You want to improve your marketing and sales, but are hesitating between a strategic co-creation from Buzzlytics and a StoryBrand Private Workshop from our sister company StoryBrand Netherlands. Both options sound promising, but what exactly is the difference? And more importantly, which workshop best suits your specific situation?

You may have already done research, but the choice remains difficult. You don't want to invest time and money in something that is not the best fit for you. Making the wrong choice could mean that your marketing challenges remain, despite your investment. Plus, you're probably under pressure to get quick results from your marketing approach.

As a StoryBrand-certified professional since 2019 and co-founder of StoryBrand Netherlands, I am uniquely positioned to compare both workshop formats. StoryBrand Netherlands is the only one in the Netherlands allowed to teach StoryBrand Private Workshops, and in addition, I have extensive experience guiding strategic co-creation sessions. Teaching both regularly gives me a keen insight into which approach works best in different situations.

In this article, I compare strategic co-creation and StoryBrand Private Workshop and clearly explain the differences in focus, approach and results. You will learn for which challenges each option is the best solution, what the practical details are such as time investment and costs, and what concrete results you can expect. After reading this article, you'll know exactly what the right next step is for your business to take your marketing and sales to the next level.

A strategic co-creation is especially valuable if you are still struggling with strategic marketing questions or if you have already tried various marketing activities without the desired results.

If you're looking for our help to improve your marketing and sales, you'll probably soon come across the terms "strategic co-creation" and "StoryBrand Private Workshop" on our website. While both can be valuable to your business, they differ substantially in focus, approach and results.

A strategic co-creation focuses primarily on creating clarity at the strategic level.

The goal is to answer fundamental marketing questions:

• Who exactly is your target audience?
• What channels do you use to reach them?
• What measurable results do you want to achieve?
• How do you convert potential customers into actual customers?

The strategic co-creation is especially valuable if you are still struggling with these strategic questions or if you have already tried various marketing activities without the desired results. It provides you with a clear framework within which you can then apply frameworks such as StoryBrand.

A StoryBrand Private Workshop focuses specifically on getting your brand message clear.

A StoryBrand Private Workshop, on the other hand, focuses specifically on getting your brand message clear. Here you use the StoryBrand framework (the SB7) to create a story that speaks to your customer and makes it clear how you solve their problems.

This workshop is ideal if you already have a good idea of your strategy, but find that your message is not getting across clearly. Maybe everyone on your team is telling something different about what you do, or you see that potential customers don't quite understand what problem you are solving for them.

The main difference between the two is in the focus: strategic co-creation looks at the big picture of your marketing and sales approach, while StoryBrand Private Workshop focuses on refining your brand message within that larger framework.

This difference in focus translates to other aspects as well:

• Time investment: A strategic co-creation consists of multiple sessions (a first session of 2-4 hours and a second session of 1.5-2 hours), while a StoryBrand Private Workshop is completed in 1 or 1.5 days.
• Participants: With both, it is important that the decision makers are present. In addition, with the StoryBrand Private Workshop, it is valuable to involve colleagues from different departments, whereas with the strategic co-creation, the focus is more on the marketing team and management.
• Outcomes: A strategic co-creation produces a clear marketing strategy with an action plan, priorities and timeline. A StoryBrand Private Workshop results in a clear brand message that you can use in all your marketing and sales communications.

A strategic co-creation is the best choice if you still have fundamental questions about your marketing approach.

This workshop is ideal in the following situations:

• You don't yet know exactly who your target audience is, or you only have a vague image that is not neatly worked out and on paper
• You're not sure which marketing channels are most effective for your business, or you're missing certain online or offline channels
• You are overlooking opportunities such as industry associations, business clubs or other networks where your target audience is a member and where you can reach many people at once through partnerships
• You don't have clear, measurable, realistic and inspiring goals for your marketing and sales that are linked to revenue
• You've already tried various marketing activities without success
• You want to lay a solid foundation before implementing specific frameworks such as StoryBrand

A strategic co-creation at Buzzlytics consists of four phases: an analysis phase, a brainstorming and creative phase, an internal session phase and a presentation phase.

For you as a participant, this means a time investment of:

• completing an extensive questionnaire beforehand
• 2 to 4 hours for the first brainstorming session
• 1.5 to 2 hours before the presentation session

These sessions can take place either online or at our office in Leusden, although our experience is that a personal session on location often leads to better results.

In between sessions, we will actively engage. We'll analyze your answers to the questions, do a competitive analysis with different tools and software, and review your website and other channels. We make a presentation that includes our findings, advice and an action plan. This plan will be so concrete that you can start working on it right away.

The investment for a strategic co-creation is €2,750. For best results, we recommend involving the key decision makers within your company, such as the owner or director and those responsible for marketing and sales.

Strategic co-creation is especially valuable for:

• companies that do not yet have a clear marketing strategy
• companies that have been marketing before, but haven't seen results
• startups looking to build a solid foundation
• companies ready for the next step after a StoryBrand Private Workshop
• companies facing change (new product, new market, major internal changes)

A StoryBrand Private Workshop is the right choice if you are especially struggling with clearly communicating your brand message.

This workshop is a perfect fit for the following situations:

• You notice that everyone on your team is saying something different about what you do
• Your website needs a new design and you want to sharpen your brand message first
• You're growing fast and your message hasn't grown with you
• You have a strong product, but struggle to tell its story
• You're looking for a proven process for creating marketing statements
• You want objective feedback from a marketing expert
• You want everyone in your company to be on the same page

A StoryBrand Private Workshop takes 1 day (sometimes 1.5 days) and takes place at our office in Leusden.

The program consists of three distinct components:

1. Introduction to the SB7 (the seven components found in every strong story)
2. Creation of your brand story under the guidance of a StoryBrand facilitator
3. Implementation in your marketing through the five-step marketing plan

For this workshop you do not need any specific prior knowledge nor do you need to prepare anything. However, it can be useful for marketing managers to read the StoryBrand book beforehand, but this is not a requirement.

A StoryBrand Private Workshop is the right choice if you are especially struggling with clearly communicating your brand message.

The StoryBrand Private Workshop is especially suitable for:

• companies that already have a reasonable idea of their marketing strategy, but want to sharpen their message
• teams where different people tell different stories about the company
• companies looking to revamp their website or other marketing materials
• organizations that want to improve their sales by telling a clearer story
• companies ready to implement their marketing concretely

Both workshops produce valuable results, but the focus of these results differs.

• a clear marketing strategy, tailored to your specific situation and goals
• an action plan with concrete priorities and a realistic timeline
• insight into your target groups and how best to reach them
• a clear conversion strategy to convert leads into customers
• advice on which marketing activities are most effective for your company

A strategic co-creation also prevents you from losing valuable time and making expensive investments that don't pay off, such as hiring the wrong partners, putting budgets on channels that don't yield the highest returns, or hiring staff you don't really need (because you can do certain tasks with AI, for example).

After the strategic co-creation, you have three options: you can execute the plan yourself, partner with us in one of our programs, or have another party execute the plan.

A strategic co-creation prevents you from wasting valuable time and making expensive investments that don't pay off.

• a clear brand message you can use in all your marketing and sales communications
• a team that speaks the same language about what you do and for whom
• concrete tools to implement your message in your marketing
• A foundation for an improved marketing approach that leads to more sales
• a copy of the StoryBrand book for each participant

The workshop is often the starting point for an improved marketing approach. For implementation, you can choose further guidance or start working with the insights yourself.

A StoryBrand Private Workshop also avoids costly trajectories with agencies that offer mission, vision, core values or positioning sessions. Many of our clients say afterwards, "If only I had found you guys sooner, I wouldn't have had to do that whole process." Because despite such a trajectory, their people still did not have a clear message to improve their marketing and sales activities.

When choosing between a strategic co-creation and a StoryBrand Private Workshop, the most important thing to consider is where you are now in your marketing journey.

Are you still struggling with fundamental questions about your target audience, your channels and your goals? Then strategic co-creation is probably the best first step. This workshop will give you the strategic clarity you need to then work effectively with frameworks like StoryBrand.

Do you already have a reasonable idea of your strategy, but notice that your message is not getting across clearly? Then a StoryBrand Private Workshop is the right choice. This workshop will help you sharpen your message and communicate more effectively with your target audience.

In some cases, it can also be valuable to do both, starting with the strategic co-creation and later followed by a StoryBrand Private Workshop. This ensures that you are optimally prepared at both the strategic and message levels.

Still unsure what suits your situation best? Schedule a no-obligation consultation with us. Together we will discuss your current situation, challenges and goals, and determine the right next step for your marketing success.