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Here’s the problem: if visitors can’t see themselves benefiting from responding to your call to action, very few will go ahead and respond anyway. Just giving your visitors the facts and asking them to do something rarely works. Your visitors need to actually see themselves, with their “minds eye,” benefiting from what you offer. For added power, they also need to feel those benefits with their emotions.

Of course, what you offer should help your visitors make their lives better in some way. We all work for the benefit of helping others have a better life. This is the secret of success; the more you can help others succeed the more successful you’ll be. But none of that happens if your visitors don’t react to your offer. And the job of your website is to get your visitors to take you up on your offer. That’s how important the way your message is communicated is; your success depends on it.

More than likely, you’re very good at what you do. However, I’m guessing what you do has nothing to do with figuring out how your message can be conveyed using story elements. But the good news is using story to communicate your message is our specialty. We work with you to first understand your message, and then we express your message using the power of story. Does that mean we write a fictional “once upon a time” story for your website? No, but we do use story elements to deliver your message:

• there’s a hero (your visitor),
• a guide (you),
• the hero’s goal or desire (the improvement to your visitor’s life you offer),
• a problem or conflict (what stands in the way of the desired improvement),
• the stakes (what life is like if they don’t respond and what it’s like if they do respond to you),
• a plan (how to get the desired improvement),
• a call to action (without it your hero won’t make a move),
• and a transformation (your visitor’s improved life).  

These are elements of a story. When your message is told through these elements, it becomes very powerful. This is because these story elements invite your visitors to see themselves in the story – in your message.

But the magic isn’t in just using story elements. It’s possible to tell a story in a very dry and dull way. Stories like that don’t ask us to use our imaginations or they make it difficult to. In stories like those, there’s no fuel for the imagination. And all stories need to fuel our imaginations. That fuel comes primarily from these three sources:

1. Visual Language – Your visitors need your help in putting a picture in their mind’s eye. You need to paint word pictures of what it would be like if they don’t respond to you, and a contrasting word picture of what it looks like when they do respond to your offer. The tricky part is that these word pictures must be both vivid and concise. If your words don’t paint a vivid picture of both failure and success they’ll fail. And if there are too many words used, your visitors won’t read them.

2. Emotional Language – To make a connection with your visitors you need to understand the emotions they likely have surrounding the improvement to their life you offer. This is why empathy is so important. What drives your visitors’ desires for the benefits you offer? What are they really looking for? It’s also important to understand what they don’t want. What are their fears or concerns. You must show that you understand the whole range of their emotions by expressing them in the story elements. When you do, you make the story personal and relevant to them.

3. Images – Pictures are powerful communicators of your message. The right picture can convey the subtle meanings of your message in a way words can’t. A look of despair, delight, or satisfaction; inquisitiveness, shyness, understanding; these images are powerful tools to transmit your message. When they are used, they reinforce the story of your message. Your visitors actually experience in their minds what the people in your images are experiencing – they see themselves in those pictures. Used correctly, images are high octane fuel for your visitors’ imaginations. However, if the images are not professional or are the wrong images, they lose that power and can even do damage to your message.

What would it mean to your success if your visitors were to accept your invitation to picture themselves within your message – to see themselves benefiting from responding to your call to action? Imagine your website, with your message, but having the power of story driving your visitors’ responses.

If this sounds valuable to you, I invite you to schedule a free consultation today and let’s talk about how story can turn your website into a powerful and persuasive narrative. Together, we can help your visitors see themselves as part of your story, enjoying the improved life you offer them. We here at Drake Web Development would love to help you invite your visitors into your message. We never charge anyone to talk, so there’s no risk and no obligation. We actually believe what we wrote above – success comes from helping others succeed. That’s why we don’t believe in pressuring you in any way, we’re just here to help. If it ends up that we can produce something that helps you succeed, great – we’ve established a working relationship. If all you need is some advice, that’s great too, because now we’ve gotten acquainted and perhaps we’ll do business with each other in the future. Either way, we both win.