I’ll start with a bold claim: Your video is possibly the most important part of your StoryBrand website.
Whoa, hold up now. Surely you’ve already put many hours and dollars into your website design and messaging according to the guidelines of Donald Miller’s Building a StoryBrand book. So what gives me the audacity to say this?
Because no matter how pristine your messaging is in text form, your video will be the piece that lifts the digital veil and makes the human connection with your customer—the connection that really matters—and if your video is not a quality StoryBrand video, you could be hurting your chances at scoring the sale.
But what does a StoryBrand video look like for your business? How do you make one? Should you just read off your BrandScript and hope for the best? Do you need B-roll? Should you hire a professional videographer and editor?
Luckily for you, as Creative Director and video production specialist at Good Agency, I’ve been making StoryBrand videos for our clients for over four years now, and I’m here to share my top 7 tips on how to make a StoryBrand video for your business that wins.
1. Create a list of questions that pull out the Brandscript
The StoryBrand message of your company is the foundation of your video. To get that Brandscript onto video, you need to film an interview or two. Have someone interview you or a key member of your staff with questions that draw out the Brandscript.
(And yes, you are a better choice than a paid actor—your customer needs to make a personal connection with you.)
Remember, your Brandscript consists of:
- Character (with a want)
- Problem (external, internal, and philosophical)
- Guide (with empathy and authority)
- Plan
- Call to Action (just focus on the Direct CTA)
- Success
- Failure
The questions should be designed to pull out the Brandscript. For example, check out this short list of questions for a company that sells ski products.
- What do skiers hope for when they head out to the slopes? (Character, want)
- What sort of challenges stand in the way of their perfect trip? (External problem)
- How does this make them feel? (Internal problem)
- Why does XYZ Ski Supply care? (Philosophical problem, Guide empathy)
- What sets XYZ apart from your competitors? (Guide authority)
- How do you guide customers to their perfect ski trip? (Plan)
- What do you want your customer to do? (CTA)
- What will happen if your customer buys your products? (Success)
- What could happen if your customer does not buy your products? (Failure)
2. You can’t always rely on a teleprompter
Another great idea for your video is to have your key talent on screen recite the Brandscript directly. You can use a teleprompter for this, but even better is to memorize it. It’s typically very easy to tell when someone is reading off a page or a teleprompter, but an internalized script usually looks and sounds much more genuine.
You can even use a combination of the Brandscript and interview questions! That’s exactly what we did for this Financial Advisor client—see if you can guess where they jump between interview and Brandscript!
3. Plan your B-roll—especially for the Problem and Success
It will be tempting to spend your B-roll capture time just covering the Guide-–for example, getting too many shots of your office, your team, your building, your logo, or your awards. Remember the Guide is not the main character. The Hero (aka Character) is.
Your customer needs to see themselves in the story. But videographers usually forget to capture footage that visualizes the Hero’s Problem and Success. Plan those shots!
Quick tip: I’ve found that visualizing the external problem (e.g. mold in the attic) is more important than showing the internal problem (e.g. the homeowner’s face writhing in disgust), as that often gets cheesy quickly. 🙂
Most importantly, show Success! Internal feelings usually are good to show here—look how happy the kids are at 1:53!
4. Break the Brandscript and follow this foolproof outline
Here’s my secret sauce for StoryBrand videos—break the Brandscript outline and rearrange it to this. You’ll see results every time:
- Character & want (if not already implied) (5% of video)
- Problem (25% of video)
- Failure (10% of video)
- Guide (25% of video)
- Success (25% of video)
- Plan (5% of video)
- CTA (5% of video)
Want to see it in action?
5. The climax is the first mention of Success
In the editing room, pick a song that builds to a climax, and have the first mention of Success come down right at the drop into the climax of the song.
I did this in our own video for Good Agency:
6. The more expensive your product is, the more professional your video quality should be
Some companies and startups will be fine filming their video on their iPhone – in fact, it might even be preferable! But if your product is expensive or luxury-tier, you need to show that same level of quality in your video. You’ll want to film your video on professional cinema cameras and have a studio do the directing and editing. We can help here!
7. Go big or go home in Act 3
I like to break up my edits into three acts.
- Act 1 – Conflict (Character, Problem, Failure)
- Act 2 – Journey (Guide)
- Act 3 – Resolution (Success, Plan, CTA)
When the video transitions to Act 3, you should be talking about SUCCESS—which is supposed to be a joyous, cathartic, and thrilling experience for your customer!
How do you translate this into the film? Here are a few ideas:
Bonus: Do all your photography for the website on the same day as your videography
Bonus points! If you do all your website photography on the same day you film your video, this will unify your brand like nothing else.
This is what we did for Athens Micro in April 2023—notice how their photography on their site matches the video. This makes their brand appear unified and professional.
Conclusion
Designing a website with your end user in mind is essential for building trust and credibility in your customer’s eyes, and some small mistakes could end up costing you an important sale. By implementing these 6 small design changes, you are putting yourself in a good position to capture those leads and make the sale.
As a refresher, these are the 6 easy design hacks that will help you convert more leads:
- Hide your navigation bar in a hamburger menu
- Use an image in the ATF that shows your client’s success
- Increase the visual contrast between Header and Body font styles
- Add a strong contrast section for an important callout
- Turn boring lists into interactive lists or graphic tables
- Pick (and stick with!) one primary color and one accent
Happy designing!
