Assessing Your Current Brand Message
Before you can create a stronger brand message, you need to assess your current one. Start by looking at your website, social media, and other marketing materials. Is your brand message consistent across all channels? Is it clear and concise? Does it accurately convey what your brand stands for and what it offers to customers? Does it reflect what you know your customers care about?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, it’s time to re-evaluate your current brand message. Here are some of the elements of your brand message you should be taking a closer look at.
Your Target Audience
Who are you speaking to? Often, brands have multiple target audiences that all have different “pain points” and needs; essentially, different motivations for seeking out a solution to their problems. To ensure your brand is their front-and-center solution, your message needs to address these specific pain points and instill confidence that you are the best option. Creating a persona map helps specify the unique needs of each audience and what content your brand can offer to best resonate with them.
Your Brand’s Differentiating Value
Almost every brand is up against some type of competition in the market. What sets your brand apart? You need to examine the competition – both direct and indirect – and define your unique value proposition. It should be a clear, concise, and impactful value that truly helps elevate you above the rest. This differentiator is critical to creating a strong brand message, as it is the foundation on which much of your messaging will rest.
Your Core Brand Message
Using the information you now have about your target audience and differentiating value, you can establish your core brand message. This message should be easy to communicate and speak clearly to your brand’s values and mission.
To craft your message, start by brainstorming keywords and phrases that accurately represent your brand’s personality and essence. Think about what you want customers to remember about your brand, and what emotions you want to evoke. Use these words and phrases to create a message that resonates with your target audience and accurately represents your brand.
Your Overall Messaging
Once you’ve crafted your core brand message, it’s important to communicate it effectively. This means ensuring that your message is consistent across all channels, from your website to your social media to your advertising.
Use storytelling to enhance your brand message – you can help illustrate your brand’s values and mission and create emotional connections with your audience by leveraging customer testimonials, case studies, use cases, or even fictional representations of how your brand can benefit customers.
You should also be incorporating your brand message in all communications, which helps establish consistency and familiarity and eliminates doubt. Ensure your emails. social media, website, advertising, and even employee communications reflect your brand message. With each touchpoint, you have an opportunity to elevate your brand and the customer experience.
Your Message Maintenance
Creating a strong brand message is just the first step. It’s important to maintain your message over time, ensuring that it remains consistent and relevant. Doing so means regularly assessing your brand message and making updates in line with your brand’s evolution, changes in the market, and shifting needs among your customer base.
It’s also important to ensure that all employees and stakeholders understand and support your brand message, which can be achieved through training, regular communication, and dissemination of branded materials like a brand guide that spells out your messaging in a ways that provides a good reference point for all.
Your Performance
How do you know if your brand message is effective and helping your brand achieve those goals for growth? Measuring its impact over time is critical – keep a pulse on performance through customer surveys, social media analytics, click-through rate, time-on-page, overall sales and new customers. Establish your core key performance indicators (KPIs) so you know what you’re tracking and why it matters.
By regularly measuring the effectiveness of your brand message, you can identify areas for improvement and make updates as needed.