It’s aggravating filling out long, unnecessary forms on websites. But you keep getting pointed towards the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment and its promise to show you why your marketing isn’t working. In this breakdown you’ll learn what the assessment asks, why bother to take it, what you get in the marketing report, and how it’s used in our work together. By getting comfortable with the assessment, you can know the steps to take to build your brand on solid ground.

You shouldn’t have to fill out a form on a website without knowing what’s on the other side of it. It’s aggravating and concerning. So many times you’re just thinking, “just tell me what I need to know! Do you need this bit of my info too?”

I’ve been there. Like you, I’m okay sharing what’s necessary, but don’t want to share much more than that.

It may seem at first that the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment is one of those forms. But since I started using this tool last year, it has helped me and my clients get a 360 degree view of their brands because it isolates marketing issues and shows where to focus first.

Let’s break down the report a bit more. Read on to find out:

what is being asked
what’s being done with your data
what comes in the StoryBrand Marketing Report
how the information you give is used in our Intro Call
how it’s used going forward as we work together

First, we’ll talk about what’s being asked.

What is Being Asked

The initial questions in the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment are basic contact questions so that so that you can receive your marketing report.

Next, to get a sense of your organization, you’ll be asked about the amount of employees you have, what your revenue is, and what you know you already need. By asking those questions, I can understand how many people you may have on your marketing team and the size of your marketing budget, and what field you’re in.

Then you’re asked the questions about your marketing. The assessment takes about ten minutes all together, and there are about two dozen questions. You are asked things like:

Can your customers name the main problem your company solves?
Do you have a compelling way to answer the question, “What do you do?”
Have you collected testimonials on your website?
Is your social media getting you sales?
Do you have a way of staying connected to your customers once you get their email address?

By answering these questions honestly and without overthinking, you’ll be able to show a snapshot of your company’s marketing.

But anyone who’s ever had to endure a Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend assault on their inbox will want to know what’s being done with all of that info that’s being inputted into the forms. That’s what we’ll talk about next.

What’s Being Done With My Answers

StoryBrand and Downstage Media use the information that you enter into the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment for marketing purposes. It’s a lead generator for both of us. After you fill it out you may get marketing emails. Both StoryBrand and my company use best practices for email marketing. So you are always able to unsubscribe and we won’t sell your information to outside companies.

Although I can’t speak for StoryBrand, I can tell you how I use this information with Downstage Media.

I enter it into Mailchimp and take note of which areas of the Assessment you scored lower on. This way, when there’s an event coming up that will help with that area - like a monthly Live Q&A - I will let you know.

You may also get emails about a promotion, initiative, or event within Downstage. And you may get a weekly marketing email with a simple tip or helpful insight for your marketing.

All of these you can always unsubscribe from and at Downstage Media you can even tailor what kind of emails you get. (there’s always a link at the bottom to unsubscribe).

What is in the StoryBrand Marketing Report

Once you take the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment, you’ll get a report that you can download. This 53 page pdf does three things:

It reveals what is missing in your marketing funnel (and explains what a marketing funnel is)
It gives you a comprehensive list of the collateral that needs to be created.
It will tell you whether or not your message is clearly inviting customers into a story in which they use your product to solve their problem.

The StoryBrand Marketing Report is really comprehensive: I know, a 53 page anything sounds daunting. The first few pages are about the overall foundational elements of your marketing that you want to have in place and why they’re important. Then there are a few pages that explain the stages of a relationship that you must guide potential customers through.

Page thirteen is where your customized strategy kicks in. I recommend you start there and then go back and read the other stuff that came before it. Maybe it’s the actor in me that would get a script and automatically start looking for the scenes that my character was in and the lines that I had. But I’ve found that clients first want to see where they scored low and then want to know how to fix it. After they get that overview, they are usually ready to understand the overall marketing concepts.

I recommend people take the Marketing Assessment, especially before we have an Intro Call. Here’s how we use it in that initial meeting.

How We Use the Marketing Report in Your Intro Call

Annie Schiffmann sitting at a table in a coffee shop listening to someone on a video call

When we sit down for an Intro Call, it’s important that you get a lot of information that you can actually use during our time together. So I like getting many of the preliminary questions out of the way ahead of time so I can listen to you to understand the problems that you’re having with your marketing.

The thing is, though, that the problems you’re experiencing are often a symptom of underlying issues that your Marketing Report uncovers. So when you and I sit down I can see how they’re affecting your business. And then I can find out a solution that isn’t just going to be a Band-Aid, but will actually bring about long term solutions.

You’ve already got the Marketing Report telling you what needs to be fixed, why to fix it, and in what order to fix it. By the time your Intro Call is over, you’ll know how they will get fixed and how much it’ll cost.

When you decide to move forward, there are ways that we continue to use your Report in our work together.

The StoryBrand Marketing Report in Our Work Together

Should you decide to partner with Downstage Media on your marketing we’ll use your StoryBrand Marketing Report in a bunch of different ways.

Marketing Mentorship: Your Marketing Report will serve as your syllabus for our work together. You’ll take the online course that addresses the first step that you need to work on, create your marketing assets, and I’ll help you implement it into real life.
Enhanced Marketing Livestream: In two days of the StoryBrand Marketing Livestream you’ll complete the first three steps laid out in the report. (most people have one of these steps done - maybe - before taking the assessment.). The your five private sessions you’ll work on completing any others that need to be addressed.
Done For You Services: While Downstage Media is working on your BrandScript or email sequence you’ll have a full understanding of the methods behind the marketing and know what projects to plan and budget for.

Marketing Results, Step by Step

By filling out the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment and reading through your StoryBrand Marketing Report you’ll understand what steps to take to set up a solid foundation for your brand - one that will save you hours of time down the line. Your potential customers will know what you do, how it makes their lives better, and how they can get it. They will seek out more information from you and then hear from you regularly - at scale. This will allow you to better serve the customers that you have so you can solve their problems, and make you indispensable to them.

Take the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment.

Now that you understand the uses for this tool, take the StoryBrand Marketing Assessment. And schedule an Intro Call to go through it together and find out how you can save yourself hours of time by solidifying your message and setting up the best automations for your brand.

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