The Brand Messaging Strategy For Better Communication
As a business owner, you know that branding is essential to your success. Your brand is the sum of all of your company's interactions with the outside world, and it influences how customers perceive your business.
That's why it's so important to have a brand messaging strategy: a clear and consistent set of messages that you can use to communicate your brand values to the world. Without a successful brand messaging strategy, your brand message will be scattered and ineffective, and you'll miss out on valuable opportunities to connect with your target audience.
But with a brand messaging strategy in place, you'll be able to ensure that all of your brand communications are aligned with your goals, and you'll make a lasting impression on the people who matter most to your business: your all important target audience.
Asking yourself, “but what is brand messaging?” Click the blue link for a refresh.
How does a brand messaging strategy help?
Your brand messaging strategy is the foundation of all your communications with your audience. It helps you focus your message and ensures that everyone in your business is on the same page.
Externally, your brand message strategy helps to build brand awareness by ensuring your brand messages inform your consumers about your company's identity, your company values, and what your company does.
Internally, it helps employees start developing targeted marketing messages that will resonate with your audience. Whether you're crafting an email campaign, developing a social media strategy, or creating a brand video, or making cold calls, a effective messaging strategy should guide all of your efforts, boost click rates and drive more sales.
If you’re using cold email outreach as part of your strategy you use a DMARC report to ensure your emails and messages are being delivered.
Without a brand messaging strategy guiding marketing materials, or even marketing messaging, brands run the risk of inconsistent or even conflicting messages being sent out, which can confuse and alienate audiences.
But by taking the time to develop a strong brand messaging strategy, you'll ensure that all of your communications are focused and on-point, which helps you to achieve your goals and most importantly - build strong and meaningful relationships with your audience, something which is capable of cultivating vital brand loyalty.
4 essential elements of a brand messaging strategy
When you're first getting started with your message strategy, there's a lot to consider but the following four components are the most essential to include:
Unique Selling Points
Your unique selling points are the distinguishable elements of your business that set you apart from competitors. And they're also the things that determine your unique value proposition.
If you're having trouble identifying them, consider the unique selling proposition of your business from the perspective of your consumers: What makes them want to visit your business rather than others? What unique thing do you offer that sets you apart from the competition?
Your brand's reputation might be excellent, but that isn't always enough to keep customers coming back for more. Your unique selling points could instead be things like your meticulous attention to detail, your personable customer service, your ethical and sustainable business practices, or your high-quality products.
A clear business objective
Your business objective - or overall business goal - boils down to what you want to accomplish with your business and how you want that to be communicated to your customers.
“Profit-generating” as a marketing goal may not cut it unless your product is linked to investments. Consumers are now more globally aware than ever before, which means they're looking for companies that have a mission and purpose that is relevant, or reflects their own values in some way. When your consumers know what you're about and want to be involved, it's good for both of you.
Take video conferencing software, Hopin. Hopin's popularity exploded throughout the 2020 pandemic because it offered flexible video conferencing options, from stages, to expo rooms, to even events, which appealed to an array of different industries. Their flexibility lived up to their business objective, which was to ensure that even when apart, people should still be able to take part in whichever experiences make them feel connected by providing a platform which replicated the same experience virtually that they'd have physically.
Deep audience understanding
A deeper audience understanding starts with fleshed out, and comprehensive buyer personas. Well researched and in-depth buyer personas enable you to understand your customers, just as your customers understand your business. Knowing as much as you can will assist you in refining your messaging approach so that it appeals to the consumers you want to appeal to.
Buyer personas are constructed by gathering information and speaking with customers, and then categorising the information by demographics, activities, or characteristics. Alternatively, they can be built from accurate and descriptive data taken from your website or marketing channels.
Buyer personas can have names and pictures, but they must also include all of the information you know about your target client's behaviours, likes, habits, interests, skills, and any other relevant background information. This helps you to define a granular, and accurate, target audience which ultimately helps your brand message reach, forge an emotional connection with, and speak to, the right people.
An engaging brand story
A brand story is one of the most important elements of a brand messaging strategy. It helps to define who the brand is and what it stands for. It also provides a way for customers to connect with the brand on an emotional level. A well-crafted brand story can help to build brand loyalty and create an army of brand ambassadors. And in today's competitive marketplace, a strong brand story can be the difference between success and failure.
The power of a brand story is the fact that it humanises your business and makes it relatable. Customers are more likely to engage with a brand that they feel they understand and can connect with on a personal level. So if you want to create a strong messaging strategy, make sure you tell your audience the reason behind why you started your business.
5 brand messaging strategy benefits
You should already be feeling the influence of a strong messaging strategy based on what we've said thus far. You could wind up alienating possible consumers by promoting yourself without a coherent approach: they may become perplexed about the aim of your brand. In the worst-case scenario, you might come across as scatterbrained. But the impact of a well-thought-out and cohesive strategy will reach beyond what we've discussed so far to bolster every facet of your business.
A strong messaging strategy can have a positive effect on all aspects of your business, from marketing and advertising to product development and customer service. Let’s take a look at some of the ways a good strategy can help your business.
1. A strong messaging strategy can help you focus your marketing and advertising efforts.
If you have a clear idea of who your target audience is and what you want to say to them, it will be much easier to create marketing and advertising campaigns that are focused and effective. You’ll know what sorts of messages to communicate, what channels to use, and what call to action to include.
2. A strong messaging strategy can guide your product development efforts.
Your messaging strategy should be based on a deep understanding of your target audience’s needs and desires. This understanding can then be used to guide your product development efforts, ensuring that you are creating products that meet the needs of your target market.
3. A strong messaging strategy can improve your customer service.
If your customer service team is aligned with your overall messaging strategy, they will be better equipped to provide help and support that is consistent with the brand experience you are trying to create. This can lead to happier customers and better customer retention.
4. A strong messaging strategy can build brand loyalty.
Consistency is key when it comes to building a strong and loyal brand following. If your target audience knows what to expect from your brand in terms of your messaging, and your brand positioning, they will be more likely to remain loyal even when faced with competitor options.
5. A strong messaging strategy can increase sales.
Ultimately, a well-executed messaging strategy should lead to more sales. By creating a clear and compelling message that resonates with your target audience, you will be more likely to persuade them to take the desired action, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or taking some other action.
How to build your own brand messaging strategy
Now that we’ve seen the benefits of a strong messaging strategy, let’s take a look at how you can create one for your business and how it fits in your brand messaging framework.
Define your target audience.
Before you can create a messaging strategy, you need to have a clear understanding of who your target audience is. Who are you trying to reach with your message? What are their needs and desires? What are their pain points? Answering these questions will help you create messages that resonate with your target audience.
It's nearly impossible to communicate with your desired audience if you don't know who you're trying to talk to. While this might sound similar to brand tone of voice and even your brand voice, there are certain differences. Tone refers to how effectively you craft your message depending on who you're addressing it to, but you won't know what the appropriate tone is unless you figure out who your target audience is.
Remember those buyer personas? This is where they come into play. But if you're stuck on how to get started with identifying your audience, here are the main things to include in your research:
- Age range
- Gender identity
- Religious background
- Ethnicity and race
- Education level
- Economic status
- Location
- Career choice
All of this information will help you to build your ideal customer profile, which will then allow you to craft a message that resonates with them once you know who your ideal client is.
If your product appeals to men aged 35 to 45, for example, you should develop content and attempt to attract that demographic. Otherwise it would be a waste of money to try to appeal to women under the age of 18. This is where knowing your target audience assists you in avoiding this mistake.
Write a brand positioning statement.
A brand positioning statement is a short, declarative sentence that sums up what your brand is all about. It should be clear, concise, and memorable. It will serve as a guide for all of your messaging efforts, so take some time to craft it carefully.
Make sure that your brand positioning statement contains information taken from your positioning strategy. For example, vital information about your target audience, your industry or business category, and your unique selling proposition. Together, this will help to create two or three lines that sum up your brand, and which can feed your brand messaging whilst staying true to your brand identity.
Develop key messages.
Key messages are the heart of your messaging strategy. They are the specific messages that you want to communicate to your target audience. They should be based on your brand positioning statement and should be designed to meet the needs of your target audience.
At their heart, key messages are the most crucial pieces of information that you want your audience to understand and remember. They're the little chunks of copy that explain what you do, why you do it, how you differ from other businesses, and the value your business brings to its stakeholders.
Examples of your key messages might include your brand promise (how you differ), your core values, or your mission.
Choose the right channels.
Once you have developed your key messages, you need to decide which channels you will use to communicate them.
There are a variety of options available, including traditional channels like television and print, as well as digital channels like social media and email.
For example, you may wish to use the Google Display network to showcase display ads, or Youtube Ads for a more visual format, again keeping the message consistent. You could even use more nuanced methods likes using a LinkedIn email finder, or you could even think about trying cold email outreach, if that floats your boat.
The key is to choose the channels that will reach your target audience most effectively, and these should be already identified in your brand strategy.
The trick is that even with all of the channels a business can use to communicate its message, the message overall must still seem like it originated from the same person.
Your website, social channels, blog pieces, and any other traditional print campaigns all need to seem like a customer is communicating with the same person. Try to maintain the same character and brand image when managing multiple social media accounts
However, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't consider where your material is being shared, or your brand identity.
If you publish on Snapchat or LinkedIn, your tone will naturally be different. But, if for example your brand is more authoritative overall, then all of your posts should maintain an authoritative voice regardless of where they're being shared.
If your brand goes off message, this can be bad for your company. These mixed messages can confuse customers, at best. For many, this will sow seeds of distrust in your brand and make customers less likely to purchase from you. Consistency in your message will grow your brand and increase your sales.
When your brand strays from its intended message, this can be detrimental to your business. Customers might misinterpret these inconsistencies and feel confused about exactly who your brand is trying to be, and who it is trying to appeal to. This sows seeds of doubts in consumers' minds and could make them less likely to buy from you.
Consistency in your messaging, and in your identity, is critical for building brand awareness and increasing sales. From social media posts, to how staff speak to customers in your enterprise contact center it all is vital to solidifying your brand identity.
Add a brand messaging strategy to your marketing strategy with Huddle
A well-executed brand messaging strategy is key to a successful business. It ensures that your company’s messages are communicated consistently and effectively to customers, both old and new.
At Huddle, we understand the importance of a strong brand messaging strategy and can help you build one that meets your specific needs. Get in touch today to learn more about how we can help you achieve your branding goals.