Can I Use a StoryBrand BrandScript on Social Media with the PAGER Method? Yep! Here’s How.
When you first create a BrandScript for your company it can be unclear how to use it on social media. You don’t want to turn your feed into a billboard for your work, but you know it’s going to help your audience understand what you can do to solve their problems. The PAGER method will help you build your BrandScript into your content mix so you can help your audience understand what you do, how it make their lives better, and how they can get it.
When social media accounts become commercials for their brands, audiences tune out. According to We are Social and Meltwater’s October 2023 report, the main reasons why social media users open up social media platforms are:
to keep in touch with friends and family
to fill spare time
to read news stories
Finding products to purchase is sixth on the list.
So clearly your audience isn’t looking to be sold to on social media.
To add insult to injury, algorithms hate self-promotional content, and often don’t show it to as many people. Mostly because social media platforms want you to buy ads if you’re going to turn your account into a commercial. So they won’t show your posts to as many people.
But you have a BrandScript, and you want to use it, dag nabbit. Because it very clearly defines your company’s message.
So it’s key that you use your BrandScript strategically on social media so you keep both your audience and the algorithms happy.
I’ve created social media content for brands for nearly ten years now. And as a StoryBrand Certified Guide, I’ve figured out how to incorporate this important tool on social by blending it in to your context mix using the PAGER method. I wrote about this in my book Simple Social Media, but here’s an overview.
What is a StoryBrand BrandScript?
Donald Miller’s book Building a StoryBrand discusses incorporating seven narrative elements into your marketing. You write them down like lines on a script so that everyone in your company can use those lines throughout your marketing. And your audience knows exactly what you do for them, how they can get it, and how it will make their lives better.
The different elements in a BrandScript are:
A Character
With a Problem
Meets a Guide Who Understands Their Fear
And Gives Them a Plan
That Calls Them to Action
That Results in Success
Or Results in Failure
If you fill your BrandScript with messages based on your audience and your company, you make it easy for them to buy from you. You can use these messages on your website, throughout your emails, on the packaging of your products. And you can use those same messages on social media.
You can create a BrandScript for your own company for free at MyStoryBrand.com.
A sample BrandScript
What is the PAGER Method?
The PAGER method is a social media strategy based on creating content within five different categories and then posting one piece of content from each category regularly. I created it when I realized that other social media strategies weren’t working: if you posted too much community-building content you wouldn’t hit your revenue goals. If your posts were too business-driven, you wouldn’t build community. I created the PAGER method to give you a healthy content mix of every kind of content I’d come across in my decade-long career making organic social media content.
The PAGER method involves creating posts that fall into one of these categories:
Articles (including blog posts, podcasts, and longer videos)
Random
According to the PAGER method, a StoryBrand BrandScript is Promotional, since you use your BrandScript to promote your brand, this is the best category for it.
You don’t want your social media account becoming a big commercial, so we are following the rule that only 20% of your content be promotional. If you post five times a week according to the PAGER method, you will only post this kind of content once every five posts. So you can be sure that you’re not spamming your own feed.
Create Social Media Posts With Your BrandScript
Number Your BrandScript
Take your company’s completed BrandScript and number it according to the chart.
2. Roll Dice
Next, roll two 10-sided dice. Don’t have any? Just use the one below from Google. (Who knew you could even do that with Google, right?)
3. Write a the Caption for a Social Media Post Based on the Dice
Pretty much every social media platform that you’re using requires you to have some kind of text: TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, they all require a caption.
To create the caption, we’re going to look at the numbers that were rolled on the dice.
The image above shows that the roll is a 5 and a 6. So you would look at numbers 5 and 6 on your BrandScript and build out your caption for your social media post from there.
In this example, we’ll use number 5 and 6 from Downstage Media’s BrandScript. For you StoryBrand nerds out there, this happens to be the Guide section and we’re showing empathy and authority.
Downstage Media’s BrandScript #5 :
I understand how it feels to have your resources stretched too thin.
Downstage Media’s BrandScript #6:
I have used proven frameworks for nearly ten years to help brands build engaged audiences.
Next you add in the Call to Action either H (Direct Call to Action) or T (Transitional Call to Action). I’ll choose the Direct Call to Action.
Downstage Media’s Direct Call to Action (A):
Schedule an Intro Call
Here is the caption for the post when it’s all put together:
I understand how it feels to have your resources stretched too thin. So I've used proven frameworks for nearly ten years to help brands build engaged audiences. Schedule an Intro Call today at downstage.media/getstarted
You can finesse the words as much as you mean to so they sound nice and smooth. You can also expand on them a bit depending on how long you want your post to be.
4. Add a Visual to the Post
Just like you would with any other social media post, you’re going to add an image or a video. So we’ll add that into the mix and preview what it will look like. This one would go on Twitter, so it’s formatted for that platform.
5. Create 4 More Variations Using the Same Method
I like to make content in a big batch and then stockpile it in order to save time. Repeat this method until I have about five social media posts based on my BrandScript.
This will save you so much time. There are so many tasks that get faster when you do them in bulk and social media content creation is no different.
Plus, when you create 5 posts like this and use the PAGER method, that is about 5 weeks of posts that you have ready to go. Yay!
6. Schedule or Automate
Once you’ve made your posts it’s time to load them into your favorite social media scheduler. Or, of course, you can always just upload them when you want to post. If you’re looking to save time, though, this isn’t the best option. You have to figure out what's going to be the best for you and your work flow.
I highly recommend MeetEdgar because it allows you to automate versus schedule. Scheduling means that you tell the platform “post this image to Twitter on Tuesday at 9am.” Automating means that you tell the platform “post any of these images to Twitter on Tuesday at 9am.” The big difference in how much time it requires up front and how much time it saves you on the back end.
Put Your BrandScript to Work
You already know how powerful a BrandScript can be on your website or in your emails. Now, you can make use of it on your social media channels as well. Although you don’t want to post this kind of content too often, by using the PAGER method you’ll be able to make sure that you keep promotional posts in check so that you can still connect with your audience while meeting your goals for your business.
Get a BrandScript
If you don’t have a BrandScript yet for your business, Schedule an Intro Call with Downstage Media so we can discuss the best way to create one for your brand.
