77. The Customer is The Hero

For decades entrepreneurs and business owners have positioned themselves at the center of their marketing efforts. By focusing solely on the company’s achievements and sharing stories about their experience and industry expertise they lose the attention of their prospective customers.

On this episode of the High-Performance Marketing podcast, I’ll guide you through a discussion on how to use the core concept idea of the Story Brand 7-part framework, to move away from the "about us" concept and instead position your customer as the center focus and hero of your marketing message so you get them to listen and do business with you.

Transcript

Welcome to The High Performance Marketing Podcast, a show focused on helping entrepreneurs and small business owners connect with their ideal customers using simple marketing and quality content. I'm your Marketing Guide, Ali Garbero.

I review the websites of potential customers every week. And probably the most common theme, the central focus of each website I visit - almost always heavily focuses on this “about us” concept. The words on the page are about the business itself, its leadership, its services, the company’s expertise and knowledge of their industry. 

And that’s because for decades, brands have positioned themselves at the center of their marketing efforts focusing solely on the company’s achievements and features. 

If your website looks and sounds the same, I’m here to let you know, it’s costing you customers. 

On today’s episode of the Podcast, I’ll talk you through how to use the core concept idea of the Story Brand 7 part framework, to move away from the about us concept and instead position your customer as the center focus and hero of your marketing message so you get them to listen, take action and do business with you. 

First, let’s start with a challenge. The human brain is pretty busy. It’s trying to do two things and that's to survive and thrive. Any information that falls outside of those two things, will turn into noise and you’ll soon find yourself daydreaming.

For example, if Tony Horton’s P90x infomercials had gone on and on about how his DVD’s were made from carbon polyurethane - or some crazy material, and how they pair up really well with an infrared DVD player - well we’d all have tuned out. What Tony said was - you want ripped muscles (I E - to thrive with a sexy body) then P90x is going to get you those results.

Often, entrepreneurs and business owners want their websites to have paragraphs and paragraphs of long drawn out information because they want their customers to know everything about their company - but again that’s problematic, because all your customers really want, is for you to tell them how your real estate services will make them millionaires, or how your financial planning services will help them retire early.

So this is where story comes in. Story helps the brain make sense of things, and story writing and storytelling involves key elements that turn stories into things we remember and that impact and influence us. 

The first of which is that every great story begins with a protagonist or main character who wants something. What did Daniel want in the Karate Kid? He wanted to know how to defend himself against the Cobra Kai and gain their respect.

Another example: In a movie I recently watched “You before me” which if you haven’t watched it - after listening to this podcast - head over and watch the movie. I absolutely loved it - in this movie - the main character Lou - wants a job so she can help her family financially. 

So there’s always something the character wants, but the next part of story telling includes the obstacle that’s standing in the way of what they want.

In the karate kid, Daniel’s obstacle is getting bullied and it’s hard for him to defend himself. In you before me, Lou can’t seem to find a job she’s suited for. 

The main character of every story begins their journey in one spot and transforms throughout the story into a hero of some kind. Daniel learns karate, and beats the Cobra Kai in the tournament. In me before you, Lou not only gets a job, she wins the heart of her employer.

Now how does this apply to your business? You’ve got to make your customer the hero of the story of your business. 

You’ve got to know what problems they’re up against so you can show them how you help them overcome them.

Tony Horton wasn’t saying - hey everyone I’ve been a trainer for 20 years, look at my muscles, I can do 100 push ups a day. He said, you want great muscles, but you’re busy, you don’t have time to go to the gym and don’t have a lot of room in your house for gym equipment. I’ve got a solution - buy my DVD’s and you too can have a beach body.

Unfortunately, the majority of websites, and other business marketing makes you, the business The Hero.

Imagine flipping the script and placing the customer in the spotlight as the hero of your brand’s story. By doing so, you shift the focus to their needs, desires, and challenges. This narrative approach humanizes your brand and establishes an emotional connection that goes beyond transactional interactions. When customers see themselves as the central figure in your brand's story, they become more invested and engaged.

And that’s because in marketing we have just a few seconds to capture the attention of our ideal audience and if all we talk about is how awesome we are and fail to lean into how we can help our clients survive and thrive in their environment then nothing we’re saying really matters.

So great, now you know you need to make your customer the hero - but how do you do that? 

Well, remember in the Karate Kid, Daniel meets Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi enters the scene not as a previous karate hero, but as the guide capable of helping solve Daniels’ problem. This is where you come in. In all of your marketing, your business should show up as the guide. The company positioned and capable to solve your customer’s problems in overcoming unwanted obstacles.

Ok so how do you position yourself as the guide, by acknowledging you understand the pain points that your potential customers are up against and that you have solutions.

If you’re a real estate agent, you know that right now interest rates are savage. How can anyone feel like they’ll ever be able to own a home or upgrade to a new one with 7.25 interest rates? If you sell cybersecurity, how do your services help keep hackers from infiltrating critical data. If you’re a pharmacy owner, how does your independent small pharmacy offer a customized and personalized approach compared to a cold, unknown big retailer.

Take some time to write out the problems or obstacles that are preventing your customers from achieving what they desire most. Because when you agitate someone’s problem, it’s easier for you to position yourself as the must have solution.

This is where I want to lean into customer research a bit. I truly believe something we can never do too much of, is to sit in the shoes of our prospective customers. A great way to do that is to conduct legit effective customer research. 

Use a variety of research methods like:

Google, Quora, facebook groups, interviews, surveys, focus groups, social media listening, monitor facebook ads - see what ads your competitors are running, what problems are they professing to solve? 

Look at the analytics of your email or website marketing to learn how customers engage with you across various touch points. 

I understand that this requires some work on your part but these techniques are powerful ways to help you collect direct insights about your customers, so you can uncover their preferences, pain points, and aspirations. 

Next, Showcase the Transformation:

Help your customers understand and see how your services empower them to overcome challenges and achieve their goals. Use real-life success stories, testimonials, and case studies to demonstrate the transformation your brand facilitates. Coming back to Tony Horton, he showed us clips of his videos, where people were getting fit using minimal equipment in very little space.

If you’re a loan officer, show how you helped a new homeowner afford a home even in an environment of 7.25 interest rates. Some examples I use are the emails I’ve written for clients that have generated thousands in sales or helped land them as a guest on their dream podcast. In a world where people think email marketing is dead, these kinds of stories help potential customers see that one email can make all the difference in transforming their business.

In the dynamic landscape of business, where entrepreneurs and small businesses constantly strive to stand out and create a lasting impression, the fundamental shift in perspective that the Customer is the hero will become a key to your marketing success.

Remember, Story always has a character who wants something but that character encounters a problem and that problem is keeping the character from getting what they want. At the peak of their despair, a GUIDE steps into their lives, that helps them avoid failure so they achieve their desired success. 

By casting aside the old traditional notion that your business is the protagonist of your marketing -  and embracing a new narrative: the customer as the hero you will sound like no one else, your customers will pay attention and best of all they’re hire you and do business with you.

Thanks for joining me today. If you’d like to implement The Customer Is The Hero marketing into your business, schedule a call with me at WriteBrandMarketing.com 

I’m Ali Garbero, Copywriting is what I do, Content Marketing is what I create, more customers is what you get.