Storybrand principle 3: The Guide

This video, is the third in a 7 part series, explaining each part of the Storybrand framework. If you’ve poured your heart into your product or service, but people don’t respond when you tell them about it, the chances are, your messaging is too complicated.

And the most powerful weapon we have to combat confusion is the power of story. Nothing compels the human brain to pay attention, like a great story and the Storybrand framework has been designed to make messaging easy for business owners.

The third part of the framework is “The Guide”

Once we have defined our customers' problem, they may be feeling a little helpless and for centuries, storytellers have introduced another character at this point, to help the hero find their way. We call this character, the Guide. Brands that position themselves as the hero tend to talk about their history, their story, how great their product or service is… but your customers will tune you out if you do this. Watch this video to learn how to position your business as the guide.

Video Transcript:

This video is the third in a 7-part series, explaining each part of the Storybrand Framework. If you've poured your heart into your product or service, but people don't respond when you tell them about it through your marketing, the chances are your messaging is too complicated. And the most powerful weapon we have to combat that confusion is the power of story. Nothing compels the human brain to pay attention like a great story. And the Storybrand Framework has been designed to make messaging easy for business owners. The third part of the Storybrand Framework is The Guide. Once we defined our customer's problem, they might be feeling a little helpless. And for centuries, storytellers have introduced another character at this point to help the hero find their way. We call this character within the framework, The Guide. In the Hunger Games, Haymitch plays the guide to Katniss. In Star Wars, Yoda and Obi Wan play the guide to Luke Skywalker. And in the King's Speech, Lionel Logue plays the guide to a desperate King George. For this reason, we recommend that your brand plays the guide and not the hero. Brands that position themselves as the hero often inadvertently tend to talk about their history, their story, how great their product or service is. When your customer hears this through your marketing or your sales conversations, their subconscious thought pattern goes something like this: "Oh, this is another hero just like me. I wish I had more time to listen to their story, but right now I'm looking for a guide to help me win the day, to help me solve a problem or to help me make my life better." Now, there are two mental triggers that will help your customers recognise you as their guide. The first one is empathy. You must empathise with their external, internal and philosophical problems. See video 2 on problems for more on this. Include empathetic statements in your messaging, show that you recognise their pain and their frustration, their hopes, fears, and dreams. The second mental trigger is authority. You need to demonstrate that you are the expert, that you have the right to win their business. Now, you can do this through the use of testimonials, awards, certifications, case studies, all of these things. awards, certifications, case studies, all of these things. Once you've nailed this, move on to video 4 in the series where we tackle the fourth Storybrand principle: The Plan. If you found this video valuable, subscribe to our YouTube channel, so you can refer back to it, and catch all of our new videos as they're published.