The Five-Finger Approach To Cohesive Branding
Jimi Gibson, VP of Creative Services at Thrive Agency.
In today’s digital world, brands are competing for attention in a noisy marketplace. Consumers have seemingly limitless options at their fingertips. Consumers are savvy, experienced at online offers and more selective than ever. What sets successful brands apart?
In my experience in working with hundreds of brands, the ones who tell the best stories win the clicks and conversions. Storytelling isn’t a buzzword or the latest marketing tactic. Studies show stories are at the core of who we are and how we communicate. By weaving a compelling story through your digital marketing efforts, you can differentiate your brand from the competition and create a lasting impression on your audience.
Customers don’t care about your product or service. They care about solving their problems. The clearer you communicate how you solve the problem, the higher your conversion rate for leads and sales can be.
The Power Of Stories
As humans, we are attracted to stories. A compelling narrative holds a reader’s attention and there is a payoff at the end. If I asked you about a recent trip to the grocery store, you would naturally fall into story structure. You might say something like: “I went to buy a loaf of bread, but the parking lot was full, and I had to park too far away. They didn’t have my favorite bread, so I settled for another kind. Then, I waited forever in the checkout line because the person ahead of me had a full cart. Finally, I got home, exhausted.”
Read the paragraph again. There’s a hero (you) who wants something (bread) and must overcome obstacles to achieve their goal or fail in their attempt.
After working with hundreds of brands on their digital marketing strategies at Thrive Agency, the best advice I can give is to help your ideal client solve their problem through story.
The Five-Finger Approach
I want to give you an easy way to remember the components of a good story: your five fingers.
Pinky Promise: Define Your Commitment
Hold up your left hand. We will start with the pinky finger. Think of this finger as the promise you make to your ideal client. It’s a metaphor for the pinky promise you made a friend on the playground as a child. You need to have the same mindset. If your business is a restoration company, your pinky promise is to return the customer’s home to its original condition.
Ring Finger: Build Relationships
Now move to your ring finger. The ring finger is where a wedding band is worn in the United States. We will use this finger to symbolize the courtship and ultimate marriage with your client over many interactions. In the sales process, you can’t ask them to marry you on the first date (interaction). Structuring your content, follow-up and calls to action should be akin to a good old-fashioned courtship. Respect the process.
Middle Finger: Identify And Defy Your Villain
Next, let’s look at the middle finger. This finger represents defiance but directed at whom? Your enemy. Every brand has a villain. You must call them out and ensure your ideal client doesn’t risk making the wrong choice and failing in their quest to solve their problem. You are the best choice. Be prepared to explain why.
The villain may be a person, a company or an ideology. If you are in weight loss or fitness, your villain may be fad diets. Go head-to-head and don’t back down. Your ideal client has likely tried multiple options to solve their pain and failed. These failures are the conflict in the story; the obstacles to achieving their goal or relieving their pain. Let your client know you’ve helped others before. You know what to do. Social proof, customer testimonials, awards and reviews are gold. Use them.
Pointer Finger: Maintain Singular Focus
After that, we have the pointer or index finger. Raise that finger. It translates into number one. When telling a story, you need to know your market. Speak directly to them. The pointer finger represents the need for singular focus—one audience, one big idea, one solution and one compelling call to action. Data-based evidence in our conversion rate optimization studies confirms that trying to please everyone will be a conversion failure.
Thumb: Measure Success
Finally, we come to the power of the thumb. A thumbs-up is the universal symbol of success. It represents approval from your audience, positive metrics and customer satisfaction. A thumbs down means improvements are needed.
Applying The Five-Finger Approach To A Restoration Company
Imagine a restoration company using the five-finger approach to tell its brand story.
1. Pinky Promise: They promise to restore customers’ homes to their original condition, ensuring peace of mind during stressful times.
2. Ring Finger: They build relationships through empathetic and supportive communication, guiding customers through the restoration process step-by-step and providing regular updates.
3. Middle Finger: They identify the villain as subpar restoration services that leave homeowners with lingering issues. The company highlights its superior quality and reliability through customer testimonials and reviews.
4. Pointer Finger: Their marketing focuses on homeowners who have recently experienced property damage, offering a clear solution—comprehensive restoration services—and a compelling call to action: “Call us today for a free inspection.”
5. Thumb: They gather feedback through customer surveys and monitor metrics such as customer satisfaction scores and repeat business rates. Adjustments are made based on this feedback to continually improve their services.
Conclusion
Aligning all of these elements together ensures a common story across platforms. The audience can step into the narrative at any point and feel the story unfold as the customer journey guides them to the solution to their pain. By following this five-finger approach, you can craft a compelling brand story that connects with your audience and drives conversions across all digital channels.
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