StoryBrand: The 7 Steps to Build the Brand Story Customers Want to Hear
- João Lemos Diogo
- Feb 2
- 8 min read
Brands don’t die when a company closes its doors. They die when they stop meaning something to their customers. And that disappearance is often silent: it happens while the company improves the product, optimizes the conversion funnel, changes the logo, publishes more content… and still remains irrelevant to the consumer.
But let me emphasize, however, that the problem is rarely a lack of work. It’s a lack of clarity. In this article, I’ll show you how you can create a success story for your brand: your StoryBrand.
A StoryBrand for customers who have no time to waste
Donald Miller, in the book Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen, starts from an uncomfortable truth: the consumer doesn’t want to hear your story. They want to solve their life. Which means your brand only becomes relevant when it fits—precisely—into the narrative the customer is already living.
The StoryBrand technique is not about “telling beautiful stories.” It’s a way of organizing the brand message so the brain accepts it quickly, in a world where attention is the scarcest resource. And when the consumer accepts the narrative quickly, objections don’t arise and behavior happens: they click, buy, recommend, stay with the company. Attitude aligns with the decision to act.
The Brand or the Customer: Who is the hero of the story?
The first principle of the StoryBrand model is so simple it can feel almost offensive to the corporate ego of most companies: the customer is the hero.
In today’s consumer society, brands have stopped being the protagonists and have become the guide in the story. But we can’t forget that the hero of any story has a goal. Faces an obstacle. Feels fear. Looks for a way out. And here’s the central point: no one follows a hero who doesn’t know where they’re going, and no one trusts a guide who only talks about themselves.
If we want to apply the success principles of storytelling to brand management, we can’t start with slogans. We must start by asking 7 concrete questions that will help us write the right message.
The 7 questions to craft the brand’s storytelling
Question 1: What does the customer want?
No, the customer doesn’t want “a product.” They want an outcome. They want safety. Time. Status. Relief. Confidence. They want a simpler life. A more exciting life. That’s why a strong brand must translate vague desires into clear goals: “I want to control my finances.” “I want to stop gaining weight.” “I want my skin to stop revealing my age.”
In truth, the goal of any purchase is always human before it is functional. Yet companies almost always focus on the features of their products.
Question 2: What is holding the customer?
Most brands fail to answer this question because they stay on the superficial level of the problem. The StoryBrand model forces you to analyze three layers: the external problem, the internal problem, and the philosophical problem.
The external problem is what happens to your customer: “I have too many tasks,” “my hair is falling out,” “the internet keeps failing.”
The internal problem is what that causes: frustration, shame, anxiety, doubt.
The philosophical problem is the belief that gives dignity to the conflict: “no one should live hostage to time,” “no one should feel insecure because of this,” “work shouldn’t be an exercise in survival.” This last layer is where brands gain greatness, because they stop being an option and become a solution.
Question 3: Why is your brand the right guide?
A guide does two things—and only two things: shows empathy and demonstrates authority.
Empathy is not saying “we love customers” or “we care about you.” It’s telling the customer: “we understand your pain because it’s real.”
Brand authority is not saying “we’re market leaders.” It’s communicating concrete proof: by sharing cases, experience, results, method, and rigor.
The combination is powerful: empathy creates connection and authority creates trust. Without empathy, the brand sounds arrogant. Without authority, it sounds friendly… but disposable.
Question 4: What is the plan for the customer?
Presenting an action plan to the customer is the fastest way to overcome indecision. When the customer doesn’t know what will happen next, postponing feels like the safest option. And when they postpone, they leave.
That’s why a good plan must fit into three simple steps, in the right order. It isn’t meant to explain everything. It’s meant to reduce perceived risk. And for that, the customer must feel two things:
“I can see the path.”
“I understand what will happen next.”
In practice, the plan can be said like this (in your customer’s language):
Understand what I need (clarify)
Handle it all for me (implement)
Make sure I’m okay (measure and adjust)
See this example, applied to a used-car brand:
We have what you need — Tell us your budget, how you’ll use the car, and your priorities (e.g., fuel economy, space, safety). We filter the options and show you 2–3 cars that make sense for you.
We handle everything for you — We check the vehicle’s history and condition (inspection/checklist), explain transparently what’s included (service, warranty, documentation), and take care of the final proposal (purchase/financing).
We make sure you’re okay — After delivery your car, we support your experience for 3 months: follow-up contact, maintenance recommendations, and help if any questions come up. If something isn’t right, we adjust, or we accept the vehicle return, no questions asked.
If your plan can’t be repeated from memory, it’s too complex. And complexity is the enemy of action. A plan is the only way to prevent customer indecision and get them to say “Yes.”
Question 5: What is the action expected?
Successful brands don’t say “follow me.” They ask the customer for a concrete step. And for that, the StoryBrand model distinguishes two calls to action:
Direct action: buy, book, request a quote, etc.
Transitional action: watch a masterclass, download a guide, run a diagnostic.
Direct action is the goal, while transitional action is the step that builds engagement. If your product requires trust, hold the consumer’s hand. If your product is simple, move directly. The brand’s deadly sin is excess communication: five different buttons on your website is the equivalent of telling the customer “you decide.” And you already know that when the customer has to decide, they postpone.
Question 6: What happens if the customer doesn’t act?
All decisions have an emotional math, based on opportunity cost. If there is no consequence, there is no urgency. That’s why customer indecision should be materialized as a real failure, yet elegant and grounded: loss of time, waste, stress, wrong choice, a replaceable brand, a harder life.
According to the StoryBrand model, the goal isn’t to scare. It’s to clarify and show the customer what they stand to lose. We’re all familiar with how Booking.com highlights what we might miss out on, with cues like “Great value” or “Only 1 room left” — see the image below.
Question 7: What does success look like?
Success must be visual. Saying a product is “better” is too abstract for the customer. But saying it gives you “2 more free hours per day” is concrete.
When you paint success, you give the customer a reason to move and to see themselves in the solution. And if this sounds like theory, it becomes practice the moment you write a sentence. The right sentence.
Here is a simple exercise you can do in a few minutes. Adapt this sentence, in a simple way, to your brand: "We help [who] to [desired outcome] so that [better life], even if [obstacle], through [simple plan].”
Here are some examples:
Example (financial services brand): “We help families control their money so they can live with ease, even when expenses spike, through a weekly system of simple decisions.”
Example (B2B software): “We help teams eliminate repetitive work so they can deliver more without overtime, even with complex processes, through three-step automations.”
Example (one I created for myself): “I help managers create brands with meaning, so they win customers’ minds and hearts, even in product-centric organizations, through strategy, practical tools, and a consistent action plan.”
Finally: The right StoryBrand for your brand
Now that you have the right answers, the most important part comes next: test the sentence. If your StoryBrand needs to be explained, it isn’t ready. If a child can’t understand it, the market won’t either. If your team can’t repeat it from memory, they won’t be able to defend it in a meeting.
Next, turn the sentence into the brand narrative. The StoryBrand model is especially strong here because it gives you an order that works in almost any communication piece, or any sales pitch:
First, state the hero’s goal (what the customer wants).
Then, name the enemy (the problem, especially the internal one).
Next, assume the guide role (empathy + proof).
Then, offer the plan (3 steps).
Then, ask for action (one button, one step).
And finally, close with success (the desired future) and add a touch of failure (the cost of not acting).
Notice what this does to your brand: it pulls it out of the territory of “features” and places it in the territory of meaning. Because creating meaning is this: a clear promise, placed in the right story.
And here’s a detail that often separates average brands from memorable brands: language. Invisible brands speak like catalogs. Relevant brands speak like people.
Relevant brands don’t say “integrated solutions.” They say “stop wasting time.” They don’t say “operational excellence.” They say “it works when you need it.” They don’t say “disruptive innovation.” They say “this is simple.”
A brand manager who wants to make a difference doesn’t need one more campaign. They need a mother sentence that organizes all campaigns. They need a plan that makes their brand the customer’s natural choice. They need a message the sales team can repeat without stumbling. They need, in short, clarity.
Donald Miller’s StoryBrand model is a discipline of clarity. And clarity, at the end of the day, is a form of respect: respect for the consumer’s time, respect for the market’s intelligence, and respect for the value the brand wants to create.
If your brand is working hard and being remembered little, it won’t be for lack of effort, but for lack of communicating the right story. The story where the customer wins. And where your brand, finally, does what it should: guide instead of shout.
EXTRA resources to build your brand’s storytelling
Building a StoryBrand — THE BOOK
If you want to learn more about the StoryBrand model, I recommend reading the book written by Donald Miller.
Go deeper into the 7 steps of StoryBrand to transform your brand communication: identify the hero (the customer), define the problem, create a plan, and make the next action obvious for your customer.
Free download: the OFFICIAL BrandScript (StoryBrand)
Download Donald Miller’s one-page worksheet here to clarify your brand message.
The StoryBrand TED Talk with Donald Miller
In this talk, Donald Miller (StoryBrand) shows why so many brands are ignored: the message is confusing. In just a few minutes, he explains how to use the structure of a story to make the customer the hero and the brand their guide, turning communication into action.
