Compiled
BY Nabin Shrestha
WaterComm

Every successful business understands that the hero of the story should be the customer, not the brand. Businesses that immerse their customers in a heroic story thrive; businesses that do not comply are forgotten. Many businesses struggle to turn prospects into paying attention to the customer's needs. Their marketing materials do not convey the distinct value of their products or services. The StoryBrand Framework improves brand messaging by employing universal characteristics of storytelling. It tells how you talk about who you are, what you do, and the value that your business provides.

i. Use story to illustrate your message

Customers are drawn to clarity and away from ambiguity. The StoryBrand architecture makes use of a valuable channel in the human brain. It arranges things so that consumers do not have to work too hard to grasp how a product or service could benefit them. It will assist you in identifying what your customer wants, defining the problem they are facing, positioning your brand as a guide, providing customers with a plan, calling them to action, avoiding potential failure, and defining what success will look like after implementing your solution.

ii. Instead of being the hero, be the guide

Customers are looking for a guide rather than a hero. Some brands make the fatal mistake of positioning themselves as the story's hero. Always make your customer the hero, and your brand the guide. A brand that portrays itself as the hero is doomed to fail. Empathy and authority are the two things a brand needs to communicate in order to present itself as the guide. A guide exhibits empathy for their hero's anguish and discontentment. 

iii. Determine your customer's internal problems

Every story has someone attempting to solve a problem. When we correctly identify our consumers' challenges, people recognise us as a brand that knows what they're talking about. The more we discuss their concerns, the more interested they will be in your brand.

Companies generally sell solutions to external problems, whereas customers buy solutions to internal ones. As a result, it is better to position products and services in a way that assists individuals in surviving, thriving, being accepted, finding love, achieving an aspirational identity, or meeting another internal need. Something extraordinary happens when we are able to recognise the appropriate internal need, put it into words, and promise to remedy it with their external problem. We connect with our customers because we've immersed ourselves in their story.

iv. Take part in their transformation

Almost every decision we make is motivated by a desire to transform. We can't avoid it, whether we're buying furniture or financial services. Everyone aspires to be someone different, someone better, or simply someone who accepts themselves more. When portraying a business, we must ask ourselves several critical questions, including: Who does our customer want to become? What type of person do they aspire to be? What is their desired identity?

Consider how our consumers want their peers to talk about them to identify an aspirational persona that they may be drawn to. Consider this, What do you want other people to say about you? How we respond to that question indicates who we want to be.

v. Create a one-liner for your business

A one-liner is an enhanced approach to respond to the inquiry "What do you do?" It's more than a slogan or tagline; it's a single statement that explains why customers require your products or services. Use the four components listed below to create an engaging one-liner: (1) Character, (2) Problem, (3) Plan, and (4) Success. You simply want to convey these four concepts. Who is your target market? What is their issue? What is your strategy for assisting them, and how will their lives change as a result?

Donald Miller's book "Building A StoryBrand" assists businesses and individuals in developing a captivating and effective brand message. The book's fundamental theme revolves around the power of storytelling and how businesses may use it to connect with their customers.