Podcast Episode 3: Story Brand Framework

Transcription below:

Hello James here and welcome to this week's podcast.

In this week's main event, I'm going to introduce you to one of my marketing magic superpowers.

It's called the story brand framework and it is one of the most powerful frameworks that you could use to tap into your prospects and clients emotions and encourage them to take action.

I use it in everything, writing an email, a video script or a website.

So I'm really excited to share this with you today.

And in this week's thought of the week, I'm going to discuss the importance of clarity and how you can create more clarity for yourself in every area of your life.

So let's jump straight in this week's main event.

This week's main event:

As a marketer, it's my job to persuade people to take action, whether that's to stop scrolling on LinkedIn and read a post, to open an email, to visit a website, to sign up to something or to buy.

And when creating content, I can talk about the features and functional elements of the service or product that I'm trying to promote or sell.

But what really drives people are emotions.

And as I sit there looking at a blank piece of paper, I often wish that I have psychic abilities, giving me the power to tap into my client's mind, to know exactly what I could say to persuade them to take action.

And when it comes to your own marketing, I'm sure you wish you had the same psychic ability. It would certainly make our lives a lot easier, wouldn't it?

Well, I use a very powerful framework to help give me this psychic ability, or at least the best that I'm going to get. It's my magic superpower, and it's called the story brand framework.

So when I was working with some really big brand consultants in the US a few years ago, they all advised that I read the story brand by Donald Miller.

Donald Miller is an American author, public speaker and business consultant best known for his work in the field of marketing and storytelling.

He created the storybrand framework to help businesses communicate their value proposition simply, clearly, and most importantly, powerfully, through the art of storytelling.

Miller observed that many companies struggled to communicate their value propositions in a way that resonated with their audience, and he believed that businesses often focus too much on their own story rather than understanding and addressing the needs and desires of their customers, which I see way too often as well.

And he studied the art of storytelling to create a framework that would help businesses resonate with their customers at an emotional level.

Now, as a marketer, I have lots of words available to me to persuade my audience. And if you think about it, stories are the most powerful way to organize words into something that makes sense.

And when I was thinking about this section of the podcast, I was researching about how stories influenced us and what psychological theories or principles were based on storytelling. And there are tons too many to mention here.

It could be a whole podcast in itself. But long story short, pardon the pun, storytelling is a fantastic way to communicate a message, and that's why I'm a huge advocate of the story brand framework.

So what is it?

Through his research, Donald recognised that every good story had the same seven psychological elements, including original folklore books and movies like Star wars, the Hunger Games, the king's speech, Cinderella, and frozen.

So here are the seven elements.

The first element is the character.

So every story starts with a character who wants something. In the context of marketing, the character is your customer, and they should be positioned as the hero in your story. The second element is the problem.

The character encounters a problem that prevents them from getting what they want. And there's an external problem, an internal problem, and a philosophical problem.

So, using the king's speech as an example, let's break down those three types of problems.

So, the king's external problem is that he had a severe stammer that prevents him from speaking fluently in public.

His internal problem is that he feels deep seated insecurity, frustration, and shame because of his speech impediment, which undermines his confidence and self worth.

And the big philosophical problem is that as a king, he should be able to speak to and inspire his people effectively, especially during war times.

The third element is the guide.

So the character meets a guide who understands their problem and has a plan to help them. In your story, you and your business is the guide.

And there are two sections of the guide, so you have guide empathy. So this is your understanding of the character's needs and problems.

You then have guide authority, which is basically your experience. So, in the king's speech, Lionel Logue, the rogue speech therapist, plays the part of the guide, and haymitch plays the guide in Hunger Games.

The fourth element is the plan. So the guide gives the character a plan. This involves outlining a clear, simple plan that customers can follow to solve their problems. The plan should alleviate any confusion and provide actionable steps.

The fifth element is the call to action. So the guide calls the character to action. This step is about prompting your customers to take specific actions that lead them towards solving their problem, whether it's buying a product, signing up for a service or another goal, or orientated action.

The 6th element is avoiding failure. So every story involves stakes that create tension. Highlight what's at risk if your customer doesn't take action. Explain the negative consequences of inaction to emphasize the importance of the call to action.

And the 7th and final element is achieving success. So finally, the story concludes with the character achieving success and all of their problems being resolved. This is called the story loop and is incredibly powerful in storytelling.

So to summarise these seven elements really quickly, a character steps into the story, that's your customer. They have a problem, they need help solving it. They meet a guide, that's you. Their guide gives them a plan, and that plan calls them to action.

So now that you know the seven elements of great stories, it's your job to think about your own client's story.

Think of the typical business owner that you work with. Jot down all of your ideas for each element of the story brand framework, and then refine it down into a simple story. Once you've done this, you can then use your client story in lots of different ways.

The first is that it should sit within your brand strategy document. This is a simple document that details your brand strategy in a very similar way to a people plan. I suppose.

It will include things like your mission statements, your value proposition statement and your values. And your client story is an excellent addition to your brand strategy document.

The second way to use your client's story is to structure your website homepage and other marketing materials.

So the different elements of the story brand framework actually create a fabulous structure to use to create your website homepage and any other sales page for that matter.

And the final way to use your client story is as a constant reminder of how you should be approaching your work and marketing.

Whether I'm writing a video script, LinkedIn post or email, instead of me trying to be psychic, I think about my client's story and try to incorporate it into everything that I do.

For me, the story brand framework is great because it gives your messaging clarity, so it helps you articulate your message clearly, concisely while avoiding any confusion. It also forces you to adopt a customer centric approach.

So instead of positioning yourself as the hero, your clients become the main character and you're there to support them.

By using storytelling, you're leveraging the power of stories, making your marketing messages more persuasive and memorable.

And finally, you're giving yourself a competitive advantage by doing all of this so I absolutely adore the story brand framework and creating your own client story is definitely something you should be doing.

So if you like the sound of this framework and would like to learn more, then you'll love the HR Growth Academy. So I have two services, the HR marketing box and the HR Growth Academy.

The HR marketing box includes all of the marketing content you need to grow your consultancy and the HR Growth Academy includes all of the guidance you need to grow your consultancy.

Inside the growth academy you'll find lots of guidance on the story brand framework and lots more.

So head on over to my website, the hrmarketingguy.com and check it out for yourself.

James thought of the week:

So let me tell you a story.

 I was 26. I had a pretty good career and I was in a good job at the time, but I just felt really unsatisfied and like I wasn't achieving anything. I knew that I wanted to start my own business and do something more with my life, but the problem was I didn't know what I wanted to do or what I should do and.

For a good couple of years I was kind of stuck in this period of painful procrastination and I was just really hoping for some sort of divine intervention or opportunity to land in my lap which would tell me that this was the path that I needed to follow in life.

I was following all of the usual inspirational suspects on socials at the time and then I got hit by an ad for a book called High Performance Habits by Brendan Burchard. I immediately brought it with every intention to gobble it up and in classic James style, it sat on my bedside table for a few months, completely unopened.

Anyway, me and my partner at the time decided to book a cheeky tui all inclusive holiday to Cyprus and I took the book just in case I got bored.

Well, guess what? I got bored. I read the book and I'm actually very grateful for reading the book because it was the catalyst to my own entrepreneurial journey and it taught me the power of creating clarity.

So Brendan is a renowned American author, motivational speaker, and high performance coach working with people like Oprah. He is best known for his work in personal development and self improvement, so focusing on helping individuals achieve peak performance and leading successful, fulfilling lives.

And according to the book synopsis on Amazon 20 years ago, author Brendan became obsessed with answering these three questions. One, why do some individuals and teams succeed more quickly than others and sustain that success over a long term?

Two of those who put it off why are some miserable and others consistently happy on their journey. And three, what motivates people to reach for high levels of success in the first place? And what practices help them improve the most?

And after extensive original research and a decade as the world's leading high performance coach, Bouchard found that there were six habits that all high performing individuals practice.

So the six habits are one, seeking clarity.

So this is all about being clear about who you are, what you want and what you need to do to achieve your goals.

The second habit is generating energy, so cultivating physical, mental and emotional energy to maintain focus and stamina.

The third is to raise necessity, so developing a steep sense of purpose and urgency about your goals.

The fourth habit was increasing productivity, so focusing on high impact activities and managing your time effectively.

The fifth habit was developing influence, so building the ability to influence others through effective communication and strong relationship.

And finally, the 6th habit was demonstrating courage. And that's all about taking bold actions despite fear, uncertainty and adversity.

So it's actually a really good book. I would definitely recommend reading it. But what stuck for me was the whole clarity piece, maybe because that was what was lacking for me at the time.

And in the book, seeking clarity is the foundational habit of high performers. And he broke this habit down into three key areas.

The first is self awareness. So this is all about knowing yourself, your identity, your values and your beliefs, as well as a strong sense of self and understanding of what drives you, and a clear vision of who you want to become in the future.

The second area is goal clarity. So he says that high performers set clear and challenging goals and they know what they want to achieve and why it matters to them.

And the third and final part is social clarity. So high performers communicate their expectations clearly to others, whether in personal or professional relationships. And this clarity helps to build trust and effective collaboration.

So after reading the book, I knew that I was kind of stuck in the first area of clarity.

And Brendan offered some ideas to help you develop clarity for yourself, including daily reflection. So spending time each day reflecting on your goals, your values and progress.

This practice helps to reinforce your sense of purpose and keep you on track. Journaling is also another one, so writing down your thoughts and plans can provide a clearer perspective on your priorities and actions.

Visualisation. So regularly visualising your future self and the achievement of your goals. This helps in maintaining motivation and focus.

And finally, questioning. So continually asking yourself, clarifying questions like, what do I want? Why is this important? And how would I achieve it?

So, looking back now, the biggest takeaway that I took from the book was that my own personal clarity was the first thing that I needed to make a real change in my life. And most importantly, I had to work at creating this clarity for myself.

And I started this process by questioning myself, what do I want from life, what actually makes me happy, what will make me happy, and what's important to me.

So if you've followed me for a while now, you've probably heard me talk about the importance of having a life vision. So when I start working with consultants, getting new clients and increasing revenue are obvious goals to work towards.

But there's a lot more to it than that. And to truly help the clients I work with, it's really important for me to know what their life vision is. And in order to create your life vision clarity is key.

It's exactly the same when it comes to your marketing. So I always say marketing can only generate results when you know what results you want it to generate.

A lot of clients I speak to say that they want to work with SME's with 20 to 50 employees and this is a great starting point.

But in order for your marketing to work, you need to be a lot more clear with what and how you're going to get there. So I love the high performance habits book for this reason. It taught me the importance of creating clarity first, and that clarity doesn't just happen, it's something you need to work hard at to create for yourself.

So if you feel like you're bumbling along at the moment, but you want to achieve something, then start by giving yourself clarity first.