Can you win more clients using the magic of the movies?
In its first 3 days ‘Frozen 2’ the movie beat all cinema box office records.
£277million over one weekend in 2019 – more sales than any animated movie ever, including all the Toy Story movies and The Incredibles too.
But what has movie success got to do with your firm’s sales and marketing results?
Everything it seems!
In 2018 people worldwide spent £32billion visiting the cinema.
In 2019 even more revenue came from streaming (through Netflix and Amazon Prime).
All because the human race loves and responds in their millions to a well-constructed story.
Is your firm's offer strong enough?
Have you ever wondered if you’ve got your firm's offer as strong as you could?
Have you ever doubted the words you’ve used to promote your products and services?
Or have you ever read your website words and wondered if you could be using more powerful language and messages to win more sales?
Have complete confidence in the marketing offer of your products and services by putting to work a rock-solid and proven story-framework you find in every successful movie.
Start with 4 helping hands here or read on for the full Bitesize Business Breakthrough. Use your device's back arrow to bring you back to this point.
Use the value of a story...
How is your firm’s story structured?
Avoid 2 of the biggest marketing mistakes...
Our brains are hardwired, above all things, to help us survive and thrive. Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion all survive in the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy makes it home too!
One big reason movies are so popular is because they’re all about our primitive need to survive and thrive. It’s also why we are willing to watch a movie more than once!
Without us even consciously thinking about it, our brain helps us (and the people we care about) get ahead in life. Your clients want the same.
If you talk about the history of your firm and the size of your premises or how many regions you sell in, your clients will switch off. They’ll leave your website. They’ll go elsewhere. So...
…if you want to connect with your clients, stop blasting them with unnecessary noise!
- 1If the words of your offer fail to show that you can help your clients survive and thrive – eat, drink, find shelter, be accepted, fall in love, bond with a tribe, experience a deeper sense of meaning or stockpile food in case of Armageddon! – then you’ll lose.
- 2And why make your offer too complicated? Make your offer simple and easy-to-understand or you risk confusing your clients and force them to switch
off from your offer.
Here's the proven solution for youR FIRM...
Make your marketing message quick-and-easy-to-understand by using a story-framework that’s stood the test of time.
Get clear on who the hero is, who’s the guide, who’s the villain and what the plan is for your client.
King George shows the way
Four Oscars and many other awards tell a tale of success about the movie ‘The King’s Speech’.
Partly because all the elements of the story-framework are crystal clear in the film.
These four elements make The King’s Speech a most watchable movie and show us the path to applying the framework to our marketing messages.
Think of Star Wars, Titanic or The Jungle Book and you’ll recognise the same framework with different characters – see the exercise in the downloadable tools available at the bottom of the page to help.
The same story-framework helped the used car dealer ‘CarMax’ set a new standard...
Time to trust a used car salesperson?
If you’ve ever walked onto a used car dealer site, you’ll know the feeling.
You expect to do battle with the salesperson when all you want is for them to leave you alone ‘til you’ve a had good look around.
So how have CarMax turned into a £10billion business selling used cars in the USA?
Because they’ve worked out that their customer is the hero of their story (not their salespeople).
They’ve also worked out the villainous problems that any buyer of a used car may experience (being lied to, cheated or misled when buying a used car).
And they’ve worked out how they can help their hero-customer overcome their problems (and be their guide).
Lastly, they’ve made the path (plan) their hero-customer needs to take to buy a used car clear, simple and obvious.
STOP thinking that your firm and your products and services are the hero of your story
START making your client the hero of your story (and you as their guide)
Use your device's back arrow to get back to this point.
But where do you start?
Start with the right hero!
The hero of your story is your client (not you!).
When your client recognises themselves as the hero they are already hooked into your message like never before.
Every hero has 3 problems...
Every hero has problems – disarm a bomb, win someone’s heart or defeat the villain!
As Donald Miller shows, in his outstanding book ‘Building a Story Brand’, your firm must clearly show that you understand the three levels of your client’s problem:
Tesla | The King's Speech | |
|---|---|---|
External problem | I need a car | Speech Impediment |
Internal problem | I want to be seen as a user of new technology | Self-doubt about leading his people |
Philosophical problem | I want to play my part in helping save the planet | Need to unify his people to defeat the Nazis |
What’s worth taking seriously here is Miller’s insight that:
“Companies tend to sell solutions to external problems, but customers buy solutions to internal problems”
Donald Miller
Be sure to talk about your hero’s (client’s) external AND internal AND philosophical problems.
Apple became so successful partly because they solved an external customer problem – “we need to use technology”, but mostly because they solved the internal customer problem – “we feel intimidated by technology” by making their products really easy to use.
Apple made ‘tech’ easy for non-techies and marketed their messages about ‘enjoying life’ and ‘expressing yourself’. Apple became the first $1trillion company!
Position yourself as your client’s guide...
The streaming service, Tidal, lost Jay Z (American Rap superstar) a personal fortune (£37million), because it positioned itself as the hero – see the download tools available at the bottom of the page for more on this story.
But, as Miller says…
“...human beings wake up every morning self identifying as a hero.
They are troubled by internal, external and philosophical conflicts, and they know they can’t solve these conflicts on their own.”
“People trust those who understand them, and they trust (companies) that understand them too.”
Donald Miller
Position your firm and products and services as your hero-customer’s trustworthy guide.
Your path to being seen as a trusted guide to your hero-client is by being ‘caring and credible’.
Talking of paths...
Make the hero’s path clear...
“In nearly every movie you can think of, the guide gives the hero a plan.”
Gandalf maps out the path for Frodo in Lord of the Rings.
In your firm you need to give your hero client the clear and obvious stepping stones to buying from you.
Your marketing must answer your hero-client’s question:
“What do you want me to do now?”
To answer, you simply do what a good guide does – give your hero a clear path – describe the steps to buying.
- 1Order a free sample
- 2Book an appointment
- 3Design your kitchen together
- 4Agree installation date
And then make it clear and obvious what they do to pay you!
Get your plan right and your hero responds with:
“Oh, I can do that, that’s not hard.”
And then they click your equivalent of ‘Buy Now’.
The plan you’ve now got for using the magic of the movies in your marketing is:
4 helping hands for you…
A proven framework or route-map helps in different areas of your firm (eg. the ‘Six Sigma’ framework to improve quality processes, or the ‘Lean’ framework to help with cost reduction/ waste management).
And now here’s the ‘story-framework’ to help you improve the results of your marketing messages.
1
Be sure to make your client the hero of your firm’s story (offer), not you!
2
Be clear and simple about the problems (the villain) that your firm and products and services help your hero-client overcome
3
In your story (offer), be sure to position your firm or your product/service as your hero client’s best guide or mentor
4
Make sure your marketing messages give your hero client a ‘path of hope’ for resolving their problem – in business we call this a plan!
Click here to read this whole Bitesize Business Breakthrough
TIME TO DISAGREE
“Shouldn’t my products be seen as the solution to our clients’ problems not as a guide?”
Yes, client problems have to be resolved and your products and services are involved.
But the positioning of your product in your client’s mind matters.
Even before iPhones existed, Apple products helped millions overcome the intimidation they felt dealing with technology.
Apple’s marketing showed their technology helping people to express themselves – the customer was the hero, the kit was the helper (the guide).
How do you apply this story-framework thinking to your products or services?
“Nobody in my industry uses the story framework to promote their services – won’t I be setting myself up for an embarrassing fall?
Standing out from the crowd and doing something different can feel uncomfortable.
But as the saying goes:
‘Fortune favours the brave…’
But you’re on safe ground using the four-part story framework.
The structure of a successful story is a universal and ancient
principle – many studies have shown the core elements of a good tale.
So why not work out how to test the story-framework in your firm?
ULTIMATE ARGUMENT:
“How do I know that using the story-framework for constructing my marketing messages will pay off for my firm?”
If getting clear on their story can help build a £10billion used car sales company like CarMax, in one of the least trusted industries in America, then it can help you and your firm too.
And because the book industry, the movie industry and the streaming of movies and ‘box-set’ series adds up to almost £150billion in annual sales, it’s hard not to take the power of storytelling seriously don’t you think?
In the end the story-framework is simple.
It’s a framework you can easily put to work and test whether it pays off for your firm, so why not give it a go?
Your 'Make It Happen' checklist:
Can the magic of the movies help you win more sales?
And why would any business owner or any marketer ignore the powerful marketing insights that result in almost £150billion worth of storytelling sales a year – books, movies and streaming services?
Many thousands of business owners and marketers have overcome the frustrations and worries of disappointing sales results by applying this proven story-framework and have seen their marketing improve and sales increase.
You can build complete confidence in your firm’s marketing messages by applying this 4-part story-framework plan to your marketing:
1
Be sure to make your client the hero of your firm’s story (offer), not you!
Too many marketing messages make the product or the firm selling the product out to be the hero of the day – and they fail to reach their full sales potential as a result.
2
Be clear and simple about the problems (the villain) your firm and products and services help your hero-client overcome…
Be clear on the external, internal and philosophical problems you’re helping your hero-client resolve or overcome, and your messages will succeed like King George succeeded in ‘The King’s Speech’ movie.
3
Position your firm or your product/service as your hero-client’s best guide or mentor…
Work on sharing both empathetic (understanding) messages and messages with authority so that you’re seen as a trusted guide or mentor.
4
Show your hero-clients a crystal-clear path to take...
Make sure your marketing messages give your client a ‘path of hope’ for resolving their problem and make it as uncomplicated and obvious as possible – in business we call this a plan!
Want to know more?
Building A Story Brand
Donald Miller
Put this story-framework to use in your firm’s and product’s messages and you’ll no longer be lost for (the best) words.
Donald Miller’s story-framework will give you complete confidence about all the information you share with your clients.
It’s worth remembering that: “facts tell and stories sell!”
It’s worth diving deeper into Miller’s work by getting a copy of his book.
One recommendation by Dave Ramsey –
author - captures the book’s value brilliantly:
“...Miller has captured the process to make your marketing pierce the white noise of the most overserved marketing generation in history.”
YOUR SUPPORT TOOLS ARE HERE:
Go to the link below and you'll find a selection of practical support tools to help you get a deeper understanding and develop greater skills for movie magic marketing...
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