“If you’re a total amateur, you’re talking about the features of your product. If you’re better at marketing, you’re selling the benefits. But if you are a great marketer, you’re playing to the identity of the people you are serving.” Brice Gump
Brice made $50,000 last month in ad sales with relatively little effort content wise (simple truth statement, problem / solution, results / proof).
In episode 39 🎧, Mike and Brice lay out a storytelling marketing plan that anyone can use. They talk about the story aspect of products / customer decisions. Businesses and marketers who laser-in on this will have the best chance of surviving growing restrictions enforced by popular platforms like Facebook – and the growing cynicism and sophistication of digital consumers.
As for storytelling marketing examples: how much is Dollar Beard Club worth, I hear you ask? Parodying their Dollar Shave Club counterpart who became worth a billion dollars – DBC earned rapid success with ONE commercial on YouTube all about what guys with bristly beards do. As a result, they made a million dollars in the first few months selling oils (NO F***ING RAZORS!).
It was an identity play (which we discuss and explore in this episode). Moral of the story: know what your audience is doing. Your actual product can be a simple end CTA mention – like an afterthought.
In this episode, Mike and Brice answer the following questions:
- Storytelling for small business all the way to Forbes worthy (with storytelling business examples).
- How old-school copywriting tricks — think Gary Halbert direct marketing secrets — while still impactful, are LESS useful.
- Get the fastest Breakthrough Advertising review (Eugene Schwartz) you’ve seen.
Check out the show notes below to follow along.
SHOW NOTES
- How can storytelling marketing be used in business for marketing mastery; getting more customers and selling your products. (0:42)
- ‘Dollar Beard Club’ story: a million made with a single ad. (2:04)
- Why your business needs a story: ROI risks of direct response during the pandemic vs. storytelling. (3:16)
- Why are businesses afraid of storytelling? Simple how-to, hero’s journey, Lord of the Rings. (4:44)
- Your customer is the hero of their own journey — you’re there to transport. (7:31)
- HOOK, STORY, OFFER concept: recent very successful example from Brice. (9:11)
- Mike’s case study: Forbes list client’s stunning self-revelation. (11:17)
- We are in a unique time for marketing; scarcity-based sales funnels marketing is too unsophisticated today to win in the long-run. (13:27).
- Applying storytelling to the whole business — emails, landing pages, organic content, team vision. The challenges of convincing your team to use this strategy and reworking old processes. (15:55)
- Brice / Mike story challenge, LISTENER OFFER and storytelling processes — the SIMPLEST approach! (17:38)
PEOPLE / RESOURCES MENTIONED
- Russell Brunson
- The Dollar Beard Club
- The Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz
- The Boron Letters Copywriting by Gary Halbert
- The Entrepreneur’s Mindset for Volatile Times
- Thinking Time – Allowing New Ideas to Flow
SPECIAL OFFER!!
If you’re interested in having Mike and Brice write a story for your brand, send them an email and they will write you something you can use as the basis. Send to: info@buildinganonlinepodcast.com.
LET’S CONNECT ONLINE!
- Join The Building It Online Community
- Brice Gump – Website, Facebook
- Mike Sebastian – Website, Facebook
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