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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
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Building a StoryBrand summary
Donald Miller
Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
22 mins
Brief summary
Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller is a practical guide to help entrepreneurs and marketers clarify their message and create compelling stories that engage customers and drive business growth.
Table of Contents
Building a StoryBrand
Summary of 9 key ideas
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Key idea 1 of 9
Your marketing message needs to be clear and speak to your customer’s needs.
If you had to come up with an easy way to increase sales, you might think, “Bingo! New website!”
But a new website, no matter how fancy and tricked out, won’t do the job if you don’t use language effectively.
So how can you harness the power of prose? Well, you’ll need to construct a clear message, one that presents your brand with no room for confusion. This message should communicate three things: Who you are. What you’re here to do. And why a customer should choose you instead of someone else.
If your message is a muddle, potential customers will struggle to decipher what you’re offering and quickly take their business elsewhere.
Let’s say you have a house-painting business, and a customer looking to add a new coat to his house visits your website. You could be the Michelangelo of housepainters, with the sleekest site ever, but none of that will matter if your website doesn’t clearly state that you paint houses.
When creating the perfect message, the best things to consider are the survival-related needs of your customers. How will your product or service help them survive and flourish?
To get you in the right frame of mind, let’s turn to psychologist Abraham Maslow. He devised a hierarchy of human needs, arranging them according to their importance to our survival.
First, come food and drink, and then safety and shelter. Third on the list is our need for companionship: we need both friends and people with whom to reproduce. Finally, we look to satisfy greater needs. These include everything from psychology to spirituality.
These needs can be leveraged to hone your message and entice customers. Most of us want to be accepted and find a partner and belong to a tribe, and everyone has to eat and drink – so use that knowledge to explain how your product will help customers satisfy those needs and thrive in life.
So, to take the housepainter example: focus your message on helping customers have their friends over more often – which speaks to their survival-related need for being part of a tribe. If your house looks rundown, people will be reluctant to visit you!
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What is Building a StoryBrand about?
Building a StoryBrand (2017) is a practical guide to effectively marketing your company or product. By showing the power of a seven-part story-telling framework, these blinks help you and your company create a clear message that no customer will ignore.
Building a StoryBrand Review
Building a StoryBrand (2017) by Donald Miller is a book that helps businesses clarify their message and connect with customers in a powerful way. Here's why this book is worth reading:
- It offers a step-by-step framework to create a compelling brand story that resonates with customers and drives results.
- Through real-world examples and practical exercises, it provides actionable advice to help businesses communicate their value effectively.
- The book's emphasis on simplicity and clarity makes it engaging and ensures that readers stay hooked, making it the opposite of boring.
Best quote from Building a StoryBrand
The more simple and predictable the communication, the easier it is for the brain to digest.
—Donald Miller
Who should read Building a StoryBrand?
- Marketing people
- Storytellers
- Leaders and executives
Categories with Building a StoryBrand
Book summaries like Building a StoryBrand
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Building a StoryBrand FAQs
What is the main message of Building a StoryBrand?
The main message of Building a StoryBrand is how to use storytelling to clarify your brand and engage customers.
How long does it take to read Building a StoryBrand?
The reading time for Building a StoryBrand varies, but it typically takes several hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.
Is Building a StoryBrand a good book? Is it worth reading?
Building a StoryBrand is worth reading for its practical strategies and actionable tips on improving brand messaging.
Who is the author of Building a StoryBrand?
The author of Building a StoryBrand is Donald Miller.
What to read after Building a StoryBrand?
If you're wondering what to read next after Building a StoryBrand, here are some recommendations we suggest:
- Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller
- Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
- The Storytelling Edge by Shane Snow and Joe Lazauskas
- The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr
- Reinvent Yourself by James Altucher
- Lawyers, Liars and the Art of Storytelling by Jonathan Shapiro
- Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks
- Talk Triggers by Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin
- Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- Influence by Robert B. Cialdini