How to tell your brand's story, and connect with your audience + a free template!

In a sea of competitors, it can feel difficult — and urgent — to stand out from our competitors. The need is real. And we want to solve it now.

However, when we think about improving a brand, the default thought process tends towards needing a logo, a colour palette, a strong brand positioning… but the piece we often forget about is storytelling.

Tl;DR

• Storybrand is about making your audience the hero of your brand, rather than making your brand the hero of your audience’s journey

• This is important for connecting with your audience on an emotional level

• Key to getting this right is understanding what your hero’s journey is, what their villains are, and what your role is as the guide in their journey

• The free template at the end of this article helps you workshop this hero’s journey

• The storybrand is what you can use to build a more robust brand guide, voice, and strategy

So: What is storytelling, really?

Ye, it’s a buzzword by now; but some core elements to storytelling include things like:

• Making our audience feel like they belong with us

• Understanding the many identities of our audience

• Understanding the intrinsic desires our audience has

• Putting ourselves through the very real problems our audience has, that we claim we can solve with our brand

• Giving our audience a sense of higher status (virtue, social, professional, etc.)

• Moving our brand away from being the hero of the story, and towards being the guiding light of our hero’s (ie. our audience’s) story.

• Understanding the philosophical values our audience uses to make any and every decision they make on any given day

… In short, storytelling is how we take something abstract — like a symbol, a bunch of colours, or a product — and make a strong emotional connection to the people we’re trying to serve, help, and augment.

So, the next question should be: How do we use storytelling to connect to our audience?

Making your audience the hero of their story

There are three main characters we have to unpack when building a storybrand:

1. The Hero: This is your buyer persona(s); our audience; the people who have a problem you claim to solve.

2. The Shadow: This could be external, internal, philosophical, or physical barriers (more on this later) that stand between your audience and their “ideal state.” This is what we help them overcome.

3. The Guiding Light: This is your brand. How do you help your hero create a better world? How do you help move your hero from a broken world, to a better one?

Critical takeaway: You are not the hero of your story. You are merely a guiding light that helps the hero solve their own problems. Why is this so important?

Think about yourself: How would you feel about your parents if they phoned your boss, and told them that you deserve a raise. Now, think about how you’d feel about your parents if they listened to you, offered some support and advice, and then backed you when you phoned your boss, asked for a raise, and got it?

Enabling your audience to feel empowered in their pursuit of their “ideal state” is 1000x more effective than telling your audience that you can solve all their problems for them.

This completely changes how you position your brand relative to your audience. You want to be a supportive feature in their lives — something they love because they feel cared for — rather than being something they feel reliant on. The former is empowering, the latter is dependent. And no one likes feeling dependent.

The storybrand method

The power of a storybrand lies primarily in:

• Crafting a comprehensive narrative of the three main characters above,

• understanding the struggles your hero needs to overcome, and

• positioning your brand in a way that enables your audience to feel empowered in their hero’s journey.

The template below helps us build a strong storybrand, that we can then use to build a brand guide, and a sense of brand voice, and — thus — a brand strategy that actually connects to our audience on an emotional level.

Here is a short explainer on each of the components we need to unpack. Once you’ve read through the list below, make a copy of the attached storybrand template and start the process towards understanding your own hero’s journey!

The elements of a storybrand

Here’s the sentence we unpack:

1. A hero...

   1. Determine who your audience is and the traits that define them. For example, cyclists primarily using bicycles for transportation.

2. That wants...

   1. Understand your hero's goals, aspirations, or needs. For instance, cyclists might want a reliable bike to commute to work on time.

3. But has a problem...

   1. Outline the challenges facing your hero. This includes the villain (main obstacle), external, internal, and philosophical problems. For example, cyclists may face complex bike terminology (villain), difficulty finding the right bike (external), lack of interest in learning about bikes (internal), and the belief that cycling should be simpler (philosophical).

4. And meets a guide...

   1. Introduce your brand as the guide. Show empathy for your hero's problems and establish your authority. For instance, acknowledging cyclists' frustrations and showcasing expertise in simplifying bike purchases. “We are cyclists too.”

5. Who gives them a plan...

   1. Provide a clear plan or path. Outline steps your hero can take towards success, and establish common ground. For example, a straightforward process to select a bike from a simple drop-down menu, with no hidden fees or jargon.

6. And calls them to action...

   1. Encourage your hero to take action. This can be a direct call (e.g., visiting the shop) or a transitional one (e.g., downloading a free guide).

7. That helps them avoid failure...

   1. Highlight what failures the hero avoids by following your plan. Show how your guidance prevents specific problems, like buying an overly expensive bike or frequent servicing issues.

8. … And ends in success!

   1. Describe the hero's success and personal transformation. In other words, illustrate the tangible benefits and emotional transformation your hero experiences, from feeling confused and ill-equipped to becoming competent and empowered.