We all want our marketing efforts to yield significant ROI, and to achieve that we need to get the messaging right. By delivering the right message to the right people at the right time, you can connect with new customers and earn their loyalty.
But without a strategy to guide your messaging, you’re simply winging it with no clear or consistent brand voice or identity. While throwing it out there to see what sticks, you could be missing out on the chance to connect with a lifelong customer.
Your messaging strategy, like a brand script, guides everything from your tone of voice to the content and talking points. It’s the foundation of all your content to keep it consistent and focused on effectively communicating what you do and what you have to offer to your target audience.
Why is the right marketing messaging strategy important?
A carefully considered messaging strategy carries numerous valuable benefits that can deliver significant ROI to any business. Such aa:
Build on brand identity
Your messaging strategy ensures you maintain the consistency necessary to create a unique identity for your brand, with its tone of voice and a personality which is familiar and appealing to your target audience.
Optimize content for conversions
Your marketing team will be better equipped to write strong and engaging copy that hits the right notes every time if they have a script to follow.
Streamline content production
A script also helps your team work more quickly and efficiently, requiring less time to produce high-quality content that converts.
Present your USP in a concise and compelling way
To communicate the benefits of your products or services in a way that resonates as much as possible, you need to hone your message and stick to it.
Support word-of-mouth marketing
Effective messaging will give your target audience the right words to use to spread the message far and wide on your behalf.
Ensure consistency across all your content
You can’t put out contradictory messaging, or take different angles across different content mediums that don’t fit together. Rather, every piece of content should fit neatly in a carefully considered bouquet of content made up of elements that support one another.
How to check your messaging
To evaluate the quality of your messaging and gauge where your strategy could be improved, there are a few questions you can ask. Start by asking if your core brand message offers anything different from your competitors – you need to differentiate yourself to avoid being lost in the crowd.
Are your messages simple, easy to understand and compelling? If not, you’re going to lose people unnecessarily. It doesn’t pay to try showing off with fancy jargon if it makes your messaging less effective. Clarity should always be a top priority.
Next, ask whether your message reflects reality. You would rather not be making promises you can’t keep, as that is deadly for earning the trust of your customers in the long term. Stick to real benefits, and don’t exaggerate too much – savvy consumers will likely see through it and the rest will be disappointed after a purchase.
Finally, ask whether your message resonates with your target audience. Are you communicating in a way that seems authentic, or do the people you’re trying to reach cringe when they see the wording on your ads? Your messaging should be a voice your target market is comfortable with, that speaks to them and their problems in a sincere and authentic way.
How to create a messaging strategy
When it comes to devising your messaging strategy, the best place to start is with your target audience. Use what you know about them to hone your tone of voice and inform your use of language, and focus the content on the value your business can offer. What concerns can your business solve, or what desired outcome can it provide? That needs to be top-of-mind, along with a good understanding of how it makes your audience feel.
By showing that you understand a would-be customer’s frustrations, you can connect with them on an emotional level. Tap into their emotions around the issue in your content to grab their attention before presenting your solution. You’ll find that messaging which is firmly rooted in your target audience’s experience (rather than your brand’s) delivers better results. This is especially true when you’re able to proactively remove the barriers that are preventing them from acting, such as a payment plan or a warranty.
Determining the brand identity comes next, where we determine the unique selling points (USPs), tone of voice, brand personality, and vocabulary, followed by the slogan option and positioning. That all comes together in a brand script.
What’s in a typical messaging strategy
Our messaging strategies inform the creation of key content elements that serve as a brand script. Elements such as the company bio, both a short and a long version, and its value offer, phrased in a way that’s sure to resonate.
Then, we unpack the stakes – the risks of not taking up our offer, not to instill fear but rather to remind them of the problems they already face without your solution. On the opposite side, we show what a successful purchase would look like, painting them a picture with words. A strong CTA will drive it home, so it’s important to hone in on some good ones to motivate your audience to make that click with clear direction.
So don’t drive your brand blind, carry it with a strategy that’s sure to work and optimize it as you go. That’s something we can help you do at CODESM. Just get in touch.
