a plan.

If we’ve positioned ourselves as the guide, our customers are already in a relationship with us. But making a purchase isn’t a characteristic of a casual relationship; it’s a characteristic of a commitment. When a customer places an order, they’re essentially saying, “I believe you can help me solve my problem, and I believe it so much I’m willing to put skin in the game. I’m willing to part with my hard-earned dollars.” Commitments are risky for our customers because as soon as they make a commitment, they can lose something. Most customers are not going to take this risk yet. When a customer is deciding whether to buy something, we should picture them standing on the edge of a rushing creek. It’s true they want what’s on the other side, but as they stand there, they hear a waterfall downstream. What happens if they fall into the creek? What would life look like if they went over those falls? These are the kinds of questions our customers subconsciously ponder as they hover their little arrow over the “Buy Now” button. What if it doesn’t work? What if I’m a fool for buying this?

In order to ease our customers’ concerns, we need to place large stones in that creek. When we identify the stones our customers can step on to get across the creek, we remove much of the risk and increase their comfort level about doing business with us. It’s as though we’re saying, “First, step here. See, it’s easy. Then step here, then here, and then you’ll be on the other side, and your problem will be resolved.”

The plan tightens the focus of the movie and gives the hero a “path of hope” she can walk that might lead to the resolution of her troubles. 

THE PLAN CREATES CLARITY 

Plans can take many shapes and forms, but all effective plans do one of two things: 

1.they either clarify how somebody can do business with us, or 

2.they remove the sense of risk somebody might have if they’re considering investing in our products or services. Remember the mantra “If you confuse, you lose”? Not having a plan is a guaranteed way to confuse your customers.

A process plan can describe the steps a customer needs to take to buy our product, or the steps the customer needs to take to use our product after they buy it, or a mixture of both. For instance, if you’re selling an expensive product, you might break down the steps like this:        

1.  Schedule an appointment.        

2.  Allow us to create a customized plan.        

3.  Let’s execute the plan together.

Whether we’re selling a financial product, a medical procedure, a university education, or any other complicated solution, a process plan takes the confusion out of our customer’s journey and guides them in the next steps.

A post-purchase process plan is best used when our customers might have problems imagining how they would use our product after they buy it. For instance, with a complicated piece of software, we might want to spell out the steps or even the phases a customer would take after they make the purchase:        

1.  Download the software.        

2.  Integrate your database into our system.        

3.  Revolutionize your customer interaction. The post-purchase process plan does the same thing a pre purchase process plan does, in the sense that it alleviates confusion. When a customer is looking at the wide span between themselves and the integration of a complicated product, they’re less likely to make a purchase. But when they read your plan, they think to themselves, Oh, I can do that. That’s not hard, and they click “Buy Now.” A process plan can also combine the pre- and post-purchase steps. For instance:        

1.  Test-drive a car.        

2.  Purchase the car.        

3.  Enjoy free maintenance for life.

If process plans are about alleviating confusion, agreement plans are about alleviating fears.

Unlike a process plan, an agreement plan often works in the background. Agreement plans do not have to be featured on the home page of your website (though they could be), but as customers get to know you, they’ll sense a deeper level to your service and may realize why when they finally encounter your agreement plan. The best way to arrive at an agreement plan is to list all the things your customer might be concerned about as it relates to your product or service and then counter that list with agreements that will alleviate their fears.

Once you create your process or agreement plan (or both), consider giving them a title that will increase the perceived value of your product or service. For instance, your process plan might be called the “easy installation plan” or the “world’s best night’s sleep plan.” Your agreement plan might be titled the “customer satisfaction agreement” or even “our quality guarantee.” Titling your plan will frame it in the customer’s mind and increases the perceived value of all that your brand offers.

Principle Five: Customers do not take action unless they are challenged to take action.

In stories, characters never take action on their own. They have to be challenged to take action.

But the key ingredient he looks for in a company is whether the company is challenging their customers to place orders. The fastest way to grow a company is to make the calls to action clear and then repeat them over and over.

One of the biggest hindrances to business success is that we think customers can read our minds. It’s obvious to us that we want them to place an order (why else would we be talking to them about our products?), so we assume it’s obvious to them too. It isn’t.

The reality is when we try to sell passively, we communicate a lack of belief in our product. When we don’t ask clearly for the sale, the customer senses weakness. They sense we’re asking for charity rather than to change their lives. Customers aren’t looking for brands that are filled with doubt and want affirmation; they’re looking for brands that have solutions to their problems.

Two kinds of calls to action: direct calls to action and transitional calls to action. They work like two phases of a relationship. Let’s say we ask a customer to buy but they don’t. Who knows why, but they don’t. There’s no reason to end the relationship just because they aren’t ready. I believe in honoring people who aren’t ready, and I’m a fan of no-pressure sales. Still, I want to deepen the relationship so that whenever they need what I sell, they will remember me. The way I deepen that relationship is through transitional calls to action. Direct calls to action include requests like “buy now,” “schedule an appointment,” or “call today.” A direct call to action is something that leads to a sale, or at least is the first step down a path that leads to a sale. Transitional calls to action, however, contain less risk and usually offer a customer something for free. Transitional calls to action can be used to “on-ramp” potential customers to an eventual purchase. Inviting people to watch a webinar or download a PDF are good examples of transitional calls to action.

Direct Calls to Action 

It bears repeating: there should be one obvious button to press on your website, and it should be the direct call to action. When I say, “one obvious button,” I don’t mean “only one button,” but rather one that stands out. Make the button a different color, larger, a bolder text, whatever you need to do. Then repeat that same button over and over so people see it as they scroll down the page.

A good transitional call to action can do three powerful things for your brand:        

1.  Stake a claim to your territory. If you want to be known as the leader in a certain territory, stake a claim to that territory before the competition beats you to it. Creating a PDF, a video series, or anything else that positions you as the expert is a great way to establish authority.        2.  Create reciprocity. I’ve never worried about giving away too much free information. In fact, the more generous a brand is, the more reciprocity they create. All relationships are give-and-take, and the more you give to your customers, the more likely they will be to give something back in the future. Give freely.        

3.  Position yourself as the guide. When you help your customers solve a problem, even for free, you position yourself as the guide. The next time they encounter a problem in that area of their lives, they will look to you for help.

Transitional calls to action come in all shapes and sizes. Here are a few ideas to create transitional calls to action:        

•  Free information: Create a white paper or free PDF educating customers about your field of expertise. This will position you as a guide in your customer’s story and create reciprocity. Educational videos, podcasts, webinars, and even live events are great transitional calls to action that on-ramp customers toward a purchase.         

•  Testimonials: Creating a video or PDF including testimonials from happy clients creates a story map in the minds of potential customers. When they see others experience a successful ending to their story, they will want that same ending for themselves.         

•  Samples: If you can give away free samples of your product, do it. Offering a customer the ability to test-drive a car, taste your seasoning, sample your music, or read a few pages of your book are great ways to introduce potential customers to your products.         

•  Free trial: Offering a limited-time free trial works as a risk-removal policy that helps to on-ramp your customers. Once they try your product, they may not be able to live without it.

Principle Six: Every human being is trying to avoid a tragic ending.

A story lives and dies based on the question: Will the hero succeed or will they fail?

The only two motivations a hero has in a story are to escape something bad or experience something good. Such is life. Our desire to avoid pain motivates us to seek a resolution to our problems. Brands that don’t warn their customers about what could happen if they don’t buy their products fail to answer the “so what” question every customer is secretly asking.

We don’t bring up the negative stakes enough and so the story we’re telling falls flat. Remember, if there are no stakes, there is no story.

People Are Motivated by Loss Aversion (You know I love Munger)

Emphasizing potential loss is more than just good storytelling; it’s good behavioral economics.

In Dominic Infante, Andrew Rancer, and Deanna Womack’s book Building Communication Theory, they propose a four-step process called a “fear appeal.”         

First, we must make a reader (or listener) know they are vulnerable to a threat. For example:         “Nearly 30 percent of all homes have evidence of termite infestation.”         

Second, we should let the reader know that since they’re vulnerable, they should take action to reduce their vulnerability.“Since nobody wants termites, you should do something about it to protect your home.”         

Third, we should let them know about a specific call to action that protects them from the risk.         “We offer a complete home treatment that will insure your house is free of termites.”         Fourth, we should challenge people to take this specific action.“Call us today and schedule your home treatment.”

When receivers are either very fearful or very unafraid, little attitude or behavior change results. High levels of fear are so strong that individuals block them out; low levels are too weak to produce the desired effect. Messages containing moderate amounts of fear-rousing content are most effective in producing attitudinal and/or behavior change.

Principle Seven: Never assume people understand how your brand can change their lives. Tell them.

Years ago, a friend gave me the best leadership advice I’ve ever received. He said, “Sean, always remember, people want to be taken somewhere.”

Where is your brand taking people?

Successful brands, like successful leaders, make it clear what life will look like if somebody engages their products or services. Nike promised to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete. Likewise, Starbucks offered to inspire and nurture their customers, one cup at a time. For years, Men’s Wearhouse promised, “You’ll like the way you look,” and they even guaranteed it.

THE ENDING SHOULD BE SPECIFIC AND CLEAR

One of the problems is the vision businesses paint for their customer’s future is too fuzzy. Nobody gets excited about a muddled vision. Stories aren’t vague, they’re defined; they’re about specific things happening to specific people. Otherwise they’re not stories; they’re just lofty notions.

We must tell our customers what their lives will look like after they buy our products, or they will have no motivation to do so. We have to talk about the end vision we have for their lives in our keynotes, in our e-mail blasts, on our websites, and everywhere else. Images are also important when it comes to casting a vision for our customers.

Whatever it is you sell, show us people happily engaging with the product.

HOW TO END A STORY FOR YOUR CUSTOMER

Create a list of resolutions to your customers’ problems. Brainstorm what your customer’s life will look like externally if their problem is resolved, then think about how that resolution will make them feel, then consider why the resolution to their problem has made the world a more just place to live in. When we resolve our customers’ internal, external, and philosophical problems, we’ve truly created a resolution that will satisfy their story. If you want to take the concept a little deeper, it’s worth exploring how most stories are resolved by story experts. Over the centuries, storytellers have learned what really gives an audience closure and a sense of satisfaction. 

The three dominant ways storytellers end a story is by allowing the hero to        

1.  Win some sort of power or position.        

2.  Be unified with somebody or something that makes them whole.        

3.  Experience some kind of self-realization that also makes them whole. 

The fact that these are the three most-employed story endings implies these are three dominant psychological desires shared by most human beings.

1. Winning Power and Position (The Need for Status)

The primary function of our brain is to help us survive and thrive, and part of survival means gaining status. If our brand can participate in making our customers more esteemed, respected, and appealing in a social context, we’re offering something they want.

So how can our brand offer status? There are many ways:         

Offer access:

Create scarcity: Offering a limited number of a specific item creates scarcity, and owning something that is scarce is often seen as a status symbol.

Offer a premium: Most companies earn 70 percent or more of their revenue from a small percentage of their clients. Few, though, identify those clients and offer them a title such as “Preferred” or “Diamond Member.”

Offer identity association: Premium brands like Mercedes and Rolex sell status as much as they do luxury. Is it worth it? Depends on who you ask. Status really does open doors, and by associating their brand, and thus their customers, with success and refinement, they offer them status.

Union That Makes the Hero Whole (The Need for Something External to Create Completeness) The reason stories often end with the union of lovers has little to do with the desire for love or sex. Rather, union between male and female characteristics fulfills in the reader a desire for wholeness.

The controlling idea of this kind of ending is that the character is rescued by somebody or something else that they needed in order for them to be made complete. In love stories, of course, it’s all about the union of male and female characteristics, but the emotional need this kind of story resolves is much greater. It’s about being made whole by external provision.

Reduced anxiety:A feeling of closure about a clean house. A better, more peaceful life. Will the use of your product lead to the relief of stress and a feeling of completeness? If so, talk about it and show it in your marketing material.         

Reduced workload: Customers who don’t have the right tools must work harder because they are, well, incomplete. But what if a tool you offer could give them what they’re missing?

More time: For many customers, time is the enemy, and if our product can expand time, we’re offering to solve an external problem that is causing an internal frustration. Not being able to “fit it all in” is often perceived by our customers as a personal deficiency.

Ultimate Self-Realization or Acceptance (The Need to Reach Our Potential) Movies like Rudy, Hoosiers, and Chariots of Fire all tap into the human desire to reach our potential. And it’s not just sports movies. Legally Blonde, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash are all about heroes who face great odds in their journey to prove themselves. Once proven, the heroes realize an inner peace and can finally accept themselves because they’ve reached their potential.

Whether it’s by fulfilling some purpose or accepting themselves as they are, this return to contentment resolves something in a story that is universally human: the desire for self-acceptance.

Inspiration: If an aspect of your brand can offer or be associated with an inspirational feat, open the floodgates.

Acceptance: Helping people accept themselves as they are isn’t just a thoughtful thing to do; it’s good marketing.

Transcendence: Brands that invite customers to participate in a larger movement offer a greater, more impactful life along with their products and services. Tom’s Shoes built a name for itself by selling stylish shoes while simultaneously giving a pair to somebody in need in what they called a “one for one” model. Those who wore the shoes claimed a major factor in deciding to make the purchase was a sense of involvement with a larger movement.

KEEP IT SIMPLE Offering to close a story loop is much more simple than you think. Even the inclusion of smiley, happy people on your website is a strong way to offer the closing of a story loop. People want to be happy, and those images promise your product will deliver.

The important idea in this section is that we need to show repeatedly how our product or service can make somebody’s life better. If we don’t tell people where we’re taking them, they won’t follow. A story has to go somewhere.

I’m talking about the human desire to transform. Everybody wants to change. Everybody wants to be somebody different, somebody better, or, perhaps, somebody who simply becomes more self-accepting.

Our brand is helping people become better versions of themselves, which is a beautiful thing. You are helping them become wiser, more equipped, more physically fit, more accepted, and more at peace. Like it or not (and we hope you like it), we are all participating in our customers’ transformation, which is exactly what they want us to do. Brands that participate in the identity transformation of their customers create passionate brand evangelists.

At the beginning of a story, the hero is usually flawed, filled with doubt, and ill-equipped for the task set before them. The guide aids them on their journey, rife with conflict. The conflict begins to change the character, though. Forced into action, the hero develops skills and accrues the experience needed to defeat their foe. Though the hero is still filled with doubt, they summon the courage to engage, and in the climactic scene defeat the villain, proving once and for all they have changed, that they are now competent to face challenges and are better versions of themselves. The story has transformed them.

HOW DOES YOUR CUSTOMER WANT TO BE DESCRIBED BY OTHERS? The best way to identify an aspirational identity that our customers may be attracted to is to consider how they want their friends to talk about them. Think about it. When others talk about you, what do you want them to say? How we answer that question reveals who it is we’d like to be. It’s the same for our customers. As it relates to your brand, how does your customer want to be perceived by their friends? And can you help them become that kind of person? Can you participate in their identity transformation? If you offer executive coaching, your clients may want to be seen as competent, generous, and disciplined. If you sell sports equipment, your customers likely want to be perceived as active, fit, and successful in their athletic pursuits.

A GUIDE OFFERS MORE THAN A PRODUCT AND A PLAN 

Playing the guide is more than a marketing strategy; it’s a position of the heart. When a brand commits itself to their customers’ journey, to helping resolve their external, internal, and philosophical problems, and then inspires them with an aspirational identity, they do more than sell products—they change lives. And leaders who care more about changing lives than they do about selling products tend to do a good bit of both.

Brands that realize their customers are human, filled with emotion, driven to transform, and in need of help truly do more than sell products; they change people.

WEBSITE STORYTELLING                

People may hear about us through word of mouth or social media, but they definitely go to our website to learn more. When they get to our website, their “hopes need to be confirmed,” and they need to be convinced we have a solution to their problem.

Today our website should be the equivalent of an elevator pitch.

The idea here is that customers need to know what’s in it for them right when they read the text. The text should be bold and the statement should be short. It should be easy to read and not buried under buttons and clutter. I recently went to the website for Squarespace and it simply said, “The leader in website design.” Perfect. They could have said a lot of things on their website, but because they know to keep messages short and relevant, they’re making millions. Above the fold, make sure the images and text you use meet one of the following criteria:         

•  They promise an aspirational identity.

They promise to solve a problem.

They state exactly what they do.

Does Culture Finders make it obvious what we can offer a customer?

There are two main places we want to place a direct call to action. The first is at the top right of our website and the second is in the center of the screen, above the fold. Your customer’s eye moves quickly in a Z pattern across your website, so if the top left is your logo and perhaps tagline, your top right is a “Buy Now” button, and the middle of the page is an offer followed by another “Buy Now” button, then you’ve likely gotten through all the noise in your customer’s mind and they know what role you can play in their story.

For best results the “Buy Now” buttons should be a different color from any other button on the site (preferably brighter so it stands out), and both buttons should look exactly the same. I know this sounds like overkill, but remember, people don’t read websites, they scan them. You want that button to keep showing up like a recurring theme. A person has to hear something (or read something) many times before they process the information, so we want to repeat our main call to action several times. Your transitional call to action should also be obvious, but don’t let it distract from the direct call to action. I like featuring the transitional call to action in a less-bright button next to the call to action so the “Will you marry me?” and “Can we go out again?” requests are right next to each other. Remember, if you aren’t asking people to place an order, they won’t.

Everybody wants to experience a better life in some way or another, and while it may seem simple, images of people smiling or looking satisfied speak to us. They represent an emotional destination we’d like to head toward.

We may think our business is too diverse to communicate clearly, but it probably isn’t. Certainly there are examples where various brands within an umbrella company need to be split up and marketed separately, but in most cases we can find an umbrella theme to unite them all. Once we have an umbrella message, we can separate the divisions using different web pages. The key is clarity. When we break down our divisions clearly so people can understand what we offer, customers will be able to choose their own adventure without getting lost.

Very Few Words 

People don’t read websites anymore; they scan them. If there is a paragraph above the fold on your website, it’s being passed over, I promise. Think of the phrase “write it in Morse code” when we need marketing copy. By “Morse code” we mean copy that is brief, punchy, and relevant to our customers. Think again about our caveman sitting in his cave. “You sell cupcakes. Cupcakes good. Me want eat cupcake. Me like pink one and must go to bakery now.” Most of us err too far in the opposite direction. We use too much text.

A true mission isn’t a statement; it’s a way of living and being. A mission is more than token rituals that make momentary reference to the things your employees should care about. A mission is a story you reinforce through every department strategy, every operational detail, and every customer experience. That’s what it means to be a company on mission.

When team members understand the story of the organization and can explain it in short, disciplined sound-bites that have been reinforced through varying modes of communication from executives, they give words to potential customers that potential customers can use to spread the word. Brief, narrative ideas shared from inspired team members spread faster than muddled, confusing explanations shared by bored, disengaged employees.

Create a One-liner. You’ll want to memorize this statement yourself and repeat it any time somebody asks you what you do. You can teach your one-liner to your staff and feature it on your website, in e-mail signatures, and even on the back of your business card. People are wondering how you can make their lives better, and we’re going to show you how to tell them in such a way that they will want to engage with your brand.