Marketing budgets eat up an enormous amount of company money. We all know that.
What is another thing we should all do well to remember? Websites don’t sell things. Words do.
When brands attack a marketing strategy, they often fail to see the one main underlying factor that is going to give the campaign the drive it needs to succeed: the story.
What’s behind the story? The words used to tell it.
All great stories are rooted in survival. How to survive. How to thrive. Over time, it was the sharing of success stories that ultimately kept humans alive. (Eat this, not that. Do this, not that.) We’re all hard-wired for stories; it’s in our DNA. When your company is working on branding your products and materials, the inherent message shouldn’t be rocket science. Instead, it should be rooted in narrative.
Having a story at the true center of your marketing strategy is the secret weapon that will continue to grow your business.
Ensure your strategy introduces and addresses these three crucial questions:
- What does the hero want?
- Who or what is opposing the hero getting what she wants?
- What will the hero’s life look like if she does (or does not) get what she wants?
As your marketing department connects back with the essential elements and foundations of stories (character identities, the problem the character is trying to solve, the guide, the plan, a call to action, how to avoid failure, and an end to the story rooted in success), your marketing campaigns will take on lives of their own.
Instinctively, consumers and potential customers will relate to the story that is being shared on a subconscious level. As these individuals connect with your story on a deeper plane, they will feel drawn to the products and services your company is trying to provide.
Let the ancient form of story be the key to your company’s survival in this modern day and age.
This post was inspired by the ideas in our Executive Summary of the book, Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller.