Are You Ensuring Clarity and Consistency in Your Messaging?
I’ve seen a lot of companies that are unable to capture their audience’s attention due to confusing messaging. Oftentimes, these companies have something in common: They’re not incorporating storytelling into their business.
Using storytelling in business can help increase revenue by ensuring your business’s messaging is crystal-clear and primed to convert your audience into paying customers. I’m going to teach you how to do just that.
You may be wondering…
How exactly does the Go Narrative approach help solve these “muddled messaging” problems?
What does storytelling have to do with it?
Why should I even care about storytelling?
Storytelling is the foundation of all human communication and shapes how we view the world. It’s a vital tool that businesses should use to build a connection with their customers – and as we'll discuss momentarily, it's your customers who matter most in your brand's stories.
Our approach simplifies storytelling in business. It allows businesses to see their story from all sides and apply that “outside-in,” all-angles thinking to every piece of communication they craft, both internally and externally.
Why creating consistent clarity matters
Consistent messaging makes it easier to send “traffic” to the places you want with less confusion. Conversely, if you send a vague or muddled message, your audience will stop listening to you. You’ll have to work harder and spend more money to get their attention back.
Because there is so much noise and competition out there, it can often be difficult for a company to find its voice and effectively get its message across to its audience. Consumers are constantly bombarded with communications from businesses, making it tough for people to hear what a company has to say.
At the moment, you may find it difficult to write clear, compelling stories. You may not have the skills or confidence you need, but that doesn't mean you can't get better with practice – and the right tools and storytelling frameworks to help.
In previous blogs, I’ve discussed the Go Narrative 3D Story™ framework, which helps you create clear and concise messaging for stories that stand out. By using easy-to-understand, emotion-driven language that speaks right to your customer’s experiences, you can ensure your business's message will resonate with the right people, at the right time.
Once you understand this framework and the idea of storytelling for business, you'll be able to produce clear, consistent messaging every single time.
Go Narrative's 3D Story™ Framework
Story is at the core of everything we do here at Go Narrative. We like to tell our clients that every story needs a protagonist – and in business communications, that’s usually your ideal customer.
Once a character is identified, a story begins to emerge about that character getting something they want, and the trials and tribulations they endured to get there.
The 3D Story™ framework allows you to identify each of these elements and apply them to your business communications. If you’re unfamiliar with our model, the three “Ds” are:
Desire
Difficulty
Denouement
Most of our clients are excited to talk about what they do, and that’s perfectly natural and understandable – they’re doing awesome things! However, it’s important to take a step back and realize your story is not about you; it’s about your customer and their journey.
This is why our 3D Story™ Framework leads with "desire" — the desire of your audience. Then there’s the "difficulty" they encountered getting to that better place. And even within the "denouement" itself, you and your product should be a footnote in the larger story of your customer’s transformation and improvement.
Desire
The first “D” in the framework is Desire. To discover your character's Desire, ponder questions like:
Do they have a sense of purpose they are pursuing?
Do they have pain or issue they are seeking to resolve?
Do they have a mid to long-term objective?
Are they reacting to a government policy or regulatory need?
Did something happen to them and now they need to act?
Is something impacting their reputation that must be dealt with?
Your character should be able to achieve their desire, at least in part, by using your product or service.
Next, let’s look at the second "D," Difficulty.
Difficulty
While it would be nice if we always got what we wanted, life doesn't usually work that way. Instead, there are trials and tribulations, conflict, and hardship that each of us experiences.
In stories, we are compelled by conflict because we are naturally interested in things that go wrong and how people overcome them. A clearly defined and relatable challenge to achieving one’s Desire can help your customer see themselves in the story you tell.
Some things to consider as you seek to identify your hero’s key Difficulty:
Is something blocking them from getting to their desire?
What roadblocks are on the journey to get to their desire?
Is there a specific villain, person, or company that is in the way?
Are there other things they need to resolve as a part of their "whole solution?"
What internal blockers are standing in the way? (e.g., lack of skills, talent, or ability)
What external factors are at play to slow them or stop them?
Remember, "difficulty" is everywhere. If you take the time to understand what your customer is struggling with, you’ll unlock a critical part of the story you want to tell. Focus on understanding what people want and what is preventing them from getting it. Our frameworks can help you come up with an effective, new way to communicate that will be heard, by detecting the difficulty and catering the messaging to that.
Denouement
Storytelling is a great way to communicate information about a product or service, but you need to make sure it has the right elements.
For the third “D,” I chose the word "Denouement" for a few reasons — the primary reason being that it means "the untangling of the knot" in French. I think that is a great metaphor for this point, as it focuses on how the knot was untangled, what was untangled, what approach was used, and how the transformation was realized.
But a good story includes much more than a nice resolution. It also teaches us a lesson; it leaves us with something we can store in our memory banks and recall in the future.
Consider these questions when bringing your Denouement to life:
How did your hero approach overcoming the challenges?
What results were they able to achieve and celebrate?
How did they change or transform? (hopefully for the better!)
What third-party components did they use, in addition to your product?
What did they learn on the journey?
How did your product or service help?
As you craft your Denouement, consider how you can position your product or service as a part of your customer’s solution to their Difficulty and help them obtain their desired state. Prove that you can help them resolve any conflicts they may have.
Applying the 3D Story™ Framework to strengthen your message
Clear, effective messaging is important, especially when it comes to marketing your business. You can achieve this and build customer trust through storytelling. People are more likely to listen to, and be more interested in, information about a product or service if it is shared in the form of a story, rather than presenting the audience with just boring facts or product specs.
Incorporating storytelling into your marketing is a great way to communicate information about your product or service, and Go Narrative’s 3D Story™ framework can help guide you. By understanding and incorporating the three simple points we looked at, you can efficiently get your campaign messaging running on all cylinders!
Don't hesitate to contact us if you'd like to learn more about how Go Narrative can help your business take off with storytelling. We're happy to share case studies with you on how we've helped clients tell effective stories and use them in their marketing strategies.
Are you ready to apply the 3D Story™ Framework to your business’s messaging? Book a complimentary consultation with Go Narrative to learn more about our storytelling tools and how they can benefit your business.