PDF Summary:Building a Storybrand, by Donald Miller

Most marketing falls flat because marketers don’t understand how customers consume information. In Building a StoryBrand, marketing expert Donald Miller reveals how to turn your brand messaging into a story: a format so compelling that customers won’t be able to look away.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to attract customers by weaving them into a compelling narrative: casting them as the protagonist, presenting them with a problem, and showing how your brand can help them overcome their problems and reach a happy ending. Along the way, we’ll connect Miller’s ideas to the ideas of other marketing specialists, like Daniel Pink (To Sell Is Human) and Seth Godin (All Marketers Are Liars), and illustrate his concepts using real-world examples. We’ll also supplement Miller’s advice with additional marketing guidance that will allow your brand to reach its own happy ending of success.

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(Shortform note: Even outside of stories, humans love having mentors who do the same things Miller’s story mentors do in Part 3. Mentors greatly increase the chances of the mentee’s success by contributing valuable knowledge and experience that could take the mentee years to acquire on their own. What’s more, they can use their connections to grow the mentee’s network or simply boost their confidence.)

Before a brand-mentor can help a customer, it must earn the customer’s trust: Trust encourages a customer to further engage with the brand, writes Miller. Your brand can earn this trust by displaying two qualities:

Mentor Quality #1: Compassion

Be compassionate by showing that you understand your customer’s problem—and even that you have the same problem, writes Miller. Then, communicate to them that you want to help. This compassion encourages trust in your brand.

(Shortform note: To effectively position themselves as a compassionate mentor, brands need to put in the work necessary to understand their customers. For example, delivery service Postmates’ 2018 campaign in Los Angeles began with thorough market research. Postmates learned as much as possible about its customers and where they lived by tracking ordering trends across LA’s neighborhoods over time. Then, the company created a campaign featuring specific problems Los Angelenos faced—like wanting an açai bowl but not knowing how to pronounce it—followed by the words “we get it,” showing compassion by implying Postmates understood the customer and would fetch the product for them.)

Mentor Quality #2: Competence

Demonstrate your brand’s competence as a mentor by showing that you’ve mentored others before, asserts Miller. When customers sense you have a strong track record, they trust you. One way Miller recommends establishing competence is by displaying customer testimonials in your marketing materials.

(Shortform note: Miller recommends establishing competence using testimonials. But do testimonials convince customers of a brand’s competence and generate trust? It seems so: They can generate a 62% increase in revenue from every customer, every time they buy from you.)

Part #4: The Brand-Mentor Presents the Customer-Protagonist With a Plan

Once you’ve positioned yourself as your customer’s mentor, present them with a step-by-step plan to overcome their problem—in this case, the plan to purchase and implement your product or service, counsels Miller. Customers are always looking for reasons not to take the risk of making a purchase, and confusion and fear are two common reasons. A plan eliminates confusion and fear, clearing the way for your customer to make the purchase.

(Shortform note: A step-by-step plan may reduce confusion and ambiguity for salespeople as well as customers. Mike Weinberg, author of New Sales. Simplified, argues that in face-to-face sales calls, salespeople must come prepared with a plan, rather than improvising. This avoids losing the customer’s attention on confusing or irrelevant side-points and keeps the salesperson in control. Weinberg outlines eight specific stages of a good sales call, starting with building a relationship with the customer and ending with setting up next steps.)

You can create two types of plans for customers:

Plan Type #1: The Instructional Plan

According to Miller, instructional plans walk customers through the concrete steps to either purchase your product, implement it after the purchase, or a blend of both. The aim of an instructional plan is to eradicate customer confusion about how to purchase or use your product. Miller advises including three to six steps in your instructional plan and communicating it to customers in your marketing material.

If you sell meal kits, for instance, your instructional plan might be: “Step 1: Log into our website and customize your meal kit. Step 2: Receive and unpackage your meal kit. Step 3: Cook delicious meals for your family.”

(Shortform note: The key values of simplicity and clarity, which Miller emphasizes in the instructional plan, appear again and again in other advice on marketing. The more you can eliminate ambiguity and complexity around your product in the mind of the customer, the greater your chances of making a sale. You might consider adding clarity and simplicity to your business by paring down your product selection, pricing, or features or by simplifying store or website layouts to facilitate buying.)

Plan Type #2: The Promise Plan

The promise plan lists the promises you make to your customer about how you’ll do business with them, writes Miller. This plan makes purchasing from you less risky and scary in the customer’s eyes. An example of a promise plan for your meal kit company might be: “You’ll only receive food that’s locally sourced. You’ll be able to responsibly recycle our packaging. If you’re not satisfied with our product, we guarantee your money back.”

(Shortform note: Miller writes that a promise plan explains how you’ll do good business with the customer. Such plans are usually easier to create for products than for services because you often can’t redo a service in the same way you can repair a product. Nonetheless, service-centered companies can get creative when thinking of ways to guarantee customer satisfaction. For example, you could provide a voucher for free future services, refund money, or pay for services from another company. An advantage of a strong promise plan is that you can charge more for your services upfront because removing customers’ risks reduces their fear, making them willing to pay more.)

Part 5: The Brand-Mentor Calls the Customer-Protagonist to Action

Now that you’ve outlined how your customer can solve their problem with your product, call them to action to buy, instructs Miller. It won’t be clear to the customer what you want them to do—buy your product or service—if you don’t explicitly and repeatedly tell them.

(Shortform note: Not only do customers need calls to action to buy, as Miller claims, but they also expect them. This is because customer expectations are shaped by past experiences and beliefs, known as perceptual sets. Because most consumers have visited websites with calls to action before, they have a perceptual set that tells them the next website they visit should have a call to action describing what to do.)

Don’t fear appearing insistent or too bold in your marketing materials, presses Miller. Repetition and boldness are signs of confidence in your product. Customers usually opt for the brand that’s clear about what they want the customer to do.

(Shortform note: While Miller insists that repetition and boldness signal confidence in your product, others advocate for a more self-deprecating approach to marketing: making fun of themselves or their product. This is because being self-deprecating shows customers you’re authentic and honest, two appealing brand traits.)

According to Miller, marketers should implement two types of calls to action: calls to buy and calls to engage. Let’s look at each:

Call to Action #1: A Call to Buy

A call to buy leads to a purchase or is the first step toward a purchase, writes Miller. These are unambiguous, direct calls, like “Buy Now!,” “Schedule a Consultation,” or “Apply Now.” Miller stresses that you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for the business you want from your customer.

When creating a call to buy on your website or marketing materials, draw attention to it by:

• Placing the “Buy Now!” or similar button in the top right corner of your website at all times
• Using a different color, font, or size for your call to buy button
• Incorporating the call to buy into every piece of marketing material

(Shortform note: While Miller’s strategies might be a good starting point to draw attention to your call to buy, they won’t be effective at generating purchases if the call to buy itself is weak. Other marketers argue there are additional, more specific rules dictating how to create the ideal call to buy. One piece of advice is to start the call with a strong, specific imperative verb, like “subscribe,” “learn,” or “buy.” Also, create a sense of urgency by using time-specific words and phrases like “now” or “before it’s too late.” Wherever possible, induce an emotional reaction. Do this by simply adding an exclamation mark to the end of the call or by referencing a positive outcome of taking action: saving money, for example. Finally, if possible, tailor your calls to action by device. On your mobile site, which customers access on their phones, ask them to “call to get started,” for example.)

Call to Action #2: A Call to Engage

A call to engage offers your customer helpful information that presents you as a competent mentor, writes Miller. A call to engage doesn’t directly funnel your customer toward a sale. Rather, it positions you as a worthy brand in their mind so they’ll think of you when they do need your product. An example of a call to engage might be an educational PDF or video series, a sample of your product, or a test run.

(Shortform note: Gary Vaynerchuk discusses the concept of the call to engage in detail in Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. In the book’s titular boxing metaphor, calls to engage are “jabs” and calls to buy are “right hooks.” Vaynerchuk believes that before you present the call to buy, you must first establish a relationship of trust with the customer using calls to engage. He adds that calls to engage work best when they’re funny, raise questions, or entertain. Unlike Miller, Vaynerchuk writes exclusively in the social media world, meaning that for him, calls to engage are always social media posts. For Miller, calls to engage can be a number of differing offerings.)

Part 6: The Negative Stakes of Not Taking Action

Once you’ve called your customer to action, tell them what’s at stake if they don’t act, advises Miller. Without a sense of negative consequence from not buying your product or service, the customer won’t feel compelled to buy. For instance, you can tell customers that your chiropractic services will improve their posture, but unless you also tell them that bad posture can lead to back problems, they likely won’t feel enough of an urge to engage your services.

(Shortform note: You can use comparative advertising to point out a negative consequence of not buying from you—in other words, compare your brand to lesser competitor brands the customer should avoid. In this context, the other, inferior brand is the negative consequence for the customer to avoid. For this marketing tactic to be ethical, ensure your claim is objective (“market-leading” is considered an objective claim, while “best” is not). Also, be sure you’re comparing to brands that offer products with the same purpose so the comparison is fair. Finally, ensure any claims you make are verifiable by indicating what information you’ve based the claim on and where the customer can find that information.)

Miller adds that it’s important to elicit only a moderate amount of anxiety about the negative stakes for your customer. If you overplay the negative stakes (”You’ll damage your back irreparably without my services!”) you’ll repulse your customers, but if you underplay the negative stakes (“There’s a small chance your back might hurt occasionally without my services”) you won’t create enough of an urge to buy.

(Shortform note: Miller claims that a moderate amount of fear motivates consumers to act while an excessive amount of fear turns them off from buying. This principle arguably applies outside of a marketing context, too: Humans seem to function best under moderate, not extreme, conditions. This also applies to the level of stress in our lives. Moderate stress can bolster focus and motivation, while too much stress kills motivation and creates a feeling of overwhelm. Likewise, without any stress at all, we may not feel motivated enough to do anything.)

Part 7: The Happy Ending of Following the Plan

In this most important part, show the specific, simple, positive outcome—or happy ending—of buying your product, writes Miller. Your customer won’t understand how your product will improve their life unless you show them. Miller advises being specific and simple because it’s hard for customers to desire a vague, complex positive outcome.

For example, to advertise your bone-strengthening supplement, don’t write “these supplements will improve your life,” (vague) but rather: “supplements to make you feel 10 years younger” (specific). Further, don’t explain how having stronger bones will reduce customers’ health insurance premiums (complex). Instead, show people moving easily and enjoying life (simple).

(Shortform note: In The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau not only advocates showing your customer the positive outcome of buying your product but also advises focusing on the experience of the positive outcome, rather than the specific attributes of it that are less emotionally resonant. For instance, this means you should present the happy ending of purchasing bone supplements as the experience of being active and free and not as the specific attributes of having better hip mobility.)

The Transformation: How Do You Help Your Customer Change for the Better?

We’ve just walked through all seven parts of the marketing outline, but there’s one remaining, overarching part of the story for you to think about, writes Miller: your customer’s transformation.

The strongest motivator of human action and behavior is the desire to transform into someone better, explains Miller. If you position yourself as an enabler of your customer’s transformation, you become more than simply a brand: You become a way of life.

(Shortform note: Miller claims that all humans are inherently interested in improving themselves. Yet studies show that different generations have differing levels of commitment to bettering themselves. Millennials are more interested than previous generations in self-improvement, possibly because all their basic needs have generally always been met, leaving plenty of time to think about more complex concerns. Another reason may be that millennials’ expectations of themselves are higher than those of previous generations, as research seems to indicate.)

To understand what your customers want to transform into, identify their aspirational identity, suggests Miller. This is how your customers would like to see themselves. For instance, if you offer exercise boot camps, your customers’ aspirational identity is someone fit and rugged.

(Shortform note: To discover what your customers’ aspirational identity is, you might consider interviewing them. If you do speak face to face to customers or potential customers, be sure to pay attention to silences and omissions as much as to what they do say, recommend Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles in Raving Fans. These are often more telling of what customers really want or mean.)

Once you know what your customer wants to become and they’ve joined your story by purchasing your product, tell them when they’ve achieved their desired transformation, writes Miller. For example, mark your customer’s transformation into a fit, rugged person after a certain number of months by offering them a reward, like a free class or a social media shout-out.

(Shortform note: In The $100 Startup, Chris Guillebeau describes the importance of customer transformation in the context of product creation, not marketing. He recommends designing your product so that customers feel superior after using it. In the same way that marketers should reflect on how to explain how products transform people, product designers should reflect on how to make products that transform people.)

Implement Your Storyline

Now that you have a storyline, transfer the ideas and content in that storyline to your marketing materials, writes Miller. The more you implement your storyline in your marketing, the more customers will sign up to star in your story.

Miller recommends implementing your storyline in six ways:

Implementation #1: Overhaul Your Website

Your website, a key piece of your marketing, should include only the minimum amount of information to convince customers you have the solution they’re looking for and are trustworthy, asserts Miller. What’s more, ensure every image, idea, and word on your website is inspired by your storyline, and eliminate anything that’s not.

Improving Your Website’s User Experience

Even if you implement Miller’s advice for overhauling your website, your site may fall flat and your customers may not trust you unless you implement the basic tenets of user experience: in other words, making your website frictionless and easy to navigate. Here are some tips for improving user experience and creating an easy-to-browse website that inspires trust in your customers:

• Make your navigation easy to use. When customers easily understand how to move around on your site, you eliminate confusion and build trust. Do this by using a maximum of seven main menu buttons.

• Double-check your site for errors. Errors, like dead links, images that won’t load, and typos, reduce customer trust.

• Reduce the number of choices the customer must make. When customers face too many options on a page, they become confused and are likely to leave.

• Encourage customers to scroll down. When customers scroll, they become more invested in your site and product, and this makes them more likely to buy. To encourage scrolling, make sure the information above the fold—what you see before you scroll—is engaging enough to encourage deeper interest.

Implementation #2: Write a Brand Logline

Miller also recommends writing a brand logline: a short, repeatable phrase or sentence that answers the question: “What does your company do?” When writing your logline, use the following elements from your storyline: the customer-protagonist, the problem, the plan, and the happy ending.

For example, if you sell a line of herbal teas your brand logline might be: “Find serenity in your hectic workday with our customizable, pre-packaged tea blends.” The customer here is a busy office worker, the problem is the hectic workday, the plan is to use easy, hassle-free pre-packaged blends, and the happy ending is finding serenity.

(Shortform note: Other marketing specialists have devised alternative ways to succinctly describe your business to others. In To Sell Is Human, Daniel H. Pink outlines four different pitches that vary in length. These are more situation-specific than Miller’s logline, which he advises using across all marketing platforms. Pink’s recommended pitches are: the single-word pitch (which simplifies your message to its absolute core), the question pitch (phrased as a question to the customer, which inspires connection), the email subject-line pitch (which makes the recipient curious enough to open an email), and the longest: the Twitter pitch (which inspires a base of followers to act).)

Implementation #3: Start an Automated Email Campaign

Implement a four-email, prewritten, automated campaign that begins when an email address is added to your email list, advises Miller. The first three emails should simply be calls to engage. The fourth email should contain a call to buy. Repeat this sequence every month. The goal of the email campaign is simply to get your brand into customers’ consciousness, assures Miller. That way, when they do need a product or service, they’ll think of you first.

(Shortform note: Miller alludes to the fact that most marketing emails go unopened (which is why your only goal with an email campaign should be to get your customer to see your brand name). Indeed, in most industries, email open rates hover around 20%. That said, unsubscribe rates are also low, usually around 0.20%. This supports Miller’s claim that email is a good way to at least get your brand name out there because while few customers will read the email, most of them will stay subscribed and continue to see your brand name in their inboxes.)

Structure emails around the customer’s problem, counsels Miller: Describe the problem, how you’ll solve it, and how much better life will be once it’s solved.

(Shortform note: We’re beginning to see that even in the small pieces of your marketing, Miller believes you should continue telling truncated versions of the storyline. His recommendation for structuring your email is, in essence, a condensed version of the storyline. It’s worth bearing this in mind as you explore different forms of marketing, like social media marketing: Implement your storyline everywhere.)

Implementation #4: Showcase Testimonials of Transformation

Solicit and share customer testimonials that describe how your product transformed their life for the better, recommends Miller. As we’ve already explored, people are most motivated by the desire to transform and will want the same transformational experience you’ve provided others. Just asking customers for testimonials won’t give you the stories of transformation you want, though, warns Miller. Instead, ask pointed questions that prompt the reader to describe or allude to a transformation: for instance, “how has our product changed your day-to-day life?”

How Much Can Brands Shape Testimonials?

Miller suggests you ask customers targeted questions to solicit the information needed to create a compelling story of customer transformation. While this is a far cry from outright lying or inventing a customer testimonial, it nonetheless begs the question: How do potential customers know that a testimonial is objective, rather than unduly influenced or even created by the company requesting it?

Fortunately, in the US there are legal safeguards that ensure customer testimonials are based on a real person’s experience. Fake testimonials are illegal because they confer an unfair advantage over competitors and mislead customers. Additionally, in most cases, paid testimonials are also illegal, unless the testimonial clearly states that the customer is being paid but that their contribution is nonetheless truthful.

Implementation #5: Build a Rewarding Referral System

Finally, implement a referral system that enables happy customers to recommend your product to others and rewards them for it, advises Miller. The easiest way to do this is to send an automated email to customers who’ve made one to two purchases containing a video or resource they can pass to friends. If they refer a new customer, offer existing customers a reward, such as a commission, a gift, or membership in an affiliate program.

(Shortform note: Marketing specialists extol the virtues of referrals because they have the highest return on investment compared to other marketing tactics and generate leads who already have a strong level of interest in your product. However, specialists advise companies to ask for referrals early in the customer relationship, when the customer is still impressed with your product. Wait too long, and they lose the excitement that would cause them to refer you to a friend. Miller’s recommendation to present an opportunity to refer another customer after only one or two purchases is likely early enough.)