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January 11, 2023

13 Tips For Effective Brand Messaging - What Every Business Needs

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Many people have trouble describing even the simplest aspects of their business, such as their products or services. Rather than helping their customers, they waste their time and cause confusion. 

They could have a thorough understanding of their industry or even be the best in their field. However, if they are not able to convey the company’s message effectively, they may not achieve the desired results.

Brand messaging involves crafting a message that is in tune with your target market and can assist you in attracting new customers. Ultimately, the message is what matters most, and clarifying your message is only possible with an effective branding strategy.

In this post, we're going to share with you 13 tried-and-true tips for effective brand messaging. From defining your brand voice to smart investment strategies, these tips will help you create a message that will resonate with your audience and help you grow your business. 

What Is Brand Messaging? 

Brand messaging consists of the tone of voice, communication channels, and the main messages a brand uses to reach out to its audience. Every time you communicate with your customers, whether via your website, social media, blog, or email, you are using brand messaging. That’s why it is necessary to establish a standard that will enable the public to identify the company's identity at all times. 

When your branding message is consistent and relevant, your customers will feel as if they know you and all you stand for. Never underestimate the power of familiarity. This is the essence of a good brand, the thing that makes people think, "Oh yeah, this is the one for me." 

With the right brand message, you will be able to:

  • Create an instantly recognizable brand identity
  • Let your customers know who you are and what you are capable of doing for them
  • Motivate people to click, call, and buy

The Difference Between Internal & External Brand Messaging

The messaging strategy for a brand can be divided into two categories: internal and external. As the name implies, corporate communication among employees, teams, and top decision-makers is shaped by your internal brand messaging. 

At the same time, your story needs to stand out from your competitors and highlight WHY customers should choose you for the solutions you provide to their problems. The external message refers to what you intend to convey in your marketing. You want non-clients and non-workers to receive this message, but it should also be incorporated into your internal communication as a best practice. 

Note that companies that tailor their messages for their target audiences can gain 16% more commercial success than those who don't.

Brand Messaging Frameworks: Why Do We Need Them?

A brand’s narrative, from its “why” and “how” all the way to its general philosophy, is communicated through its messaging. Clarifying your message through brand development strengthens your brand's reputation and consumer relationship. Unique brand messages have several other advantages for your business or brand, as you can see here below.

Brand Messaging Leads To Authentic Referrals

Regardless of how impressive your marketing campaign or influencers' network is, people still buy what they hear about from their friends first.  In general, customers brought in by word-of-mouth advertising spend 200% more than other customers. By communicating your brand message effectively, you can improve your customer's experience and encourage them to speak highly of it.

Brand Messaging Leads To Uniform Marketing Materials

The best way to align your offerings, message, design, content, and promotional material with your goals and objectives is to decide on your core message first. Believe it or not, brand consistency leads to an average increase in revenue of 23%.

Brand Messaging Leads To A Unique Brand Identity

It is necessary for customers to be aware of who you are as an organization before engaging with your brand. By communicating your brand's unique messaging, you ensure that your customers know what to expect from your company. 

Brand Messaging Leads To Organized Branding

You should have an established brand messaging strategy in place when writing a creative brief, coming up with your elevator pitch, or redesigning your homepage. Even if someone else is responsible for these tasks, this will provide them with thorough information and help them maintain your brand identity. 

The right messaging can and will be part of your brand's culture. When you hire the right people, they'll instinctively understand your mission. 

13 Tips to Clarify Your Brand’s Message

Now that you know the importance of brand messaging and its perks, here are 13 tips to create a message that truly converts

1. Test Your Brand's Message

One of the most important things to do when it comes to effective brand messaging is to test it. You can do this by using focus groups, customer surveys, or even just by talking to a few people and seeing what their thoughts are.

One of the biggest mistakes brands make is trying to do too much with their messaging. They invest a lot of time, money, and energy into creating a great campaign only to find out that their target market isn't interested. Instead, test your campaign before you launch it. This will help you to ensure that your target market is actually receptive to what you have to say.

2. Create A Killer Value Proposition

Value propositions are the foundation of your brand messaging. Which of your services is most important to your customers? What makes your offerings the best choice for them?

Your value proposition serves as the backbone and centerpiece of your brand message. Creating value propositions does not have a set formula, but they should be evident in the headline and design of your website.

Value propositions should convey the following information:

  • Who should buy from you
  • What outcome can they expect
  • What makes you different

3. Research Your Brand Messaging

It is essential that you understand what is important to your customers in order to make your brand messaging resonate with them. It's only through talking to them that you'll find out.

People will lose faith in your brand if your messages fail to resonate. According to 46% of consumers, irrelevant content has made them stop supporting a brand. Take the time to figure out what people want from you and pay attention to what they need. Do this by using the following:

Surveys: You may want to consider sending a short survey to your mailing list or incorporating a survey on your Thank You page after a purchase has been made.

Forums And Social Media: Where are your customers spending their time online? See what they're talking about (not necessarily about your products, but what problems they're having that you can solve).

Reviews: The best way to develop your company's brand messaging is to learn from success stories. When you don't have customers yet, check out online reviews of products similar to yours written by people who belong to your target market. Although, finding solid references that make sense for your brand isn't about copying someone else's approach. 

4. Know Your Why

It is important to remember that people do not buy what you sell; they buy your story or your "why," if you will. There is a clear sense of purpose for brands that begin with a story. Stories are able to create effective brand messages that are meaningful to their customers.

There's no way to manufacture your why or story. There is much more to it than simply writing a list of your business values and sticking it on your wall. Your brand messaging will shine through if you “know your why”. 

5. Communicate With Stories

Brand stories are an essential component of marketing, but few people tell you how to actually craft them. Storytelling is a subject that can be discussed in great depth. But if you're just starting, these are two things you'll need:

  1. A hero: It's not you; it's your customer. Even if you're telling your own story, make sure it's a story your customers can relate to and identify with.
  2. A conflict: Every story needs a conflict. There's something to overcome, a journey to take, a dragon to slay. Put yourself in your customers' shoes and think about what they have been through. In what ways can you show them that you are the one who can help them achieve their goals?

6. Create Customer Personas

When brands try to appeal to everyone, they fail. Filter out people you don't want to hear your message; they're not your audience. You need to figure out who your ideal customer is and market to them. 

Many companies have already identified the average consumer profile for their brand. However, if you are not among them, it's crucial to understand these people's preferences, buying behaviors, and expectations. 

Get to know what they like, dislike, where they live, where they work, and what magazines they enjoy. You can make your marketing and communications more targeted and relevant by putting more detail around this picture, this persona, even if you have more than one type of customer. 

7. Find Messaging Opportunities

After you have a clear picture of who you are and your brand story, you can start looking for messaging avenues. Ask yourself and your team, what's the best way to convey your values through content?

About 64% of consumers confess that shared values are the primary reason they connect with a brand. Here are a few messaging opportunities while staying true to your brand:

Relate To Your Audience 

Ensure your content is relevant to your audience by referring to your audience profiles and your brand messaging guidelines.

Don't Strive For Excellence 

Just like people, brands aren't perfect. Be honest and realistic about what your audience can expect from you; you cannot be perfect, and that's okay.

Don't Stop Communicating

Keep your brand message in mind when you draft and decide on marketing strategies. It's essential to communicate your brand message in every piece of copy, whether it's for your website, packaging, or marketing an event. In other words, your tagline should communicate your unique value proposition and who you are as much as your Twitter post does.

Be Simple 

Keep it simple. You will not be able to connect with people if your brand's personality or values are unclear or difficult to grasp. Your brand message should never confuse your audience.

8. Be Aware Of The Awareness

Depending on what people know about your brand, your brand messaging will need to adapt.

Someone browsing social media and coming across one of your posts might have no idea who you are. In contrast, someone who's been on your mailing list for a year knows a lot. You'll have to tailor your message to each person based on what they've learned about you, your service, and what you can offer. Awareness comes in four stages:

Unaware: You probably don't need to worry about these people since they're unlikely to be your target audience. They don't know anything about you, your product, or the problem you solve.

Pain-Aware: They know there's a problem, but they don't know what the solution might be or if there even is one. You might get them through your blog or social media.

Solution-Aware: Despite their awareness that a solution exists, they don't know how to find it. It is possible that they will find you through Google searches or review sites.

Product-Aware: Your product is known to these people, but they need a little persuasion to buy it. It's possible they just signed up for your mailing list.

Most Aware: Some of them may already be customers, and they know you can help. You just have to show them how to buy it and what the price is.

Consider your readers' level of awareness whenever you write something. By understanding that, you'll know what words to use for maximum impact.

9. Listen To Your Customers

The goal of customer engagement is more than simply making sure the message reaches them during each awareness stage. 

It is a good idea to inform your clients about the great qualities of your brand, but if you spend every second of your time listing all the things that make your company shine, you'll gradually alienate your customers. Your clients want to feel like you listen to them, and if your brand talks over them all the time, they won't feel heard.

Engaging your customers in conversation is a better approach. In this regard, community management plays a vital role. The social community manager is the person who connects an organization with its social media followers. Your brand voice and tone will affect your engagement, but the important thing is interacting with your customers as much as possible.

10. Make Your Brand Message Consistent

While trying to engage your clients, you may confuse them if you say one thing on your blog and another thing on your social media channels. It might be difficult for them to trust you since it appears that you are constantly changing your mind about what you are doing and with whom you are communicating.

It is important to maintain a consistent message in order to establish a strong, recognizable brand identity. 

11. Make Smart Marketing Investments

Keep your message consistent across every platform, but you don't need to be on all of them, especially the expensive ones.

Don't waste your money on marketing programs that don't make sense. It seems obvious, but do not book a booth unless you are confident that your potential customers will show up. 

Make sure you do your research and ask questions. Don't show up at an event or make a radio spot just because you think it'll be "cool" if you're there. Go where your customers are. Even producing TV ads is not a good investment if your ideal customers don't have time or interest to watch any of them.

12. Give Brand Marketing A Chance To Work

You have to experience something more than once to get hooked. One advertisement will not lead to your sales goals, nor will a website reach all of your customers. In contrast to direct response marketing, branding takes time and should be integrated into all customer interactions. 

Of course, if it's not working, you can take advantage of JM&Co. brand development services to change it with industry-backed research, effective strategy, and impactful content. Just don't change your brand marketing every month. Even if you're sick of your own message after 2 months, others haven't heard it yet. Get your message straight up front, and stick with it.

13. Observe Market Trends

You can always analyze social channels and take advantage of the market's trends to enhance your brand's performance. You should, however, not view these practices as an escape from your brand's values.

During the past few decades, the communication industry has been influenced by changes in society, values, and technology, making it a true laboratory for best practices. Naturally, it is important to understand how brand messaging has evolved in light of trends.

Now's The Time For Your Brand To Speak Up

Every time you engage with people verbally, whether it be through your site content, your Facebook advertisements, or the CTA in your most recent publication, you have the chance to make an impression with your marketing language.

But as far as digital marketing is concerned, nothing lasts forever. Customer tastes will eventually change, and your messaging should adapt accordingly. Therefore, soon you may have to go back and examine your brand messaging more carefully, even if you believe it to be beneficial for your company. 

JM&Co's full-service digital media and professional growth consultancy can help if you feel like you've lost the thread of your company's narrative and are having problems uniting around a common culture. Get in touch now if you'd like to learn how our marketing strategists and copywriters could assist you in developing an effective brand message for your company. 

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