Have you looked at the words on your website home page or your business’s social media profiles lately?

Whenever I ask a client, “what does that mean?” or “how does that help your customer?” I know inside they’re saying, “Well, duh!”

But if I can’t understand it, just imagine how many sales you are losing because customers can’t understand it. 

The work I do with clients involves asking twenty (or sometimes 100) questions to get to the root of HOW their product or service benefits their customers.

Then we strip away all of the words that confuse their customers and lead them to buy from someone else.

A year ago, a marketing leader recommended a book that is all about that and it was like finding my soulmate. It completes me. It is all the things I’m passionate about but it says them in a clear, concise, and fun way. I❤️  it so much. 

It’s called Building a Storybrand, by Donald Miller, and it offers a simple framework to find the right words to talk about what you do so people actually understand it. And more importantly, care.

It’s not your typical marketing book. It’s fun to read and easy to apply to ANY business. (There’s a link at the end of the email to download the first 3 chapters for free!)

I’m re-reading it for the umpteenth time (I pick up something new every time), and a quote in the first chapter hit me like a bolt of lightning. ⚡

“…the overriding function of the brain is to help an individual survive and thrive. Everything the human brain does, all day, involves helping that person, and the people that person cares about, get ahead in life.”

~ Mike McHargue, aka “Science Mike”

 

Mike has studied the science of what is happening in the brains of customers as they filter marketing messages.

The human brain is wired to seek out information that will help you survive and thrive.

“Without knowing it, the subconscious is always categorizing and organizing information” as it relates to those two goals.

He sees two critical mistakes that businesses make:

1. They fail to focus on the aspects of their offer that will help people thrive and survive.

2. They cause their customers to work too hard to understand their offer.

Make it So Easy, Even a Caveman Can Do it!

Remember that tagline from the early Geico commercials? That’s actually a pretty good way of looking at your marketing message.

There are three questions your marketing needs to answer for your customer:
1. What do you offer?
2. How will it make my life better?
3. What do I need to do to buy it?

The question that Donald Miller poses in Building a Storybrand is:

“Could a caveman look at your website and immediately grunt what you offer?”

Here’s the example he uses:

“If you sell aspirin, could a caveman look at your website and grunt:

“You sell headache medicine.

Me feel better fast.

Me get it at Walgreens.”

If your customer can’t do that with your marketing message, you are losing sales.

Want to read a few chapters of Building a Storybrand before you buy it? Download the first three chapters for free!

Take the Caveman Test

So, now that you know what your customer’s brain is wired for, put your marketing message to the caveman test.

Look at the words you use for your:

• Home page of your website
• Social media business page/ profile
• Elevator pitch

Could a caveman, or someone who doesn’t know your product or service answer the three main questions?

• What do you offer?
• How will it make my life better?
• What do I need to do to buy it?

Get a Caveman Messaging Review! 

Want help with caveman-friendly messaging? You got it! 

Here’s what to do:

• Break your message down into “grunt-able” bullet points like the example above
• Send your 3 bullet points and the actual words you use in your marketing to melinda@melindathomascreative.com
• I’ll send back feedback and ideas!

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!