Many natural healthcare practices confuse their potential patients with unclear messaging. StoryBrand provides a formula to craft your message so that your ideal patients will be captivated and want to engage. Follow this blog series to discover how StoryBrand is a natural fit for marketing your naturopathic, chiropractic, acupuncture, or functional medicine practice.

This article is part 3 of 11 in a series on StoryBrand for Health and Medicine. Check out the entire series here.

StoryBrand for Health and Medicine Part 3: You are a Master at Solving Problems

“Companies should ALWAYS be talking about their customers’ problems.” If you’ve ever listened to Donald Miller, CEO of StoryBrand, you’ve heard him say this.

Let’s face it—people will only purchase your products or services if they see how you are solving a problem that THEY HAVE.

That’s why one of the most important elements of the StoryBrand framework is the “problem.”

That’s also why StoryBrand is such a natural fit for the health and wellness industry. If you are a clinician, your job revolves around solving people’s problems. If you teach health classes or courses, people sign up because they have a problem you can solve. If you own a line of dietary supplements, the same is true.

You are a master at solving problems.

Now, all you need to do is get clear on how to talk about the problems you solve as part of your marketing message. Below are some tips to get you started.

How to Get Clear on the Problems You Solve

You solve hundreds of problems. Some days, you give a remedy for heartburn. Other days, you diagnose a rare disease that has gone unrecognized in a patient. Almost every day, you help people solve health problems in a way that nobody has been able to before.

When it comes to your marketing message, however, listing a hundred different conditions you treat is not going to be the most effective approach. It’s more effective to distill the problems you solve down to a common denominator. What is a problem that all of your patients share—that you are expertly positioned to solve?

Take these three steps:

• Brainstorm. Most brilliant ideas come about after a slew of horrible ideas have been put on the table. Make a list of all of the problems you solve. Start with the conditions you treat (e.g, IBS, PMS, COPD, insomnia, anxiety, etc.). Then think about WHY people come to you with these problems (e.g, they want to avoid medications or surgery). Write everything down that comes to mind. There are no wrong ideas in a brainstorming session.
• Go Deep and Dark. People want to know that you can help them overcome a certain condition or avoid the side effects of medication, but WHY do they want these problems solved? What is it about these problems that keeps them up at night? What distress or feelings do these problems create that make their lives hard to bear? A person may have IBS, but the real reason they want to solve their digestive problems is because they can’t go out on dates without running to the restroom every few minutes. They are lonely and might end up single for the rest of their life. Every problem that a patient brings to you has layers of problems underneath. Go deep and dark and brainstorm what those problems are.
• Think Outside the Box. Now you know that you solve health problems (e.g., IBS) and deeper problems related to those health problems (e.g., loneliness), but what makes YOUR approach to solving those problems so unique? Is there anything about the WAY that you deliver your services or the RESULTS that you get that make your solution better than any other? Why do patients come to you instead of the first doctor listed on their insurance plan? Maybe you order an extensive array of functional medicine tests for every patient—solving the problem that most medicine is prescribed by trial and error. Maybe you include hands-on therapy or essential oils during appointments—solving the problem that medicine has become stressful and depersonalized. Think outside the box, and you may land on the problem that is most central to your business and marketing message.

Once you have a list of problems you solve, it’s time to choose one for you marketing message. It’s fine to solve a lot of problems, but it’s not fine to talk about all of them all the time. People will become confused and lose interest.

A clear marketing message will repeat the main problem you solve again and again and again. You can state it in slightly different ways, but the single problem you claim to solve should be clear.

How to Use Your Problem-Solving Savvy in Your Marketing Message

 Let’s circle back to what Donald Miller of StoryBrand says: “You should always be talking about your customers’ problems.”

• Say it when you introduce yourself. Do you ever go to networking events? Do you ever give public talks? Do you ever meet new people? Next time you introduce yourself to somebody, try something new. Rather than saying, “I’m a naturopathic doctor,” or “I’m an acupuncturist,” first say the problem that you solve. When they ask what you do, you might say, “You know how a lot of people feel really stressed out about going to the doctor anymore? I’m a naturopathic doctor and have a clinic designed to take the stress out of medicine—because people need to feel relaxed if their body is going to heal.”
• Say it on your business card. Repetition is how people begin to memorize what you do. When they memorize what you do, they’ll know when and why to come to you for help. Put the problem that you solve right there on your business card as a reminder for people you meet.
• Say it on your website. Your website is probably your most important marketing tool. If you want people to be convinced that you can help them, you need to be clear about how you can solve their problem. You can talk about your patients’ problems anywhere on your site, but a common place is right there—front and center—on the home page.

Problem Solving in the StoryBrand Framework

Read Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller or check out the free online BrandScript tool. The "problem" section of the StoryBrand framework includes both an external and internal problem. You can learn more at storybrand.com or by hiring a StoryBrand Certified Guide.

Up next

This article is part 3 of 11 in a series on StoryBrand for Health and Medicine. Up next is Part 4: Your Paradigm Shift Could Make You Money