Strategic messaging is not going away. What’s changed is how we communicate and present ourselves.
We’re evolving because strategic brand messaging is not a “one size fits all.” Our clients are willing to take more risks because they want their messaging to sound conversational and reflect their brand’s personality. Studies show you have only 7 seconds to make a great first impression and that means your brand must appeal to a very short attention span. The messaging we provide must be useful from day one. Marketers need to have an entire brand identity to communicate what their business does, what it’s about, and why it’s different. And it needs to resonate with people and strengthen your company’s values and reputation.
Figuring Out Your Strategic Messaging
So, how do you get started crafting brand messaging that your target audience will love? You need to know two things like the back of your hand: your target audience and value proposition. You can then begin to write out a brand identity that’ll help your company make any and all of its marketing decisions.
If you don’t know who you are, then you’ll never be able to craft a strategic messaging or identity. The first step in building a brand message framework is figuring out who you are. How do you differentiate from your competitors? What is your unique value proposition? Who’s your target audience? Does your brand message tell a story? While you’re answering these questions and beginning to map out who your brand identity is and what your brand messaging will look like, remember that your brand message answers the question, why? Why does your audience care? Why should they care? What value are you giving them?
Know thy Audience
Next up, know your audience. This is your chance to create buyer personas that represent who your customers are and their goals. By doing so, this will help you align your brand with your consumers. Not knowing your target audience leaves room for inconsistent brand messaging, lost sales, and no identity as a brand. Just as your customers need to understand your goal, you need to understand your customers. Finding out as much as you can will help you to refine your messaging strategy so that it speaks to the customers you want to reach. Defining a target audience can be tricky. As the saying goes, go big or go home. BUT – you don’t want to start too big. If your target audience is too broad, it may be hard to craft an effective messaging strategy. Find a niche that your service or product fits in well.
Creating strategic brand messaging is key when building a brand identity. Stay focused on brand positioning. With the content you put out there, ask yourself, “is this true to our values?” Always, always, always relate to your audience. When creating your content, utilize your buyer personas to ensure that you’re connecting with your audience and speaking to who they are.
It’s impossible to be picture perfect; people aren’t perfect, and brands shouldn’t be either. Be wary of overpromising and communicating that you’re perfect because there is always room for improvement. Sometimes if you make too many promises and you don’t follow through, it’ll come off as disingenuous and will detour your consumers away from you. Lastly, keep it simple. If the personality of your brand or overall values are confusing, consumers won’t relate to you. And you want to be relatable; you want your brand to be human.
Your personality and values should be evident and align with your audience. Your brand message is something that’s strategically created to help you stand out and relate to your customers. It can make a big difference in how you’re perceived by prospects, and whether or not they want to do business with you moving forward, so start building your strategic brand today.
Do you need help building strategic messaging to fit your brand? We’d love to chat. Feel free to contact us.
