The opinions expressed by Entrepreneur authors are their very own.
Storytelling has been an integral part of human culture since the starting of time. We each share our stories with the world and absorb each other’s stories. Either way, stories shape our perspective and thus our shared reality. Moreover, a compelling story is provocative and evokes emotional resonance. Honestly, no one ever remembers a bad or boring story unless they need to be reminded of how bad or boring it is.
This is very true when it comes to marketing and website development. In this context, compelling storytelling is necessary if you wish to differentiate your brand from others. An effective brand story is not going to only improve user engagement, but also increase overall brand loyalty and subsequently conversions.
But how do we create this narrative for our sites? When consulting with my clients, I all the time introduce them to the Hero’s Journey framework. By applying this framework to our web sites and funnel pages, we present potential customers with narratives they’ll relate to, thus encouraging them to take motion on our services.
The Hero’s Journey: A Brief Overview
Popularized by American writer Joseph Campbell, the Hero’s Journey represents a universal pattern of adventure and transformation in storytelling traditions around the world. In this narrative, the hero goes on an adventure, faces and overcomes challenges, and then returns transformed.
When we apply this framework to our marketing copy and web site design, we’d like to position the website visitor as the hero of the story. From this point on, your brand shall be the guide or sage that guides the hero through hardship and catalyzes transformation.
Applying the hero’s journey to your website
1. A call to adventure: Engage visitors immediately
Your website’s home page must be an invitation to adventure, immediately engaging visitors by presenting them with a significant challenge or aspiration. This challenge may very well be a significant problem that your audience is facing and that your brand guarantees to solve. You capture their interest from the very starting by aligning with their initial search intentions.
2. Introducing the Hero and Guide: Building Relationships
In the context of your website, your guest is the hero. Make it clear early on that you just understand their challenges and desires. Then present your brand as a guide, an expert ally equipped with the wisdom (your services or products) to help them overcome obstacles. This positioning builds trust and establishes a personal connection with your audience.
3. Journey: user experience mapping
When creating different pages in your user environment, treat each page as a chapter in the hero story you are creating. Plan the layout of your website to reflect your search for answers. Each page should ideally describe the challenge it faces and how your offering can meet it. This will be achieved by describing the steps, highlighting the advantages and providing testimonials and case studies.
4. Challenges and trials: Demonstrating values
Pointing out the difficulties and obstacles your character may encounter is a good way to show that you just’re each on the same page (remember, empathy). You can even display how your product or service provides the essential solutions, thus highlighting the value of your offer and strengthening the emotional connection of the narrative.
5. Transformation: Showing success
Make sure your website vividly illustrates the transformation customers experience after using your product or service. Do this by providing before and after scenarios, success stories, and testimonials. Visitors need to see the potential of their transformation because it motivates them to take motion.
6. Return: encouraging motion
The highlight of the Hero’s Journey on your website must be clear and compelling calls to motion (CTAs). Whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or booking a consultation, calls to motion are transformational steps.
More rules for maximizing engagement and conversions
Beyond the Hero’s Journey, maximizing engagement is about presenting our stories in a way that resonates with the site visitor. Now we’re talking about being attentive to the design, usability, and overall quality of your content. When optimizing our web sites, be certain to ask yourself these 4 questions.
Is it smooth? It often takes a designer’s eye to make sure the right elements are in the right place. However, having an intuitive, structured and user-friendly website is crucial to generating conversions. It doesn’t matter how compelling your story is if your website is useless and unattractive.
Is it streamlined? We want to make sure our pages are as streamlined as possible, avoiding multiple narratives and redundancies. When leading a user to a CTA, it is best to present one CTA at a time. Especially on our landing pages and funnels, displaying multiple CTAs at once often leads to confusion and a lack of focused engagement.
Is it star-studded? Combining focused storytelling with engaging content will inevitably draw potential customers deeper into your brand. Be sure to include vivid photos, videos, and engaging text to capture your audience’s attention. Remember that no one remembers boring stories! So try to be memorable, not mundane.
Is it tested on division? Don’t expect your first few web sites to be perfect. Continuous benchmarking is key to creating a website that converts. Test different points of your website to see what engages your audience the most. Test the whole lot from your headline to your images, calls to motion, and even your entire website.
Application
There is little question that telling compelling stories is an art. As with any art form, understanding the basic principles is the key to achieving mastery.
Whether you represent a personal brand or a giant corporation, your storytelling influences how the world sees and receives you. By applying the right storytelling principles to your web sites, you may ensure that you is not going to only earn more, but also create a brand value remembering.