Step by step - the magic of messaging

TL;DR:

Selling your product or service becomes easier when your target market understands and believes in what you're offering as much as you do. This is where the power of messaging comes in. Your messaging, made up of 3-5 key ideas that your target market must understand, serves as the linchpin to winning over your audience and ultimately, making a sale.

The Magic of Messaging

Imagine if your target audience not only knew what you knew about your products/services but also felt and believed what you do too.

Wouldn’t that make selling so much easier?

This is the role of messaging. The practice of taking what you know and believe about what you sell…

…and transmitting it into the minds of your audience.

Steve Jobs once said:

“It's a complicated and noisy world, and we're not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us.“

What he’s speaking to here is us being very selective about what we want people to remember about us.

Our messaging helps us to do this.

Why Messaging is Essential

Messaging is not merely your content or copy.

Your content and copy is born from your messaging.

The words we use are not merely collections of letters. They are devises that unlock entire mental models, concepts and emotions.

In the context of messaging, this means that the words we choose should encapsulate the core ideas or values that our brand and solutions represents.

These are then distilled into three to five key points, serving as conduits to spark recognition, understanding, and emotional connection with our target audience.

Think of these points as "buckets of ideas," that must be understood and remembered by your audience for your brand to stand out and be chosen over your competitors.

The power of messaging lies in its capacity to clarify exactly what your brand does and how it addresses the needs of your target market.

It presents your audience with an indisputable case that what you offer is what they need.

Crafting Effective Messaging: A Step-By-Step Guide

Creating impactful messaging involves a deep dive into your brand strategy and audience understanding.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

Revisit your strategy: Look at your strategic narrative, point of view, and positioning to understand who you need to reach and what you need to tell them.

Identify your "buckets of ideas": Choose three to five key ideas that your audience needs to understand about your brand. These ideas should provide a clear answer to the question: why is our product or service the best option for our target market, including our audience taking no action.

Translate your ideas into content: Infuse these ideas into all your content - be it blog posts, campaigns, social media updates, product descriptions, or sales pitches. Repetition not only aids comprehension but also reinforces your brand's presence in your audience's mind.

Test and iterate: No one gets their messaging perfect on the first attempt. It's a continuous process of testing, refining, and revising based on feedback and performance.

Keep your messaging alive: Your messaging is not a one-time effort but an ongoing practice. As your audience's needs evolve, so should your messaging.

Remember, messaging is about more than just communication – it's about connecting with your audience on an emotional level. Use the right words to unlock mental models, evoke emotions, and make your brand unforgettable.

Messaging in Action: A B2B Example

Let's take a fictional B2B SaaS company as an example: CloudConnect, a cloud-based project management solution that aims to optimise team collaboration and streamline workflows.

CloudConnect's Messaging:

"All-in-One Collaboration Hub"

This messaging speaks directly to the need for centralised team collaboration. By positioning itself as an all-in-one solution, CloudConnect addresses the pain point of disjointed team communication spread across multiple platforms.

"Seamless Workflow Management"

CloudConnect's second message bucket focuses on streamlining workflows. It directly targets the audience's goal for better project management and efficiency, a common pain point in many organisations.

"Adapting to the Digital-First Business Landscape"

This messaging bucket captures the critical context of today's digital-first business environment. CloudConnect understands that with an increasing number of businesses moving their operations online, the demand for reliable, secure, and efficient cloud computing services has never been greater. The company positions itself as a vital solution for businesses to stay competitive in the new normal, by offering robust and scalable cloud services that seamlessly support this transition to digital platforms.

"Secure, Reliable Cloud Storage"

Recognising the audience's concerns about data security and reliability, CloudConnect assures users of their commitment to secure data storage and reliable access, directly addressing these needs.

"Integrated with Tools You Love"

The final bucket responds to the potential concern of having to abandon familiar tools when switching to a new project management system. By offering integration with popular tools, CloudConnect addresses this resistance and aligns with the audience's desire for ease of use.

Through these message buckets, CloudConnect speaks to their audience's needs, pains, and goals, while positioning itself as a comprehensive, user-friendly solution for project management.

The messaging is woven into all their communication channels - from the website, blog posts, and social media, to product demos and sales pitches. This consistency reinforces CloudConnect's narrative and ensures the brand's key messages resonate with their target audience.

In Conclusion

As we've seen, powerful messaging can be the difference between your brand being seen as an essential solution and being overlooked.

It’s about narrating the transformative journey your product or service facilitates. This storytelling isn't just about your brand; it's about how your brand impacts the customer.

Take the time to craft your messaging – delve into your strategy, understand your customer, and translate this into your content. The result? A memorable brand that resonates deeply with your target audience.

And if you’re stuck consider noodling on the following question:

If our audience could only know 3-5 things about what we do that would make them see us as the only option they would invest in, what would they be?

Amir