Most good stories have a set of common characters; the protagonist or hero, the antagonist or enemy, the mentor and/or side kick and finally, the skeptic or doubter. Each role plays an important part in telling a dynamic, entertaining, emotional, and engaging story.
The protagonist or the star of the story usually has a sidekick to help them along the journey. The skeptic is there to support the hero but usually doubts their ability to give a unique twist to the story.
Then comes the enemy to add a climax to the story to keep your audience wondering how it’ll all turn out. Then the mentor jumps in to provide more guidance, education, direction, and inspiration to get the hero back on their feet. Leading to an ending of your customer or hero saving the day.
With this short example, you can see why the protagonist is the one you should focus on the most. They are the highlight of the story and who will connect with your audience. In fact, the hero should be your audience. Every story needs a hero to:
- Be relatable and familiar
- Be emotional and sympathetic
- Inspire action or change
- Give your customers someone to cheer for or aspire to be
- Build loyal and repeatable customers
When establishing the hero in your brand’s story:
Make the Hero Your Perfect Customer
Use buyer personas and real-life testimonials to share a story that empowers your audience. Give your audience the thought, “That’s me!” while they are taking in your story. Then show how they, the hero or star of your story, powered through and overcome the common enemy or solved a common problem.
Keep in Mind the Buyer’s Journey
Again, you want your buyer or customer to envision themselves as the hero. Keeping your buyer’s persona in mind will ensure the story you developed is created just for them, and the problems or enemies they face are relevant to your customers. Allowing your brand to better connect on an emotional and sympathetic level.
Establish a Proper Mentor
Create a character that educates the hero and moves them from normal to extraordinary. This is the perfect spot to add to your products, services, or brand’s voice. As the mentor, state the problem and then teach how to solve it. Make it clear to your audience you understand who they are and want to fix it.
Don’t make your company the hero and star of the show. It’ll be a lot harder for you to connect and engage with your audience. Remember, the best company stories are the ones that focus on their customers and solve their problems more than their own company and problems. Your customer should be the star.
Over the next 60 days, we will be talking exclusively about becoming a better storyteller so you can work on increasing your audience engagement.
It’s a fact that the human brain is wired or attracted to stories. This is because stories are how the human brain learns, grows, and remembers things. Through stories, you can better remember important events and communicate or connect with your peers and audience. And, more importantly, through stories, you gain audience engagement and the action required to run a successful and sustainable business.
Let’s be honest, we know that you’re unlikely to follow us through the entire series, so here’s a little cheat for you – the entire series of articles as an ebook – our gift – no strings attached. If you’re ready to catch up on some summer reading that will actually propel your business forward then this is for you.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE E-BOOK: Become a Good Storyteller to Increase Audience Engagement
