StoryBrand Website Examples

In this article we will explain what StoryBrand is, show several StoryBrand website examples, and show you a bit about what we learned from the book and how it can help you with your website. We are not StoryBrand Certified Experts and we don’t write copy, so if you need more assistance, buy the book or you can hire a StoryBrand Certified Expert to help you with your copywriting.

What is StoryBrand?

StoryBrand is a framework developed by Donald Miller and covered extensively in his best-selling book Building a Story Brand, on his podcast and his workshops. The framework helps you clarify your message so that your websites, emails, communication and marketing will resonate with your audience.

Many businesses make the mistake of highlighting their features. However, your customers care more about benefits than features. Features are the facts about a product or service, but benefits communicate what a product or service does to help people. Every person is asking “What’s in it for me?” so the sooner you can answer this question the better.

You’ve heard it before, “facts tell, stories sell” and it’s true. The StoryBrand framework provides a plan to clarify your message, eliminated confusion and help your audience take the next right step.

“StoryBrand marketing is both acknowledging and acting on our customer’s perception of our brand’s role in their story, to earn their business.”

StoryBrand in a Nutshell

Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication. Everyone loves a great story. And great stories tend to follow a format. StoryBrand boils down the format into seven steps:

  1. A Character (Hero)…
  2. Has a Problem (Villain)…
  3. And Meets a Guide…
  4. Who Gives them a Plan…
  5. And Calls Them to Action…
  6. That Ends in Success…
  7. And Helps Them Avoid Failure.

Jonah Berger, in his popular book Contagious, puts it this way:

“Narratives are inherently more engrossing than basic facts. They have a beginning a middle and an end… when you hear people tell a good story you hang on every word.”

Think about your favorite movie or book and you’ll see that it generally follows this format. How about the recent hit movie The Greatest Showman:

  1. T. Barnum
  2. Wants to create a better life for his family but becomes consumed with his business
  3. Phillip and the troupe
  4. Bail out Barnum after his circus burns down and inspire him to start again
  5. He becomes self-aware to realize he already has enough
  6. He reprioritizes his family, mends his marriage and let’s Phillip take the reigns
  7. Barnum lives happily ever after with his family

The framework is even more clear in classic examples like Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future, Hunger Games, Harry Potter. They all follow the format outlined above.

So take a few moments and think about this for your business. Head over to My Story Brand and get the BrandScript developed by Donald Miller, which is a seven-step framework to clarify your messaging.

Does StoryBrand really work?

StoryBrand is all about creating one thing for your communication: clarity.

StoryBrand includes principles that will allow your website to:

  1. Have a clear brand message that is easy to understand.
  2. Be simple and easy for customers to interact with.
  3. Convert. The whole framework is designed to get customers to respond and engage.
  4. Be different from competitors.

Most websites are full of noise. Using the StoryBrand framework you can have confidence that your website is speaking clearly to your audience and have pride knowing that it’s building with intentionality and purpose.

How does StoryBrand work?

StoryBrand works by clarifying your message, eliminating confusion and providing a clear call to action. Most businesses make the mistake of talking about their business as the hero rather than focusing on your customer. The old way of marketing is to focus on your business. The new way of marketing is to connect with your customer and guide them on the path so they can have success.

The Grunt Test

In StoryBrand, Miller talks about the Grunt Test. The Grunt Test is a way for you to double-check if the hero section of your website is going to be effective. This above the fold section is the most valuable real estate of the entire website and you only have about 3-5 seconds to convince someone that the rest of your website is worth reading.

The Grunt Test answers three basic questions:

  • What are you offering me?
  • How will it make my life better?
  • What do I have to do to get it?

If you can answer those three simple questions you will have a powerful hero section.

Looking for more StoryBrand website examples? Visit our StoryBrand Website Examples Pinterest Board that shows websites that seem to use the framework.

We encourage clients to go through StoryBrand

Most web designers don’t take the time or know how to help their clients improve their content. At Johnny Flash Productions, we’re different. As a part of our website build process, we encourage clients to read “Building a StoryBrand” book by Donald Miller so they understand the framework and can improve the messaging for their new website. This ensures you not only have a beautiful new website but messaging that is clear, on-point and encourages conversions. We are not StoryBrand Certified Experts and we don’t write copy, so if you need more assistance, you can hire a StoryBrand Certified Expert to help you with your copywriting.

Ready to take Your Business to the next Level?

We would love to learn about your business or organization and you’re online goals. Whether you already have a website that needs some tweaking or you are ready for a brand new website, we’re here to help hold your hand each step of the way. If you’re not the hand holding type, no problem, we’ll stand on the sidelines and shout instructions. 😁

We focus on beautiful web design that delivers results for your organization. Our specialty is creating customized WordPress websites.

About Us

Johnny Flash Productions

Johnny Flash Productions is a creative agency based outside of Washington D.C. that focuses on digital strategy, web design and development, graphic design and event production that helps businesses get better results from their marketing.