Why Your Website Needs A Strong StoryBrand One-Liner

Is your beautiful website failing to convert visitors into paying customers? Unfortunately, many businesses end up wasting money on websites that don’t deliver leads because their brand message isn’t clear. If you are struggling to get marketing results, adding a winning StoryBrand One-Liner to your website can supercharge your site and your business.

Why Your Website Needs a Strong One-Liner

When a customer stumbles upon your website, they want to know one thing – if you can effectively solve their problem. Yet, all too often our websites tell them everything but the answer to their biggest question.

Your website has information about your history, founder, new products and promotions. Meanwhile, your poor potential customer doesn’t have the time or energy for those details. Your client has a problem to solve and needs a solution fast.

With a concise and compelling one-liner, you are answering your potential client’s burning questions quickly and effectively, automatically gaining a bit of their trust and bringing them one step closer to becoming your paid customer.

If this sounds like the solution you’ve been looking for, keep reading to learn how to create your own StoryBrand One-Liner.

What is a StoryBrand One-Liner?

A StoryBrand One-Liner is a concise explanation of what your business does. It is designed to be short, clear, and memorable. When people hear this descriptive paragraph or phrase, they should instantly know how you can help them and what makes you different from the competition.

Some describe it as your elevator pitch. However, this is a high-quality one that you thought of ahead of time instead of the rambling answers we usually give when someone asks us what we do. Your StoryBrand One-Liner is essentially an even further condensed version of your StoryBrand BrandScript.

A One-Liner vs a Tagline

A one-liner is not the same as a tagline. A tagline is a short, memorable phrase focused on branding while the one-liner clearly states the problem you solve for your customers and how you can help them be the hero of their story.

A tag line is literally one line, while a StoryBrand One-Liner may be a bit longer. Like a tagline, your one-liner should be a fluid, easy to repeat sentence or phrase. However, to be effective, your one-liner needs to include the three essential elements.

Tip: If you’ve created a StoryBrand BrandScript, you’ve already outlined the essential elements you need for your one-liner. Now you just need to rework them into a short, memorable phrase. If you haven’t, you can use this software to help you create one.

The Three Elements of a High-Quality One-Liner

With the swoop of one super effective sentence, you can transport potential clients into a story. They imagine themselves fighting against the villain (the problem) and then living out a happy ending thanks to your ingenious solution. However, a phrase that powerful isn’t always easy to write. To be certain your StoryBrand One-Liner knocks it out of the park, you need to include these three equally important parts.

Outline the Problem

Begin your one-liner by outlining the problem that your product or service solves. You want to mention a relatable problem that you know your clients face, not just an objection. Pick a problem that will evoke emotions, something they genuinely feel and relate to. This will allow customers to feel seen and understood but it also puts them inside a story loop, making them anxious to find out if they truly will win in the end.

If you’ve already written out a BrandScript you could use the external, internal or philosophic problem listed there. However, you want to pick just one problem to keep your one-liner short and concise.

State Your Solution

Next, you explain how your product or service can help solve that very problem. Frame your solution as a new but understandable idea. Make sure you show how your idea is different from all the other things your customers have already tried in the past.

For this section, you can look at what you wrote in the “customer wants” line of your BrandScript. It is also a good idea to insert your company name or the name of your product into this section.

Many companies stop right here. Unfortunately, your potential client’s brain doesn’t. He or she is still stuck in that story loop wondering if your product can solve his or her problem. That is why this last step is so crucial to sealing the deal.

Paint a Picture of Success

In this last step, you close the loop by showing customers just how your product or service can change their lives for the better. You paint a picture of success, happiness, and completion.

For this section, you can look at the character transformation portion of your BrandScript.

Be sure that what you are promising is also something that you can deliver. Making unrealistic promises can backfire in the end, causing customers to feel you are manipulating them to make a sale.

Tips for Creating Highly Effective One-Liners

Make your One-Liner Short, Memorable and Repeatable

It is hard to distill your entire marketing message into one short, memorizable phrase, isn’t it? Thankfully, your customers don’t need to know every detail. They are just looking for the pieces that explain how they win in the end. If you are struggling to create a One-Liner for your business, we’d love to help. Contact us today and speak to one of our Certified StoryBrand Guides.

Avoid the “Curse Words”

One-liner curse words are commas and the word and. Try to keep your one-liner so simple and concise that you can convey your message without them.

Make it sound natural

Your StoryBrand One Liner is something you are going to be using a lot. Say it out loud a few times. If it doesn’t sound natural, keep tweaking it until it does.

Always Start With the Pain Point

It can be tempting to want to talk about your product first. However, for your client, that feels uncomfortable. If you start with your product or service, you are positioning yourself and your product as the hero. Remember, your client isn’t looking for another hero, or even a product. He or she needs a solution.

Use it Everywhere

If you create a powerful one-liner but never use it, you are wasting one of your business’s most valuable assets. Here are some additional places, outside of your website, where you can use your one-liner:

On all marketing materials- you can list your one-liner on any printed materials such as flyers, brochures, and business cards.
All over your website- You can use your one-liner on the main page of your website but you can also include it in the first paragraph of your about page, at the end of each blog post, or even in the footer of your webpage.
Email Signatures- Adding one-liners to everyone’s email signature is a great way to make sure each person you interact with knows exactly what your company does.
Social Media- Make your one-liner your biography on all of your social media channels. The more potential customers see this powerful phrase, the more likely they are to internalize it and take action.
Networking- Memorize your one-liner and have your team do the same. Anytime you are at networking events, cocktail parties, or just having a conversation about what you do, your one-liner is there to give you a compelling answer and possibly even make a sale.

Strong brands know the power of clear messaging. If you want to stand out in a crowded market, develop marketing campaigns that get results, or gain new clients, adding a strong StoryBrand One-Liner to your website and marketing materials is a great first step on the path to success.

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