How to build powerful core messaging that ignites your brand and engages customers
You probably know that having a strong brand is critical to the success of your business. Because you know that your brand can give you an edge over your competition, build customer loyalty, and increase profit.
But here’s what you might not know…
The foundations for a strong brand begin with your core messaging. Get this right, and it will steer all your communications, giving clarity and consistency to customers, and a brand they trust, respect and want to interact with.
But what makes a strong brand?
You’ve decided to get fit and join a gym (nice work). Off you trundle to the first sports store you can think of to buy some new gear to go with your new membership.
But why did this store come to mind first?
Probably because the people behind the brand have done a stonking job of making it memorable and authentic. When you achieve a memorable brand, people think of it when they’re in need. When it’s authentic, they trust you with their hard-earned dollars.
A brand is more than having a slick logo and a shiny website. A brand is your company identity. Although it’s not what you say it is, it’s how your business is perceived by others. The good news is, with insight, planning and action, you can influence people’s perception of your brand, so it does the heavy lifting for your business.
How to create your core messaging in 7 steps
1. Get to know your target audience
As with anything business-related, your customers are at the centre of it all, so it starts with them. If you want people to connect with your brand, you need to appeal to them. And this means having clear insights into who your ideal customers are and what experience they’re seeking from you. Once you understand their pain points and purchasing triggers, you can create core messaging that convinces them your business is the one they want to invest in.
One of the best ways to understand your target audience is to look at who already buys your products or services.
Where do they live?
What are their demographics?
What influences their decision to buy?
What stops them from buying?
If you’re starting out and don’t have a large customer base, you might like to look at your competitors’ customers. What are people saying in their reviews or online forums?
Are there common concerns/complaints being expressed?
What positive things are people saying about the service/products they provide?
It’s amazing what you learn with a little research.
2. Develop customer personas
Once you have the insights, it helps to develop a persona for your customer (or multiple personas as we tend to have more than one customer group). Each of your personas should outline the following details:
· Demographics
· Interests and tastes
· Needs and wants
· Challenges and concerns
You can even make visual personas for a clear picture that’s easy to refer to and convey to your team if you have one.
3. Establish your Unique Selling Position (USP)
Now you’re ready for the gritty stuff - your USP. This is the soul of your brand, your ‘secret sauce’ so to speak ― and what sets you apart from your competition. All your marketing and messaging should ring true to your USP. It can also be great for your website home page primary header.
How do you write a compelling USP? The best way is to make a list of all your company’s most unique selling angles and compare them against your audience’s needs.
Which one fits the bill the most?
Which has the most pulling power?
You might like to test a few or ask a sample of customers. A strong USP reinforces your most valuable benefit and articulates it in a way that evokes reaction.
Example:
I worked with a leading provider for NDIS plan management and support coordination. Through our research, we understood that NDIS participants often feel confined by their NDIS plan because they don’t always represent their needs. We wanted to present a promise of hope and positivity that we could help them get what they want out of their NDIS plan.
We crafted this USP:
We see beyond the plan to a world of possibilities, and partner with you to achieve them.
4. Craft a memorable tagline
Your tagline kind of goes hand in hand with your USP. At least, it needs to reflect your USP. To be effective, it should be short and snappy, promoting a single concept.
What one thing do you want people to remember about your brand?
Example:
For the above client (and reflecting the USP mentioned above) we created the tagline:
Together, it’s possible
This tagline reinforces their USP and is easy to exploit in different contexts because it can be used as a sentence starter. For example, ‘Together, it’s possible to do more with your NDIS plan.’
5. Identify your core brand values
Brand values are important because they help shape the way you interact with customers and how you operate your business. They’ll be times when you have to make tough choices. But if you have strong values in place, they bring clarity to your decision making.
Brand values must be sincere to be impactful. They’re not just words on a page. They reflect your company's beliefs and what you stand for. They need to be a living, breathing part of how you run your business if they are to be taken seriously by your customers.
Many businesses overcomplicate their brand values by attaching too many which are then difficult to action. To keep things simple and productive, I recommend choosing only three.
Example:
I worked with a leading For Sale By Owner real estate platform to create their core values:
Proudly Aussie
A critical part of their service is that their call centre isn’t outsourced offshore. Every member of their team is Australian and when their customers call for support, they deal with a local.
Fair and ethical
In an industry rife with hardcore sales tactics, expensive agency commissions and underquoting, low-cost pricing and honest advice is critical to this company’s service offering.
Customer-first
Good customer service is everything to this brand. The information and support they provide puts their customers’ needs first, always.
6. Build Tone of Voice & Language Guidelines
Your Tone of Voice & Language Guidelines act as a framework to steer your language, how you talk to your customers, and which words you should and shouldn’t use.
Your Tone of Voice is what you say and how you say it. It’s guided by your brand’s principles, experiences and aspirations. And how you say it is influenced by your brand’s personality. While your tone may adapt depending on the channel you communicate through and the audience you’re addressing, it should always ring true to your brand.
The language you use frames part of the experience you give to customers, guiding interaction with your brand and what to expect from having a relationship with you. When you consistently use language and terminology that your audience understands and connects with, you create a positive experience with your brand.
When I create Tone of Voice and Language Guidelines for clients, I include examples for their most popular channels, so they can see the TOV and language in action and use my examples as templates for future communications and campaigns.
7. Create your brand story
Stories are a powerful tool in human communication. Told well, they provoke emotion and create a strong, lasting connection between reader and brand. But not just any story will do. They need to be cleverly crafted with the brand persona and personality at heart. People trust people, which is why human, personality-driven stories tend to provoke the most impact.
Your brand story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
The beginning = the problem. What issue did you realise your customers were facing, the problem you set out to solve? Maybe there was a gap in the market, something was missing in their lives or their life could simply be better somehow.
The middle = the solution. How did you set about solving the problem? What lifeline did you throw out?
The end = the difference. How have you made a difference in your customers’ lives? How have you helped them climb out of the hole? Your ending needs to feel like a new beginning as opposed to the end of the road.
Example:
I worked with a supplier of unique architectural surfaces and bespoke outdoor wares who source their materials from artisans across the Globe. They wanted to convey their passion and point of difference behind their products in a creative way.
I crafted this story with them:
Beginning (the problem)
It all began in Madrid over a shared plate of tapas in some tobacco-stained bar. When three friends travel together, big things happen. Ideas shape. We swapped ideas, drank beer, put the world to right and decided to go into business together.
Our very first renovation ignited our fascination with the origins and cultures behind the materials people use in their homes. But we quickly recognised what was missing… a connection between the suppliers of imported products and the stories behind the people making them.
The products were lifeless. They had no soul.
Middle (The solution)
We set about travelling to China, India, Oman, Serbia and Turkey to source our opening collection and meet the creators of our products.
In China, we fell in awe of the local building traditions and techniques, the craftsman who learned their skill from generations past. In India, we saw some of the earliest examples of stone masonry in their sacred and ancient monuments. And in Turkey, we stumbled across crumbling cobbled-stoned structures.
Every country we travelled to, we built a network of talented artisans offering unique, handcrafted products and documented their incredible stories.
Our experiences formed GatherCo Green’s core values today to ethically source each collection and to connect consumers with the stories behind each product.
End (The difference)
Today, our inspiration comes from the people we meet along the way, the talented architects and designers we work with and the dedicated artisans who make our products.
When you buy through GatherCo Green, the products you choose for your home have a story behind them, they mean something. More than just matter… they are history, people and life.
Visit our Collections page to view our unique and stunning range of imported materials and handcrafted products.
But remember…
Branding is a perpetual process because it never stops. People, markets, and trends change, so your brand and core messaging must adapt to remain relative and current.
Once, you’ve established your core messaging, make sure all your communications and marketing align. A memorable brand is built through repetition, consistency and a presence in all the places that matter ― the places your target audiences hang out.