Marketers tend to struggle to come up with brand messaging that deeply resonates with their buyers. It takes them weeks or even months to come up with a string of words that hopefully connect with buyers in a meaningful and compelling way.
Here are three things I find missing the most when companies journey down the message development path:
They work in a vacuum. They don’t talk with their customers and ask them why they work with their company, what their experience is like, etc. When is the last time, for example, you asked a set of your customers, “If you were to describe <your company> in 3 words, what would they be?” The words they use may surprise you. This brings me to #2…
They don't speak the language of their customers. What terminology do your customers use? I recently asked a set of customers when running a project, do they use workflow, processes, or procedures (or something else) to describe the flow of work from one system/person to another. We were going to hang our hat on workflow and found out that only one out of the sample group used that word internally, all the way up to Board conversations.
They put sounding smart before being simplistic. This one gets me every time. DON’T MAKE YOUR BUYER WORK SO HARD TO FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU DO! Avoid picking the fanciest words and coolest phrases. Those fly right past your buyer the moment they read them. Talk like a human being would if sitting down for a cup of coffee and having a frank and casual discussion. Use the words they typically use in their day-to-day language and make your message simple. Inject it with some energy and make it compelling so they feel they need to know more. This is all about creating a frictionless experience from the moment they discover your brand.
If you want to discuss how to improve your brand messaging process in more detail, reach out and let’s dive in.
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