How Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller Changed Marketing

Building A StoryBrand is a 240-page book on how story-based marketing is the way of this time. In a world where people are bombarded with messages from all directions, story-based marketing is one of the most effective ways to cut through the clutter and be heard. 

It’s not just for big brands anymore—even if you're a small business, a startup, or even a Fortune 500 company, it can help you create marketing materials that sell your product or service without the use of any clever, mind-numbing jargon that is easy to ignore. The StoryBrand BrandScript Framework will show you how to implement this strategy for your business.

Donald Miller is a story-passionate entrepreneur whose previous book, Blue Like Jazz, sold millions of copies. His success story is not surprising—Miller shows that story-based marketing can be learned by most business leaders and companies. He’s seen firsthand how stories have changed the way he communicates to his customers.

If you've had the chance to read the book, it's easy to appreciate Building a StoryBrand for its ability to make marketing messaging clear and compelling without compromising your brand's voice or style. It emphasizes the importance of creating a story before anything else—blog posts, keynotes, sales letters, emails…everything! Building A StoryBrand can help your business create more powerful messaging by giving you a clear structure for getting points across without being heavy-handed.

The book takes you through the hero's journey, which is simple yet effective.

You can learn principles that help you understand who your customers are and why they need your product or service. The book shares lots of insights into how to deliver great customer service by being a guide that understands what they're going through because you have helped people like them before.

Building a StoryBrand is about empowering brands to share their story in an emotionally compelling way. Your story impacts your customer’s life—and how they think, act, feel, and decide.

If It Can Work for a Non-Profit...

The most valuable lesson that author Donald Miller has learned is the story behind StoryBrand itself: one of his clients wanted help creating marketing messages for her brand story because many people were ignoring it. 

She had several successes but wasn't effective on her potential customers. When they picked apart what mattered most to this client by following the StoryBrand Framework, they came up with two clear insights that changed everything for her organization:

First, when she started talking about what her husband taught her when he passed away rather than just telling people why she needs their help with locating donations, her brand story became more authentic and people started to seek her out.

Second, she realized that many of the donors were churches—not families or individuals like most people think. This shift helped them move away from pitching donation seekers directly to pitching donor seekers instead.

They don't have to change what they do—just how they tell it.

Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller is about building an effective marketing story that your customers will relate to and be moved by. The book has changed the way marketing should be approached. 

Out of all the principles taught in the book, here are three of the most relevant that can make a huge difference for your business today.

A Good Marketing Material is Clear, Not Cute or Clever

The first part of the book is about why most businesses have a hard time marketing. One reason is that they spend money on things that don't work.  For example, they pay for flashy ads that chase trends. Or they pay to print in magazines that may reward them some status, but won't deliver the results they want to achieve.

They focus more on the cute and clever aspects of the brand instead of creating a crisp and clear copy. A clear brand story works better because the human brain automatically ignores anything it can't understand or things that look complicated.

Pretty Websites Don't Sell Things - Words Sell Things.

The solution is to pay attention to the words instead of what they're wrapped in. That's what a clear message does by using elemental psychological triggers that affect how people feel and behave without them knowing about it. It promises you a better future, one where your problems are solved easily by their product or service. This book tells you how to do this instead of just talking about it.

If you want a clear message for your campaign, Miller's book will guide you every step of the way using his StoryBrand FrameWork.  It will show you how to make your business stand out, get noticed by people who pay attention, and reach buyers who are ready to pay for what you have to offer.

This book is on a mission to clarify your message so you can create websites that actually deliver, Youtube videos that don't add to the noise, emails that bring excitement into people's inboxes, and approaches that reveal who you are and what you do, generously, to the people you serve. 

People pay more attention to the words than to the wrapping. This book will show you how to make your business better.

Brands and Business Leaders Are Guides

As you flip the page to the second part of the book, it reveals a game-changing approach to marketing - the StoryBrand Framework.

This framework is a 7-part journey that outlines the most important principles that tell you how you can invite your potential customer into stories they'll want to get deeper into through the use of universal elements found in the most iconic stories ever told. It successfully executes this feat by taking your message's focus away from you, the brand, and redirecting it to your customers.

A story is a sense-making device that we've all been using since we were young. Powerful stories have a proven power in our minds because we do not need to create new information paths inside the brain. 

In your company's copy, you are not at the center of it all. The customer is the hero of the story and your role is to be a guide.

Miller tells us that as brands guide customers, it's important for them to express their empathy - they must be the ones who understand exactly what their customer is going through. If a company can establish an authentic connection and establish themselves as a trustworthy source of information, it will lead them to establish their authority - they can help their customers with their problems because they've done this before.

Think of it this way - now that the spotlight is on your customer, instead of your brand, you gain an upgrade from someone who just exists at your customer's disposal into an authority figure your customers look up to whenever they're seeking the answers you're offering.

No Such Thing As a Logical Buy

When people are out to buy something, they typically know what they're buying and why. Buying a car doesn't mean the person is skilled at driving it. A new computer won't run completely on autopilot without any support or interference from its new owner. 

Here's some practical advice - when people experience a problem, the knee-jerk reaction is to look for solutions. The fact is, before they look you up, they already know what they want. The key is to be the one who captures their attention first through clear and simple words, so clarify your message. Once you get their focus, you help them with the problems they want to solve. You do this in a way that is easy to understand and easier to act on.

This hero-guide relationship also appeals to their emotions. Storytelling is an emotionally led medium. Miller says that you need to know what your customer's problem is and dial into it via empathy, authority, and clarity. The whole idea is to use you-centric language to help customers solve their problems by tapping into their emotional side through a story.

Everybody wants to be the hero of their story. Help them achieve this aspirational identity, and you have their attention. As a brand that knows better, you can use this appeal to sell solutions that engage with emotions.

Customers buy solutions to internal problems they face on their own rather than external difficulties. Customers will buy things to fix problems that live within their emotions. This problem can’t be fixed by itself. They need you to guide them.

Your Brand Story Should Satisfy Your Customers' Basic Desires

Many companies tend to chase trends or whip up a clever-sounding copy to make their brand stand out.  These methods can only deliver short-term results. If you want to be the go-to solution for the people you serve, you have to ask yourself these questions:

• Who are my customers?
• What are their external problems?
• What's my plan for helping them?
• What will their lives look like after I help them?

You don't have to look deep into your vocabulary to find the right words that would hit them where it matters. Most of what people need are solutions that satisfy their basic desires. There are a million brands out there that are like you, but customers will listen to someone who shows up with the information they need that is easy to seek out. They want to be the hero of the story who achieves the seemingly impossible and defeat the villain that is their problem.

The book ends with ways on how you can implement the StoryBrand Framework by creating a BrandScript. It will guide you to create the right message so customers will see you as the most qualified brand that help can them bring the transformation they desire.

One More Awesome Feature of The Book

Another quality that makes this book a game-changer is its ability to apply the universal elements of a story, not only to tell stories customers listen to or to build a better website but to unify internal company culture through clearer communication paths. 

You can share the StoryBrand Marketing Roadmap with your team so they show up and represent your company knowing full well where your brand's unique value lies. It does way more than building an aspirational identity for the people you serve.

If you want to learn more, grab a copy of Donald Miller's bestselling book here. If you want to apply the best parts of this game-changing book to your company, talk to your StoryBrand certified guide today!

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