#storybrand

---
name: storybrand
description: Create or review customer-facing SaaS marketing messages with the StoryBrand framework. Use for value propositions, landing and feature pages, pricing and paywalls, upgrade prompts, campaigns, emails, and conversion copy. Use only when explaining value or motivating a customer action is part of the task; routine interface labels and visual-only UI work do not need this skill.
---

# StoryBrand messaging for SaaS

This skill distills Donald Miller's *Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen* (2017), especially chapters 1–12 and the StoryBrand Marketing Roadmap. The book supplies the messaging framework and website guidance. The paywall, pricing, and product-flow guidance below applies that framework to SaaS; it is not a set of templates from the book.

## The story to clarify

The **customer is the hero** pursuing a specific goal. The brand is a **guide** that understands the difficulty, has credible ability to help, gives a clear plan, and invites an action. The action helps the customer avoid a real loss and reach a concrete success. A strong message can also show who the customer becomes through that success.

Use these seven StoryBrand decisions as a message filter, not as seven mandatory sections on every surface:

1. **Character:** Which customer is this for, and what *one* relevant thing do they want?
2. **Problem:** What real obstacle blocks them? Identify the external task, the internal frustration or doubt, and, when natural, why the situation feels wrong. A villain is the root cause, never a caricature of the customer.
3. **Guide:** How can the brand show empathy and competence? Use specific, verifiable proof rather than self-praise.
4. **Plan:** What few steps make the next move easy to picture? Which genuine promise removes a purchase fear? The book distinguishes a process plan from an agreement plan.
5. **Action:** What direct action should the customer take now? Is there a useful lower-commitment action for someone who is not ready?
6. **Failure:** What honest, proportionate cost follows if the problem stays unsolved? Use this sparingly.
7. **Success:** What will improve in the customer's work or life, how will it feel, and what can they now do? Show the result specifically.

For a campaign or substantial page, capture the answers in a short working BrandScript. For a small rewrite, use the same questions mentally; do not turn a button edit into a strategy exercise. Read [references/brandscript.md](references/brandscript.md) when the offer, audience, or story needs to be defined or reconciled across assets.

## Work from the actual offer

Inspect the relevant product, existing copy, audience research, customer language, pricing, and conversion path when available. Separate **known facts** from assumptions, especially outcomes, testimonials, usage limits, trials, guarantees, and cancellation terms. Ask for a missing decision only when it would materially change the message; otherwise make a reasonable, visible assumption and draft.

Choose one central desire and problem for each audience and buying moment. A company with distinct products or customer segments may need an umbrella message plus separate BrandScripts or pages. Keep the customer's words and the brand's established voice. Be concrete about what the product does and why that changes the customer's situation. Features support the outcome; they do not replace it.

Write short, repeatable language. Remove company history, jargon, clever abstractions, and unrelated claims when they obscure the customer's goal. Do not invent results, social proof, deadlines, discounts, scarcity, policy promises, or product behavior. The book recommends a light touch with negative stakes; use real consequences without shaming or pressure.

## Select the relevant playbook

- [Landing and feature pages](references/landing-pages.md): website structure, above-the-fold offer, proof, plans, imagery, and calls to action.
- [Paywalls and pricing](references/paywalls-pricing.md): adapt SB7 to a blocked product goal, an upgrade, a trial ending, or a purchase decision.
- [Campaign assets](references/campaigns.md): one-liners, lead generators, emails, testimonials, referrals, and concise ads.
- [Review and revision](references/audit.md): diagnose existing copy, prioritize fixes, and check a finished draft.

Only load the playbook needed for the request. A single surface rarely needs all seven elements stated explicitly. Keep the story consistent as the customer moves from ad to page to signup, checkout, and onboarding.

## Deliver and implement

Give ready-to-use copy in the format the user asked for. Strategy notes or StoryBrand labels may accompany a draft when useful for review; keep them out of customer-facing text. When implementing, update the relevant layout and copy together if clarity depends on both, and verify that buttons, links, plan names, prices, and claims match the product. Preserve functional behavior unless the task calls for changing it.

Before finishing, apply the book's five-second **grunt test** to the first screen: can a new visitor tell what is offered, how it helps them, and what to do next? If any answer is unclear, revise that screen first. Then check that the rest of the journey fulfills its promise.