Attention Small Business Owners
If you have ever been unsatisfied with your marketing efforts, if you have ever found marketing your own business difficult, if you have ever found yourself unsure of what to say when marketing your own business, then this blog post is for you.
Defining Your Marketing Message Can Be Difficult
Knowing what words to say can be a struggle when promoting your product or service, especially for your own business. It can be frustrating, agonizing, and make you feel stuck. Yet, as a Certified Storybrand Guide, this struggle is one of the things I hear most when speaking with others about their marketing.
Take Heart, You Are Not Alone
If you too feel stuck when developing your marketing, take heart and know that you are not alone. Even among Certified Guides like myself, it’s a common problem when trying to create our marketing. But, it is not hopeless. A marketing framework can help you discover the words that will resonate with your ideal customer’s heart. Words that will speak to their needs and challenge them to finally overcome the problem they are experiencing.
You Need A Framework To Help You
This framework is called the Storybrand Marketing Framework. Walking through the Storybrand framework will help you develop the brandscript for your business, also referred to as the “story of your business.” And through the development of this story, you will discover the words that resonate with your ideal customers.
Speak To Your Customers Story
Although to clarify, to market your business, you do need to tell the “story of your business.” But, the story of your business is not YOUR story. Instead, it is your customer’s story and the struggle they feel when trying to overcome their problem.
Begin With Their Journey
Your customers’ journey begins when they first realize they have a problem and start searching for a solution. It’s during this search they discover you, so you need to introduce yourself into their story as the helpful guide or the one who has the experience and knowledge to help them solve and overcome their problem.
Join Their Conversation
Your marketing message should be written to “join in the conversation that is already taking place within your customer’s head regarding their problem,” and then your message will be compelling. In order for them to “hear you,” they first need to know that you hear them and understand their problem and how that problem makes them feel. Once they’ve felt heard, they will then be willing to listen to you and how you can help them overcome their problem and experience success.
Discover Your Marketing Message
So how do you determine this message and discover these words?
The first step is to create a brandscript for your business.
There are a couple of ways you can complete this step.
First, you can go to a free online resource offered by Storyband at mystorybrand.com and fill out the brandscript script template. Or you can download and print the Storybrand brandscript Template below and then complete them offline.
DOWNLOAD BRANDSCRIPT TEMPLATE 11″ X 8.5″
DOWNLOAD BRANDSCRIPT TEMPLATE 11″ X 17″
Best Practices For Developing Your Brandscript
Here are some suggestions I can make as a Certified Storybrand Guide to help you complete this first step.
Brandscript Best Practice #1: Think Like Your Customer
Remember, your marketing message is not about you but about your customer. Try and get into your customer’s mind, especially when working through the first two sections of the brandscript; The customer and their problem. Think back to how you first felt when trying to solve the problem to which you now offer a solution.
- How did you feel?
- How did you think?
- What were the questions you had?
- What advice could you have been given that would have saved you a lot of headache and heartbreak?
- What do you know now that you wished you knew then?
When completing the Storybrand script template, think back and rely on conversations you’ve had with past customers and the actual words and statements you have heard them say. Sometimes going through this exercise of remembering these conversations can provide significant marketing results.
Your Goal- The more you can think like you’re customers, the better your brandscript will be.
Helpful Tip – Try your hardest to not let your own bias and experience interfere in this process. In other words, don’t put “words into your customer’s mouth.” Instead, trust what they have said and how they have felt.
Best Brandscript Practice #2: Don’t go at it alone.
A great way to prevent your own bias from interfering with this process is to include others in the branscript template process. Ask others who know your customers well to join you in the process.
Using a team to develop your brandscript allows you to see your customer’s journey from different angles and perspectives.
Your Goal – With the help of a team you will have a well-rounded picture of who your customer is, how they feel, and the problem they are trying to solve.
Helpful Tip – As an added bonus, this process is a great way to unify your team and determine precisely who your customer is and how you help them solve their problem. (This may sound like a “no-brainer,” but you would be surprised how many businesses discover that their staff or team are not on the same page after going through this process.)
Best Brandscript Practice #3: Constantly refine your brandscript.
Completing your brandscript template is not a “one and done kind of thing.” Instead, your brandscript, like your customers, is a living thing and can change over time.
A great example of when your brandscript should change is how businesses had to adapt to the emergence of Covid-19 in 2020.
As you know, the pandemic changed everything. Just like you, your customers’ fears, concerns, and problems changed overnight, causing your marketing strategy to change as well. In 2020, the companies that were able to adapt, make adjustments, and pivot their business were the companies that were able to sustain the pandemic and survive.
Your Goal – Periodically review your brandscript to keep it current. This will make your marketing relevant to the times.
Helpful Tip – Once a quarter, review your marketing and ask yourself if it is still relevant to the current times.
Best Brandscript Practice #4: Have A Certified Storybrand Guide Review Your Brandscript.
As I stated at the beginning of this article, I believe one of the hardest things to do as a business owner is when we try to create marketing, on our own, for our own business. I believe the reason it is so difficult is that we are too close. Too close to our business; we know too much.
A common symptom of this is when your business’s website resembles a virtual “yard sale.” You know, cluttered, confusing, and just too much.
The reason for this is, when it comes to your own business, you know everything that happened to get your business to where it is today.
- You know how much time has been spent.
- You know how much money has been spent.
- You have paid the price.
Everything you have done has come at a cost, and it’s this “knowing” that skews our perspective and makes it difficult to know what is the most important elements to communicate when trying to speak to your customers.
Your Goal – To clarify your message.
Helpful Tip – Once you have written your brandscript, have an outsider review it and see if it makes sense to them. Even better, hire a Storybrand consultant like me to review your work. As a Certified Storybrand Guide, I have personally flown to Nashville and have completed the Storybrand training taught by Donald Miller, Dr. J.J. Peterson, and Koula Kalahan specifically to help people like you. I can help you discover clarity, avoid common pitfalls, and provide the confidence you need in your marketing to grow your business. With the help of a Certified Storybrand Guide, you’ll no longer second guess yourself, and you’ll finally have peace of mind when it comes to your marketing. You can schedule a time to talk here.
I hope you have found this information helpful. By doing this work and completing your Storybrand script template, you will have taken your first step to creating marketing that will not only sell the product or service you provide but will also grow your business. The right words are like magnets. They can either attract or repel your customers. When used correctly, the Storybrand Marketing Framework can be used to transform your website and marketing into what Donald Miller, the author of “Building A Storybrand,” calls a Sales Machine.
Just remember this when it comes to your marketing message, “when you confuse, you lose.”
P.S. I KNOW if you use this template it will help you discover the words to say and carries with it the power to transform your business. If you have any questions when going through this process, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll help you however much I can. If you’re interested in taking your brandscript once it’s completed and then building a complete sales funnel for your business, Schedule A Call and let’s build together.
