Your brand story is a tool, not a fairy tale.
It reduces risk in the buyer’s mind and directs them to a next step. Inspiring is great; converting is better.
What a brand story really is
- A structured explanation of value:
- Who you help (audience & context)
- What high-stakes problem they face
- What new possibility you unlock
- Why you’re credible (proof)
- What to do next (clear CTA)
The 6-part story spine
- Context — mirror the buyer’s world in one sentence.
- Conflict — the costly problem and its stakes.
- Insight — your belief that changes the approach.
- Solution — outcomes in active verbs, not a feature list.
- Proof — 3 receipts: metric, recognizable logo, short quote.
- Action — the smallest valuable next step (e.g., 7-min tour).
Where this story should live
- Homepage hero → Context + Conflict + Insight in ~30 words
- About page → Full spine + founder motivation
- Sales deck → Proof-heavy; swap examples per industry
- Product tours & emails → One slice of the story per feature
- Recruiting → Same story; adjust stakes to talent
Language rules that lift conversions
- Write for one person: use “you,” not “customers.”
- Cut adjectives; prefer specific nouns + active verbs.
- Put numbers early: time saved, errors reduced, revenue lifted.
- Mirror the phrases prospects already use on calls and reviews.
45-minute workshop
- Interview a customer for 15 minutes: “What was going wrong before us?”
- Extract their nouns/verbs.
- Draft the 6 parts using only their language.
- Read it out loud; if you need to explain a sentence, rewrite it.
- Ship one section to the site, iterate weekly.
Copy-and-paste template
For [audience] who struggle with [high-stakes problem],
we believe [insight].
[Product/service] helps you [outcome] by [how it works].
Teams like [logos] cut [metric] in [time].
[CTA]
Brand story vs. tagline? A story is a sequence; a tagline is a label.
How long? 120–200 words above the fold, deeper sections below.
Measure success? Hero CTR, demo rate, time on page, reply rate to outbound using the same story.