Storytelling
Star – Chain – Hook
This 3-step storytelling formula turns you into a master of persuasion, winning people over with brevity and logic.
Masooma Memon
March 2, 2022
.jpg)
.jpg)
Because no-one remembers a faceless brand.
hey@storyprompt.com
-p-800.jpeg)
Thanks to its emphasis on the convincing benefits, features, and reasons – essentially, presenting a short logical argument – you can use this Play in your conversations, social media captions, email copy, and more.
Because the Star - Chain - Hook Play focuses on value, you’ll find it handy for short copy of any sort. For videos and long-form content such as blog posts, use the Play to create a strong introduction, setting the opening just right.
This Twitter thread uses the Star - Chain - Hook play for its introduction:
A list of benefits or reasons (depending on what the story features) and a group of beta readers.
The Star - Chain - Hook Play doesn’t need a production crew. But it’s helpful to have a few beta readers (3-4 minimum) who can tell you how persuasive your story is.
The ‘Star’ in this Play is the opening line so it has to grab your audience’s attention right away.
Think of it as the headline on a poster that engages people on the spot – even if they aren’t directly paying attention to it.
For an effective ‘Star,’ also make sure you know what interests your audience.
For example, a pop culture reference is likely to bait a millennial audience instantly, making for an excellent ‘Star.’
Once done, leave the ‘Star’ overnight (if you can) or for a couple of hours. The reason? When you return to review it, you can see it through a fresh perspective and check if it’s still as good as it was when it first occurred to you.
The ‘Chain’ is a series of smoothly flowing, inter-linked benefits. Its aim:
For example, YouTube Music keeps its benefits to three in this email:
For example, Klarna expands on one benefit in their email copy. Their ‘Chain’ reads: “Pay how you prefer. Buy now and split your total into four easy, interest-free payments – more time to pay, more time to keep being creative.”
Have a long list of benefits to share? Write down all of them. Now handpick the strongest ones based on your target audience’s struggles.
This Twitter thread does that with “500 hours studying,” “6 simple frameworks,” and “won’t cost you $120,000.”
One last thing: pay attention to the sequence of your reasons or benefits. Focus on building each one on one another so as to draw people in and increase their desire with each line.
The ‘Hook’ is your call to action (CTA) or a link to your offer, product, or service.
Examples:
You’ll find more people taking your offer or clicking through your CTA if you’ve created a strong ‘Star’ and an enticing ‘Chain.’
In short, the Star - Chain - Hook Play is a simple formula for short-copy storytelling.
When done well, it can be very persuasive as it gives people benefit-centered reasons to take the action you want them to.
So remember:
Masooma Memon is a freelance writer for B2B SaaS and ecommerce brands writing actionable content for clients like CoSchedule, Vimeo, and Databox. She's also an avid reader and shares content writing and marketing tips in her weekly newsletter, The Content Workshop.
