The fact is, no matter what industry you are in, every marketplace is either getting very competitive or already saturated. Effective Brand Messaging is the best way a brand or business can stand out from the crowd and thereby overcome market saturation.
All established and successful brands and companies will tell you that for any newcomer, their Brand Messaging is something they must have figured out from the very beginning. But why is this the case?
Let’s explore why any industry newcomer should begin with their brand messaging first, and then worry about the other stuff.
What is Brand Messaging?
In short, think of Brand Messaging as a set of ways a company or business will broadcast and display its value to clients and customers and communicate its values and mission. Brand Messaging incorporates a tone of voice, language, and message that is unique to a brand or business. It then provides a uniform way to convey their ideas to the public.
For success in a marketplace, a brand or business needs to stand out from the rest, and this is largely due to their brand messaging. If it is constantly changing, derivative or just plain boring a company should expect to see poor results.
Good messaging not only captures people’s attention, but takes people away from the competition, and keeps them coming back.
Why Brand Messaging Should Come First in your Marketing Strategy
When brand messaging is clear, attractive, and unique, it essentially acts as a central force that guides the direction of a company. It is at the core of everything the company does. Excellent brand messaging provides the vision for the company proceeds, how employees should act, and which target audience should be focused on. It is something that everyone can always come back to. It provides answers and clarity when things aren’t going the right way.
When you consider brand messaging in this light, it becomes apparent why it is so crucial to get right.
What is Included in a Brand Messaging Guide
1. Messaging – Mission and values
Think about themes, ideas and goals you hope to achieve. Once you prioritize what is important to you, you’ll be able to siphon these into a cohesive mission statement. This will the foundation of your brand messaging and at the core of all that you do.
2. Target Audience
Once you know what it is you do, or would like to do, you need to know who your target audience is going to be. The better you know this target audience, the better it is for you in the long term. You should know your customers’ likes and dislikes, their goals and aspirations, and where and how they tend to live. There’s much more you should know about them, but the list is exhaustive and dependent on what your business does, but these listed here are common across all industries.
3. Benefits to your Target Audience
In marketing, one of the more common methods companies use is to present themselves as a hero figure. They have the solutions to their target audience’s problems.
Given this, how will your brand be of benefit to the people you identify as your target audience? Once you know what you provide and how this helps others, you’ll further develop your messaging.
4. Position your business as the Guide
Regardless of what you do, you want to become a guide for your target audience and to the competition. Being innovative, sustainable, pragmatic, and affordable are all qualities of a trusted brand or company. These values make them guides, or leaders and authorities in their field.
5. The solution or Offer
Be clear about what you can do for your audience in your brand messaging. What do you bring to the table? Your audience has come to you with a problem, so what solution do you have to offer them? If you do this effectively, word will spread to other people with similar problems, and you will have the solution for them!
6. Tone and Messaging
Think about what your audience sounds like and what they will want to hear from you. What words will you use that they identify with and hold in high regard? How would they like to be talked to? Once you know how to talk to your audience, through the right tone and correct message, you’ll appeal to them.
So remember
Effective Brand Messaging is the best way a brand or business can stand out from the crowd. All established and successful brands and companies will tell you that for any newcomer, their Brand Messaging is something they must have figured out from the very beginning.
For help with effective brand messaging for your business that will boost engagement into the stratosphere, talk to Second Click today. Our digital experts will work with you to create a clear, yet head-turning brand guide your business can rely upon for many years to come. Second Click will get you standing out from the crowd in no time. Contact Second Click today!
