A good messaging strategy outlines the guiding principles your brand follows. From what you write to how you write it.
Your messaging strategy shows who you are, what you do and who you do it for. It gives you, and other writers, a process to follow each time you write.
A messaging strategy is a document created to keep your messaging consistent across all assets and deliverables.
Your strategy outlines the ways your brand will present itself in all communication – from your website to your Instagram captions.
Having a messaging strategy is important to your business because it provides consistency.
You’ll have a working document you can refer to and check your work against every time you write.
This document is meant to be shared with anyone involved in your business.
Because your strategy gives an overview of the messages your brand wants to be known for, it’s a good idea for everyone to be familiar with it.
And the great thing about a messaging strategy is that it’s an ever-changing document.
You can add and delete sections, modify them to reflect your new products and update your style choices.
If you create it at the start, it’ll grow with you as your business and customers evolve.
Since this is Messaging Strategy 101, I’m going to give you a rundown of the must-haves required to create an effective plan for your brand.
These will get your strategy off to a great start.
You’ll document how to best communicate with your target audience in a meaningful and consistent way.
And when you know your audience and how your brand can best serve them, that’s when you’ll be able to create compelling copy.
Because your messages are all going to align, thanks to your strategy.
Now let’s break down each must-have, so you can start creating your messaging strategy document.
When you’re conducting voice of customer research, you’re gathering data on everything to do with your ideal customer.
What kind of demographic categories do they fall into?
What words do they use when talking about their pain points, solutions or lifestyle?
What matters to them – why might they be interested in your product?
Doing your research before you start writing out your messaging strategy will give you a solid idea of what your customers want and need to hear from you.
Take Burt’s Bees, for example. They know exactly who their target market is.
They have a large section in their About Us tab featuring articles and reports their customers would find interesting and important.
Look for pains, wants, objections that might pop up again and again.
Watch this tutorial and meet me below.
Once you’ve gathered a good amount of data, your task is to organize it into a meaningful and easy-to-understand format.
Organize your voice of customer research into the following sections:
You can create a table or create sections with bullet lists.
Whatever you find easiest to navigate.
Your USP (unique selling proposition) describes who you are, who you serve, what you do and why you’re the best one to do it.
It’s your main brand statement and one that you’re going to know off the top of your head.
This requires some deep thought on your end, but good news!
All that research you’ve already done is going to be very helpful.
Look at your competitors. Look at the messages that stood out in your research. And look at what you specifically can do to gain an advantage or solve a problem better.
Think about what sets you apart and how you can use that to convince your customers you’re the best choice.
Burt’s Bees embody a love of nature, and it comes through in everything they do, from the copy to the way their products are made.
Your USP and any mission statement should go at the beginning of the document.
These are the main messages your brand will convey, so everyone should know them.
You can include variations of this message, such as:
The next section in your messaging strategy should cover what’s important to your brand.
What’s your promise to your customers?
What do you believe in?
What or who do you support?
What’s your mission?
These all help customers relate to your brand because they value the same things.
And being relatable makes you a good buying choice.
“77% of consumers buy from brands that share their values.”
Brandfolder
This is why many companies, like Burt’s Bees, state their values right on their homepage to grab the attention of their target audience.
The key to determining your values is simply looking at what you already do and talking about it.
For example, your business likely values the environment if you’re trying to reduce your waste and carbon footprint.
Also, look at what customers are saying – they might love your brand for something you hadn’t thought about!
These come right after your USP because everyone in the business should know them.
Create a list defining your values, but keep these tips in mind:
Your voice is like your brand’s personality.
It’s how you want to sound when talking to your audience.
Including words, grammar and style.
How do you want your brand voice to come across?
Happy? Serious? Excited? Sarcastic?
If your brand was a person, who would they be? What are they like? How would they sound?
What does your brand represent and how can you best convey that through your voice?
To figure this out, look at your voice of customer research and take note of how your audience speaks.
This should influence the way you speak to them because your brand will resonate more if it sounds familiar.
Talk to other members of your team, even family and friends.
They’ll be able to tell you how you sound, especially if you are your brand.
Burt’s Bees includes “nature” and “natural” a lot because their voice is very eco-conscious.
They come across as friendly, optimistic and knowledgeable.
Once you’ve developed the information about your voice, create a style guideline in your brand messaging document.
The style guideline should explain how your business expresses its voice.
It should include:
Refer to this section each time you write a piece of content or copy to ensure you’re staying on-brand.
Once you’ve done the research and created a messaging strategy, the copy will come.
As Jo says,
“… the best messages – the ones that help you sell your prospects a better version of themselves – come from the people who have bought or are likely to buy your solution.”
Joanna Wiebe, Where Stellar Messages Come From
By documenting your messaging strategy, you have a solid foundation to write copy that speaks to your audience, engages them, and gives them a reason to choose your brand first.
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