I recently stumbled upon the Building a Story Brand book at an airport kiosk. After a quick skim I found the writing style refreshingly concise and compelling. Before the end of my flight I had read the entire book and discovered author Donald Miller’s equally interesting podcast and online course geared for busy marketing and sales professionals to clarify their brand’s message by framing their value proposition message around the age old Hollywood hero's journey story arc.
Value proposition messaging
As an experienced designer day to day I totally agree with Miller's mantra that getting your brand message dialed is arguably the most important foundation underlying sales collateral design, especially marketing websites, and sales PDFs.
Note: this book does not cover the value prop canvas but is getting very clear on marketing sales pitch messaging, and design.
In essence, the book encourages the creative or business stakeholder (you) to orient your business’s offering to take your hand as the magical oracle guide to be lead to a new world of pain relief by way of a a predictable, outlined journey to win the day.
As we know as User Experience Designers, understanding our customer's pain point is an essential prerequisite to crafting compelling copy and content design. Once the headache type is understood, we can cleverly agitate that pain through psychological levers or inspiring motivation and present our brand as a trustworthy relationship that serves the resolution.
7 essential parts to every story brand
Main character
The customer, AKA the Hero trying to win the day
The Problem
The pain point you've identified in the customer to which your brand provides pain relief, wisdom, etc.
The Guide
The brand, the business, the service provided, the voice articulating the value proposition…(take my hand)
The Plan
A clear articulation of what your customer is expected to do with you (the brand) to achieve a mutually understood notion of success
Call to action
The action to take, such as contacting sales, submitting a web form, adding a product to a cart, checking out, and waiting for a package to arrive...
Stake if fail (loss)
The FOMO...agitating what life will likely continue to be without your product in their life
Stakes if succeed (win)
Reiteration of what success will look, feel, taste like, etc.
Exercise outline: creating value proposition website sections
A. The Header
i. Does it answer the questions:
What are you offering?
How does it make our customers’ lives better?
Where can I buy it?
How can they buy it?
ii. Do the pictures you intend to use support the sales pitch or confuse customers about what you are selling?
B. The Stakes
i. What is life going to look like if the customer does not buy your product or service?
ii. What negative experiences are you keeping your customers from having to deal with?
C. The Value Proposition
i. What positive results will a customer receive if they buy your product?
ii. What does your customer’s life look like if they buy your product or service?
D. The Guide
i. Empathy: what empathetic statement can you make that expresses your care, concern, or understanding about your customer’s problem?
ii. Authority: how can you reassure your customers you are competent to solve their problem?
iii. Testimonials iv. Other: logos, statistics
E. The Plan
i. Three or four steps: What is the path a customer needs to take before or after buying your product?
ii. What are the benefits of each of those steps?
F. The Explanatory Paragraph
i. Simply use your one-liner* followed by your BrandScript script to make this section simple, clear, and easy.
G. The Video (optional)
i. Decide on video
ii. Decide on title
H. Price Choices (optional)
i. How will you visually display the price or prices of this product?
I. Junk Drawer
Misc. information, anything else you feel is compelling to say or include.
Buy the book!
The book is an excellent read and these highlights I found most interesting are no replacement for reading the full text. Purchase it here, and explore the podcast! I receive no kickback for sales proceeds, I’m simply advocating UX Designers and my readers consider this cool shot in the arm book for better understanding marketing experience design.
