If you are working in the field of digital evangelism, storybranding will no doubt help your online ministry. A compelling storybrand allows you to convey a message and give clarity and purpose when involved with people marketing. There are challenges in online evangelism but one solution lies in incorporating the lessons from this book into your framework.
Written by New York Times best-selling author Donald Miller, Building a StoryBrand shares seven elements that can incorporate people marketing, helping connect customers and improve business on a larger scale. Sam’s Book Club integrates these marketing strategies, such as storytelling branding, into digital evangelism.
In this episode, host Pastor Sam Neves, Associate Director of Communications at the global headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, invites Kyle Morrison, an SEO expert and certified guide of storybranding to join him. They tackle how a storybrand can do much for online ministries and share profound ways of connecting to people at a deeper level—making them the heroes of their own stories.
Building a Good Digital Evangelism Story Brand
For storybranding, you must first have a character; a character with a problem that needs solving. Then you will meet as the guide to help the character formulate a plan, give a call to action, avoid failure as much as possible and help to achieve success. This marketing strategy plan will answer why branding matters.
Going through these steps, Pastor Sam and Kyle discuss how they do digital evangelism, particularly in the space of adventist.org.
The Character
The customer is the hero of the story, not the brand. You need to know who the main character is and what they want. If you don’t define those two things, people will lose interest. Knowing what people want is hard, especially for a church organization. They want everything; and that simply means they want nothing.
To attract more customers, it is best to have a specific target. Examples of a digital evangelism target audience could be single mothers looking for trustworthy answers, or men in their twenties trying to choose a career.
The Problem
The problem requires you to pinpoint the villain. As Kyle says, ‘The villain is the thing that is at war against the hero and is stopping them from achieving greatness or that aspirational identity they are heading for.’ The external, internal and philosophical dimensions of the problem are also highlights of the topic.
Meeting The Guide: Empathy and Authority
For the statement of empathy, as the hero’s guide, make people feel that you genuinely care and understand their situation and celebrate their victory.
As for authority, establishing your strength is not arrogance. Be strong and confident with what you offer, but do not promise something you cannot deliver.
The guide with a prepared plan is the most influential person in the storybrand and digital missionaries should practice being master guides of empathy and authority.
A Clear and Specific Call to Action
It is important to be straightforward when explaining the call to action. People can then move into clarity rather than confusion. When you confuse, you lose! The call to action must simply be answerable by yes or no.
Don’t ask people what to do; tell them! It could be an invitation to join a Bible study, enroll in a Bible Academy or just a simple prayer request. If people need what you’re offering, they will ‘get it’.
The transitional call to action is also essential, especially in digital evangelism. Although people may not be ready to commit to Bible study, their interest is an excellent opportunity. They can do other things like watching videos of interest and, in that way, you are also building your future audience.
Ending in a Success Story
The answer is you have to be there for people. Encourage, pray and remind them that they may end up becoming a success story. There is a cost that you have to pay when you live a life for Jesus and the price is high. We have to give people value when engaging in digital evangelism.
It sure isn’t easy, but believe that results will come. It may look different in various people, but seeing them find a purpose in life, live in peace and finally find themselves in Jesus is worth it.