How StoryBrand Changes When You Sell to Businesses

StoryBrand is the best starting point I know for fixing a confusing message. I have studied it for close to a decade, and I use it on nearly everything we build. But if you sell to businesses instead of consumers, following the framework to the letter will get you a homepage that is clearer than before and still not quite right. Here is where it bends, with a real before-and-after, and what fixing your message actually costs.

Before and after: from “About Ground Level” to “facilities that cannot go down”

Ground Level is the cleanest example I have. Before we came in, the first section of the homepage, the hero, the very first thing anyone encountered, said “About Ground Level.” That was it. That just says, here I am. It does not connect with anyone.

Today the homepage leads with what they do and who needs it. It is mission-critical facility services: electrical, generator, HVAC, and structure work for facilities that cannot afford to go down. The copy even names the fear directly, that one missed step creates a domino effect, and answers it with, we have been in those facilities, we understand the stakes. Same company, same services. One version introduces itself. The other introduces your problem and the outcome you get.

Redbridge is another one. They now lead with data-driven advice for CFOs and treasury teams. Before, you could read the homepage and have no idea what they were talking about.

One version introduces itself. The other introduces your problem and the outcome you get.

Fix one: empathy is not a section, it is your why spread everywhere

StoryBrand tells you to show empathy, and a lot of people treat that as one line in one section. We get it. We understand your problem. In B2B, that is not enough. You need to tell your story, and empathy should be woven into every section in quiet ways. This is where Simon Sinek's start-with-why matters. Your why should run through the entire page, not sit in a single paragraph. When a reader can feel why you do this work, the empathy lands. When you just write “we get it,” it does not.

Fix two: you do not have one audience, test until you find the real one

The framework assumes you are speaking to one clearly defined customer. B2B is rarely that simple. Take Redbridge. Yes, they do data-driven advice. But another way to say it is that they help you reduce your bank fees, your transaction and acceptance fees, and optimize your debt structures so you save money. That version speaks to a specific person.

So who am I actually talking to? The burned-out financial analyst looking for a win that gets him promoted, or the head of treasury whose CFO just told her to cut costs? Those two people have different motives, and they respond to different messages. StoryBrand tends to get pitched like this: once you write it, that is the best you will ever have. In practice you should be testing personas, testing phrases, testing angles, and reading the analytics until you have whittled your way down to the message that truly resonates.

You are usually speaking to more than one buyer. Test until you find the real one.

Fix three: the free PDF does not work anymore

The framework leans hard on a low-friction transitional call to action, and the classic version is a five-point PDF. Basically a listicle in exchange for an email. When Marketing Made Simple came out, that worked, because more people were willing to hand over an email and far fewer freebies existed. Today anyone can produce that PDF with AI in about a minute, so it is no differentiator at all. If you want someone's email, you have to build something genuinely worth it, not blast a list of tips into the world and call it a lead magnet.

Same company, same services. One version introduces itself. The other introduces your problem and the outcome you get.

What messaging work actually costs

Most of the time, we do not sell messaging on its own. We build it into everything: the website, the video, the campaign. We will not start a website or a video shoot without the foundation, because we need to know the problem, the solution, and the result before we shoot a frame or wireframe a page. So it is priced into the project rather than sold a la carte. Honestly, most people do not realize their message is broken until we are already in production and it surfaces.

When someone does want messaging as a standalone engagement, a small one starts around $3,500 and runs about six weeks. That covers the meetings and conversations it takes, sometimes an internal employee survey and an external partner survey, then a pitch to the leader with guidance for rolling it out internally. A large engagement, with deeper research and a full internal rollout, can push up toward $35,000 over about six months. The range is wide because the work is, from a focused message tune-up to a company-wide reset.