How To Tell Your Brand Story With The 3-Act Structure

The business world is competitive.

Whether you like it or not, the business that tells the best story wins.

Even if you work in a complex niche like data syndication or blockchain, your messaging needs to speak to one person.

The essence of what you do and how your product can relieve their pain must reach them.

The best way to do that is through storytelling.

Why storytelling matters

Think about it this way, everything you watch, read, listen to, and buy all stems from a good story.

A good story can land people a job, make people go to war, and build a legacy brand worth billions of dollars.

Why? Because it both educates and builds an emotional connection.

And in the end, that's what you're after.

Sure, you have a good product, it might even be the best product on the market, but nobody is going to give a sh*t if they aren't emotionally invested.

So how do you get them invested?

Emotions hook customers and build loyalty

People are motivated by pain.

You can talk on and on about how great your solution is, and they might agree, but nothing motivates someone faster than wanting to "feel better."

There are also a bunch of other emotions that storytelling lets you grab onto, like security, safety, nostalgia, etc.

Think about the emotions you want your customer to feel at each point and write to them.

Using the 3-act structure:

ACT 1: INCITING INCIDENT

When you start to tell your business's story, start with the inciting incident.

What's going on in your potential customer's life/business that they would pay good money to get rid of?

That's the core problem you're solving.

Stick the knife in and twist it there.

Example 1: (PULP FICTION)

Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) & Vincent John (John Travolta) visit the former business partners of their boss, Marsellus Wallace, in order to collect Wallace's briefcase. Once Jules and Vincent get it, the business partners are executed, setting off "The Bonnie Situation," where they must erase evidence of murder before Jimmy's wife gets home, resulting in further events that push the story forward.

Example 2: (AUTHENTICOM)

Authenticom offers data aggregation and syndication solutions for automotive dealerships. Dealerships must send data securely to vendors if they want to use it for effective marketing and inventory management.

Beyond that, the vendors themselves need that data to run their businesses. It's the essential foundation of everything they do.

The inciting incident = vendors need to begin working with and providing results for their clients. In order to do this, they must seek out a secure data provider (take action.)

ACT 2: CONFRONTATION

How is the problem they are experiencing causing friction on a daily basis?

What's the big issue they can't avoid?

When writing your business story, you must step into the shoes of the customer and think about all the areas of their own lives and businesses that they can't run away from. They must confront this problem if they want any hope of a solution.

Example 1: (PULP FICTION)

Once Jules and Vincent take care of the evidence with the help of Wolf, they decide to have breakfast at a diner. Here, a situation they are not in control, of unfolds when Pumpkin & Honey Bunny decide to rob the same diner. This begins a new tension where Jules & Vincent must escape the diner alive and deliver the suitcase to Marsellus Wallace.

Example 2: (AUTHENTICOM)

Once vendors realize they need reliable data, they are forced to make a decision. If they choose to set up data ingestion themselves, it will cost them a huge chunk of time/money/paperwork. It's a painful process. They must decide whether to do it themselves by contacting each Dealer Management System or seeking an easier solution.

ACT 3: RESOLUTION

This is where things come together, but not before a little more conflict, resulting in the climax of the story. This is where you can add another small twist that speaks to the pain your client is experiencing and bring them around to the solution you offer.

If done right, they'll be hooked.

Example 1: (PULP FICTION)

When Pumpkin reaches for Marsellus Wallace's suitcase at the diner, Jules doesn't give in. He gets the jump on her and ends up as the one with a gun pointed back at Pumpkin. He now takes control of the situation. Ultimately, the suitcase is delivered to Wallace, but it is not an easy task.

Example 2: (Authenticom)

When a vendor decides to seek a solution, there are several data syndication providers to choose from. The vendor must make a choice or be forced to risk not having accurate, reliable data. They must take control of the situation before partnering with a business that will take much of the burden off of their shoulders. This is where Authenticom can tell its story of expert customer service and data ingestion frequency and show social proof through testimonials and case studies. In the end, when a vendor chooses Authenticom, their problem will be solved, and they can move on to other areas of their business.

Conclusion

To end this, here are some questions to consider when looking to tell the story of your own business.

• Think about how your product changes someone's life or business.
• What emotions do they feel before and after they use your product?
• How can you tell this transformation using the 3-act story structure?
• Which testimonials can you share at the end for social proof?
• How can you convey the pain/relief they will feel?
• Which words/tone will fit with your brand or (feeling) you want to convey?

Hope this helps!

P.S. I'm a copywriter. View my portfolio here. Want to get in touch? Email me at: [email protected]