Hero’s Journey: A Solution To Your Customers’ Selective Attention

Online marketing speak for:

“Client focused aproach”

Have you ever seen an advertisement so engaging that you instantly envisioned yourself using the product? Most likely you were experiencing what AdMen call the “Monomyth”. The interesting thing about this type of advertising is that it works on people who haven’t thought about your product or brand before.

In this article, we will cover some of the basic ideas around “The Hero’s Journey”.

For years, we have been told that people’s attention span has decreased dramatically. However, we believe that it’s not decreasing, instead, it’s becoming selective, thanks to technology. The huge volume of content a typical User sees on a daily basis makes them more selective about where they allot most of their attention.

How-to Create content that will capture the attention of your target market.

Step 1. Create a story. A great story can make your customers pay attention to what you’re saying. Human brains are wired for stories. People learn and retain information easier if presented through a story format.

Step 2. Make the viewer the hero of that story. Invite the viewer on a journey with your brand or product where they are the hero. This will be further explained later.

What is the Hero’s Journey?

According to Wikipedia “the monomyth, or the hero’s journey, is the common template of a broad category of tales and lore that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed.”

The study started in 1871 when anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor observes the common pattern of the heroes’ journeys plots.

Later on, some other personalities presented their views and theories on the myth narratives. In 1949, Joseph Campbell, an American professor of literature first coined the phrase “hero’s journey”. According to Campbell, there are 17 stages of the hero’s journey. His version of the “hero’s journey” has been widely accepted and a number of versions have been published afterward. Campbell’s 17 stages of the hero’s journey can be divided into three acts, namely, Departure, Initiation, and Return.

Departure

To be effective in creating your story you have to identify your customers first. What do your customers want? What are their problems that your brand can relate to? What do you want your brand to be recognized for?

You should be specific and clear in what you offer. It’s preferable that your brand should be known for one thing. Don’t confuse your customers with many different offers. Offer your brand to solve one specific problem of your customers. But don’t forget that they’re the hero in the story. You or your brand will serve as a tool (guide) to solve their problem. When your customers see themselves in your story, they will be ready to hear more of your brand’s message.

Initiation

After identifying your hero and the adversity they’re facing. You need the Hero to see you as their guide. They are now ready to cross the threshold from the ordinary world to the unknown and face the trials and ordeals and to gain their reward. This is where the hero understands what is at stake if he does not succeed. Everything is on the line.

As their guide, you have to give your customers’ a short and simple step by step plan on how easy it is to overcome the barriers to their success. Challenge them to buy your product. Your customers will not act unless they are challenged. Layout to your customers the negative effects if they do not buy your product. Make your call to action or the buy button easy to spot on your website. After all, it is your main goal and that’s why you are advertising in the first place.

When the customer buys your product the story is not over. It is just the beginning of the last act.

Return

Here, your hero faces the consequence of his previous actions. This is the final battle. It’s the final push so that he can return to the ordinary world. If he is victorious he will return to the home, matured and grown, the master of both worlds. Usually the happy ending of the story.

You can portray in your advertisements the lives of your customers without the problems they’re facing. Displaying your customers’ success with the help of your product. How convenient their lives would be with the help of your product etc.

Conclusion

To get your customers’ selective attention create a story where they’re the hero, not your product. The hero’s journey story structure will serve as our guide on how to make more engaging stories. By giving your clients a story that they can relate to, they are more than willing to listen to your ideas and eventually, use your brand.

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