Identify a clear external Villain that your customer is battling against, such as frustration, inconvenience, lack of quality or high prices.Present your brand as offering the solution to help the customer vanquish and overcome this obstacle. The villain shouldn't be your competitor.

Clarifying the External Villain 

Clarify your core brand story and message above all else. Reject tangents and complexity even if they seem impressive. Simplify it down to be extremely clear, focused and concise.If customers are confused, they cannot engage.

Simplifying Your Core Message

If you confuse, you'll lose.

Leverage storytelling techniques like narrative arc, emotion and drama rather than just listing product features and benefits.Stir their imagination through well-crafted stories.Build connection and empathy through shared journeys.

Leveraging the Power of Storytelling

Even with an obvious external villain, recognize your customers have an internal anxiety or resistance to change as well.Address their worries openly by illuminating this inner struggle in your story. Overcome objections.

Illuminating the Inner Struggle


There are two kinds of calls to action:<ol><li>Direct calls to action; and</li><li>Transitional calls to action.</li></ol>A direct call to action is something that leads to a sale, or at least is the first step down a path that leads to a sale.Transitional calls to action, however, contain less risk and usually offer the customer something for free.

The Call To Action

<ul><li>Rather than talking about your brand, position the customer as the central Hero of your story.</li><li>Show how you can guide them to solve a problem and achieve the transformation they desire.</li><li>Let them see it as their own personal journey and arc, with them in the starring role.</li></ul>

Positioning the Customer as the Hero


Position your brand as the wise Guide who has walked the customer Hero's journey before. You have insider knowledge to help them overcome obstacles and achieve transformation.Seek to build trust by being a mentor, not just a vendor.

Casting Your Brand as the Guide

Lay out the specific plan of action for how your product or service will empower the customer Hero to defeat the villain. Don't be vague - provide clear, succinct steps they can take.Show don't tell how you facilitate their success.

Presenting a Concrete Plan of Action  

Brand stories should follow 7 classic storytelling elements:<ol><li>The customer as the Hero,</li><li>Your brand as the guide,</li><li>An external villain (the problem),</li><li>The hero's plan to defeat the villain,</li><li>Allies who support the hero,</li><li>A crisis moment where the plan is threatened, and</li><li>The eventual transformation and success due to your brand's solution.</li></ol>

The 7 Story Structure Elements 

People don’t want more information. They are up to their eyeballs in information. They want faith—faith in you, your goals, your success, in the story you tell.

Everything can be a story! Even your brand! The book Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller provides a framework for crafting a compelling brand story that resonates with customers. It applies storytelling techniques to business messaging.

More than half-a-million business leaders have discovered the power of the StoryBrand Framework, created by New York Times best-selling author and marketing expert Donald Miller. And they are making millions.If you use the wrong words to talk about your product, nobody will buy it. Marketers and business owners struggle to effectively connect with their customers, costing them and their companies millions in lost revenue.In a world filled with constant, on-demand distractions, it has become near-impossible for business owners to effectively cut through the noise to reach their customers, something Donald Miller knows first-hand. In this book, he shares the proven system he has created to help you engage and truly influence customers.The StoryBrand process is a proven solution to the struggle business leaders face when talking about their companies. Without a clear, distinct message, customers will not understand what you can do for them and are unwilling to engage, causing you to lose potential sales, opportunities for customer engagement, and much more.In Building a StoryBrand, Donald Miller teaches marketers and business owners to use the seven universal elements of powerful stories to dramatically improve how they connect with customers and grow their businesses.His proven process has helped thousands of companies engage with their existing customers, giving them the ultimate competitive advantage. Building a StoryBrand does this by teaching you:<ul><li>The seven universal story points all humans respond to;</li><li>The real reason customers make purchases;</li><li>How to simplify a brand message so people understand it; and</li><li>How to create the most effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media.</li></ul>Whether you are the marketing director of a multibillion-dollar company, the owner of a small business, a politician running for office, or the lead singer of a rock band, Building a StoryBrand will forever transform the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.

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Donald "Don" Miller is an American author, public speaker, and business owner. He is the CEO of StoryBrand, a marketing company. He is also an author of personal essays and reflections about faith, God, and self-discovery.

Clarifying the External Villain

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