Hero's Journey: what it is, stages and how to use it

THE Hero's Journey It is commonly used in adventure film scripts, but it also applies to other film genres.

Hero's Journey: learn about this storytelling strategy

Have you ever purchased a product or service after hearing a story of overcoming adversity about the person who produced it? If so, it’s likely that you’ve observed the Hero’s Journey in practice.

When we talk about the Hero's Journey, we are referring to the classic plot of hero movies, where the hero goes through trials, enemies and challenges, until he ends up winning the final challenge, which makes him a true champion in the eyes of everyone.

In the professional world, the Hero's Journey proves to be very useful in creating strategies for attracting audiences and converting sales.

This is because it is much easier to convince someone about something by presenting experiences that demonstrate authority and achievement of success in a certain subject.

For this reason, the Hero's Journey works as a storytelling strategy, which consists of including personal experiences of overcoming adversity in content or promotional material, in order to create proximity with the public.

In addition to proximity, this storytelling strategy helps convert sales, as the customer sees themselves in the same position as the advertiser, and begins to observe the advantages and utilities of the product/service.

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12 steps of the Hero's Journey: learn how to use them

If you are tired of planning countless sales strategies and none of them bringing the expected results, it is worth giving the “Hero's Journey” storytelling strategy a try.

For someone to buy your product or service, it is crucial that they see the potential for changing their life or routine through the purchase.

So, whether it's a simple toothbrush, it's easier to sell it if you tell a story like:

“I’ve always had problems with my smile. Regular toothbrushes weren’t able to clean my teeth properly, and I suffered from yellow and painful teeth. So I tried several models without success, until I decided to create my own. It took many years of development and several investments that didn’t yield the ideal results. But after many tests, we finally came up with the perfect product, capable of providing complete cleaning without damaging the teeth. This is an exclusive model from our brand, as it was produced with a specific type of consumer in mind: those who want to transform the experience of taking care of their smile.”

There are those who question this type of strategy, some consider it dramatic and even appealing, but the fact is that it works most of the time, as it brings the potential buyer into the advertiser's reality.

So, if you want to know how to apply the Hero's Journey to any type of strategy, learn the 12 steps below:

1. Ordinary world

The Common World stage consists of showing the consumer that they are not alone in the challenges they face. In fact, even the winners have been in the same situation.

2. Call

The Call is the stage of the Hero's Journey that describes when things began to bother him, that is, at what point he realized it was time to leave the ordinary world and seek changes and improvements.

3. Refusal

But, like everything in life, the first steps towards a goal are rarely successful, and every hero goes through the situation of being rejected in their ideal. Show the client that it is common to fail in the first steps: this happened to you, your climb was not straightforward, some obstacles appeared along the way.

5. Mentoring – the first lesson of the Hero’s Journey

After receiving “closed doors” for the first time, the hero understands that he needs to invest in change, that is, he needs to change his way of acting and thinking, and to do so he must know the right strategies.

6. First Challenge

More prepared than before, in the 6th stage of the Hero's Journey, the protagonist deals with his first great challenge, which gives him his level of skills and possible flaws, which must be corrected.

7. Trials, allies and enemies

Not everything in life is rosy, and the Hero's Journey is not straightforward: trials, disagreements, help and even enemies arise to make the process more challenging and enriching for the protagonist's development.

8. Approach

When everything seems to be working against him, the moment occurs in the Hero's Journey when he approaches victory, and develops the final steps towards it.

9. Challenge

Finally, after many defeats, friends, enemies and many steps, the hero reaches the final challenge, where he demonstrates everything he has learned.

10. Reward

Yes, the hero wins the final challenge, after all, he prepared himself and used the strategies and all his potential to do so. Finally, he emerges victorious from something that was his biggest nightmare a while ago.

11. Way back

Life does not end with victory like in the movies, after overcoming the challenge, the hero must trace the path back and understand the changes that victory brought to his existence.

12. Return with the elixir/legacy

Finally, in the last stage of the Hero's Journey, it is important to bring the conclusion: what was changed by this experience? What is the legacy resulting from the challenges faced by the protagonist?

Note that the Hero's Journey is full of twists and turns that give him authority in the face of the challenge he faces: after overcoming the challenge, the protagonist has the potential to dominate it.

So, use this strategy in your sales, convince your customers that their experiences have helped you develop complete solutions. This is the true intention of storytelling.

Roberta August 5, 2024

Business