12 of the Best StoryBrand Website Examples

by Kim Garmon Hummel, on Apr 5, 2023 12:22:10 PM

Can you relate to this?

You’re shopping online for a new pair of running shoes, and you click into a website. Now, all you want to know is if these shoes will help with overpronation and solve that pain in your ankle, but instead you find yourself scrolling through a multi-paragraph origin story about the brand. At this point you don’t give a flying flip that this company started out in some guy’s garage—all you want to know is if these shoes can make running less like torture.

To use highly-technical marketing terms, we would classify this as a Really Crummy Website (RCW).

We all know a bad website when we experience it. The UX is garbage, the messaging is muddy, and we don’t know what the heck this business does or why we should even care. But the truth is, without a messaging framework, it’s really easy to produce a RCW.

Here at Sauce, to cure a bad case or prevent a RCW, we’re huge advocates of the StoryBrand messaging framework. It’s a proven methodology that uses narrative elements to compel website visitors to action, and convert visitors into customers.

If you’re not familiar with StoryBrand, in this post, we’ll outline:

What Is A StoryBrand Website?
What Is The StoryBrand Framework?
How Do I Find A StoryBrand Guide?
11 Outstanding StoryBrand Website Examples

What Is A StoryBrand Website? Is It Really Any Different From Other Websites?

The internet is a deluge of websites that screech sales pitches into the void. Any hapless visitor who ventures to click their way to a site is met with demands to “buy our product,” “read our story,” and “learn about our methodology.”

Do you hear it? Me, me, me—it’s all about me.

Too often, businesses assume they're the radiant, beaming sun, the center of the universe, and their customers are just secondary planets subject to the gravitational pull of their best marketing and sales strategies.

This type of business-centric messaging is outdated on a cosmic level—and it’s why modern decision-makers don’t respond to traditional website messaging.

Your customers view themselves as the center of the universe—not you, not your business.

The StoryBrand framework throws traditional website messaging out the window and doesn’t look back. With StoryBrand, the customer is the hero. And that changes everything.

Now the main purpose of a website is to develop a compelling story around your customer that:

Communicates their pain points & understands their goals
Establishes your brand as the guide that can help them solve their problems

In order to do this, a StoryBrand website drills down to the customer's most sensitive pain points. It helps articulate their problems by answering crucial questions like:

What are customers struggling with on an internal, external, and psychological level?
What’s holding them back from achieving their goals?
What could they accomplish if they had the right guide to help?
What value does your product or service offer them?

What is the StoryBrand Framework?

Visitors to your website are always asking themselves, “how does this help me solve my problem?” and believe it or not, a story about your company’s humble beginnings won’t give them what they’re looking for. As a result, visitors feel confused and challenged—and they’ll bounce.

To avoid this, you can use the StoryBrand messaging format to:

Tell visitors the problem you solve. People don’t automatically draw the connection between what you’re selling and what they need. Not because they’re lazy, but because they know that’s not their job. It’s your responsibility to explicitly tell visitors the problem you solve and how it makes their life better.

Avoid stealing the limelight. You’ll end up alienating your customers and they’ll see you as a rival, not a solution to their problems.

Position the customer as the hero, and your business as the guide. Your customers don’t want a rival, they want a guide who can help them achieve their goals—so put yourself in your customer’s shoes and help them solve their problems.

Call visitors to action. Your website should be crystal clear about the next step you want your visitors to take. Keep your Call To Action front and center, and don’t hesitate to ask for that click.

How Do I Find a StoryBrand Guide?

When you partner with a StoryBrand Certified Guide, you’re teaming up with an expert who can effectively customize, develop, and execute a StoryBrand messaging framework for your business. They’ll help you craft a story that will capture your ideal customer’s imagination and demand their attention. It’s more than just a “plug and play” formula. The Guide is there to help craft the nuance that helps your ideal customers specifically choose you as their guide. The StoryBrand format also goes beyond your website. It serves as the crystal clear framework for all your sales and marketing messaging.

It’s easy to find a certified StoryBrand Guide from the roster on StoryBrand’s website, or you can reach out to Team Sauce! We’re a certified StoryBrand growth agency that eats storytelling for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. From our graphic designers and copywriters, to our sales enablement specialists, we craft customer experiences that endear, engage, and convert—and we have the data to back it up.

12 Outstanding StoryBrand Website Examples

You may not recognize them at first, but once you experience NOT Crummy Websites that have the structure and strategic format of StoryBrand, you’ll begin to see the tenets of a StoryBrand website include:

A main headline that passes the “Grunt Test,” where you examine your message from the perspective of a caveman—or cavewoman. If a caveman can understand what your business does and the problems it solves, you’re doing StoryBrand messaging right.
A value stack that communicates what your customer will get when they engage with your brand or purchase your product. Think about big-picture value here, not physical products. This is where you’ll clearly state the benefit of doing business with you.
Spelling out your customer’s problem. Articulate your customers’ struggles and remind them of their discomfort. Doing this well takes a careful hand, but don’t be afraid to twist the knife, so to speak.
Coming alongside their hero’s journey. This is where all that knife-twisting pays off. You’ve addressed your customer’s pain with empathy, now demonstrate your authority to solve their problem. This is your chance to shine, but don’t brag for the sake of bragging—make sure you’re only demonstrating your ability to solve customers’ problems.
Giving them a plan. Now that your website visitors know you understand their problems and are capable of solving them, tell them how you’ll do it. This should be a high-level map of doing business with you so the fewer steps you can include, the better.
Calling them to action with a compelling next step. Don’t leave your visitors hanging—ask them to take the next step.

We’ve rounded up 12 websites that execute the StoryBrand framework effectively. These businesses come from a range of industries and business sectors, but they’re all connected through a customer-centric narrative through StoryBrand.

Build A Website Your Ideal Customers Will Flock To With Sauce Agency

Creating a conversion-optimized StoryBrand website is no small undertaking. It takes a deft narrative touch to craft a StoryBrand script, convert it into a visually compelling website, and embed a delightful user experience. Sounds like a daunting task, right? Don’t worry, we can handle it for you.

The process behind a successful StoryBrand website is a combination of strategy, artistry, and wordsmithery—and it takes a team of experts who have honed their craft well to pull it off. Team Sauce is made up of the content and growth specialists you need to generate a StoryBrand website. Don’t wait to start building a website your customers will love—schedule a Connect Call with a certified Growth Guide today!