The 7 Ways Brand Stories Move Prospects Towards a Decision

The Storytelling Series: Part 3 of 5

Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash

Now it's time to make a decision. 

We’ve guided our prospect through the beginning of our story and conflict, they are becoming more emotionally invested, and we’ve helped them identify the worst- and best-case scenarios to narrow down their options. 

Now comes the hard part: guiding our prospect to make a decision while also gearing them towards choosing our business and our solution. We can achieve this by using the character or characters in our story. They make the “right” decision, and that will, in turn, influence our prospect’s decision. 

Here are 7 ways our brand story will move our prospect towards making a final decision. 

7 Ways Our Brand Story Moves Prospects Towards a Decision

Educate 

We need to educate our prospect with all the information they need to make an informed decision.

Storytelling still involves using facts and educating our audience. When we begin to shape a story, we don’t always start with the prose; we sometimes start with the facts in order to build out our story from there. If we’re not educating or teaching our audience something, they will quickly lose interest.

Entertain

We need to entertain our prospect to hold their interest while we provide the facts. 

Education doesn’t have to be boring; it can be fun and creative. This is why we add in elements like conflict and develop characters that our prospect can relate to. Entertainment can focus on more than getting a laugh out of someone. It can also be about keeping our audience engaged - and sometimes that looks more like building suspense than creating comedy. 

Empower 

We need to empower our prospect with control over their own decisions.

Few people like being told what to do without question or without a say in the matter. Therefore, even though we, as business owners, are trying to get our prospect to “do what we say” and use our services or buy our products, we need to focus on empowering our audience over just selling to our audience. We act as a guide for our prospect, a guide that will show them the path they need to take. But we can’t make them take that path. They have to ultimately make that decision themselves. 

Exemplify

We need to exemplify our brand values through themes our prospect will identify with.

As mentioned before, our job is to guide our prospect through the buyer’s journey and put them on the right path. One way to do this is to lead by example and live our brand values. Our ideal prospect will then naturally identify with us and our brand as they are currently making a decision to change and overcome their conflict, as we discussed in part 2 of this series. 

Envision

We need to provide our prospect with a setting to envision a future life for themselves that includes our solution.

Ever heard the term visualization? Despite popular belief, it’s not some flimsy practice. It is actually “used by a whole array of people who know how to use it to bring about positive outcomes in their life. Many athletes including Olympians use it to excel in their sports.” (Forbes) When we can visualize a positive future, we are more likely to live by our values and see our dreams come to fruition. The same can be said about our prospect. We just have to help them envision a future that also includes our solution.

Evoke 

We need to evoke our prospect’s emotion. When they are emotionally invested in the result, they will be ready to make a decision.

In the last post on Conflict, we saw that the number one reason people stay engaged and become invested in stories is that they can identify and empathize with the characters. As with entertaining our prospect, emotions come in many forms. We can evoke feelings of anger or sadness, or we can evoke more positive feelings such as inspiration or happiness. It is definitely better to go with evoking positive emotions, but the goal here is to have our prospect emotionally invested in their future and the solution we are offering them. 

Experience 

We need to provide experience and a genuine idea of what our prospect will experience when they work with us.

Not many people are ok going in blind. This is why it’s important to provide an example, essentially, of what the prospect will experience when they make that decision to work with us. This is also one of the reasons why so many people rely on reviews and testimonials; they’re seeking information about the experience and the quality of that experience from people who have already done business with us.

Now we’re going to take a look at how to actually include the decision making in your brand story. 

How to Include Decision in Your Brand Story

Provide a Relevant Example of a Previous Client Decision

Use a previous or current case story to demonstrate the client as the decision maker. 

When your prospect, through storytelling, experiences someone else going through the process of making a decision, it helps them see themselves making the same decision." It’s especially powerful to include the results of that decision. 

Focus on a Relatable Feeling to Move the Prospect to the Point of Decision

Include only enough details about your solution as is necessary for the decision making to happen. 

For example, the prospect doesn’t need a detailed syllabus of your course - you can just emphasize three key outcomes. And explain how another client has benefitted from those outcomes. Are they healthier? Do they have better relationships? Can they make more money? Will they have more time? You need to keep the focus on the feeling they will get when they work with you.

Create a Real Connection with Your Authentic Self and Your Offering of Genuine Value

Through creating a story the prospect can relate to, you show that you care enough to take the time to understand their situation and problems. You are invested in their lives and want to see them successfully reach their goals. You are an industry authority, thought leader, and trusted source of information who is also human and accessible. They can count on you to meet their deepest needs.

Stories make up a large part of human interaction, and they strongly influence human behaviour. By using these 7 elements in your brand stories, you can successfully move and guide your prospect towards making a decision that includes your solution.

Stay tuned for the next part of this series as we’ll explore the element of discovery in your brand story and the key benefits you can offer your prospects. 

Have questions? Want to learn more about KBC’s services? Book a call with us today.

Listen to the podcast episode here.