What is Messaging Strategy and Why Does it Matter?
If there’s one word that makes me shudder a bit, it’s strategy. And game changer. And level up. And authentic. Ok ok maybe I’m kinda ‘ick’-prone. But that word strategy can feel super buzzwordy and a bit McKinsey-coded as you think ‘wtf even is messaging strategy’?
Let’s start with a metaphor. Think back to your last karaoke night. You’re belting Defying Gravity into the microphone, having the time of your life, thinking the whole bar is right there with you.
(you singing = your copy)
But then a kind bartender risks his life during the bridge to tap on your shoulder and say ‘hey, the microphone isn’t actually plugged in.’ You thought everyone was resonating with your Grammy-deserving performance but no one is digesting anything you’re saying, therefore not having any sort of a response. When you dig into your messaging strategy, you plug the microphone in and actually fuel the words you put out in your marketing.
Without a solid messaging foundation, my clients often say things like:
I feel invisible online.
I’m not attracting the right clients or customers
Writing copy feels heavy
Something in my marketing isn’t connecting
And that’s when I cue a little happy shiver, because I know some killer messaging is gonna change everything for this person.
What is Messaging Strategy
Your messaging or brand messaging (we’ll be using both) is how your brand talks. It’s how you articulate the things that define your brand, such as ideal client, differentiators, value statements, problems-solved, brand values, and brand voice. But here’s what most people miss. It’s not simply writing these things out on paper. No, no that’s great for your business journal but that’s not helping anybody buy. It’s defining the articulation and communication behind these things so you can amplify your visual brand and create an entire experience where your brand is clear, clever, captivating, and known.
If this is your first time ever thinking about your brand messaging in this way, join my 5-day sprint, The eXact Factor to craft that juicy business one liner that'll ignite your messaging foundations.
When your brand messaging is strong, you’ll notice:
You’re creating marketing campaigns from one clear message, so no one is landing on your website, Instagram, podcast, Threads page, etc. wondering what does this business do or what does this business specialize in?
You’re writing in one specific brand voice that sounds human, is interesting, matches your visual brand, resonates with your ideal client, and has people saying ‘this is definitely *insert brand*’s email’
You’re connecting with your audience in a deeper way. Sales calls lose their ‘push,’ Your ideal user or client is taking the next step relatively quickly after discovering your brand. You’re not watching people DM you a compliment then book in with someone double the price.
Why Does Messaging Strategy Matter?
There are 2 coaches. Both are content coaches and specialize in helping their clients craft IG posts that blow up their business. A pretty saturated base if we’re being honest.
Coach 1 does not invest in messaging strategy. She decides her content is going to do the talking, posting a lot of screenshots and client results to try and pull people into her high-ticket content course.
Coach 2 does invest in messaging strategy. She decides to get hyper-clear on how she can communicate the numerous benefits of working with her, infusing them into her client results to pull people into her method and not just the numbers of ‘what she can do.’
Coach 1 does get clients. She’s great on the phone and knows how to craft a viral hook like a wizard. But her number of clients ebbs and flows with how on point her content is that month because she isn’t utilizing a website that sells for her or emails that continually remind her people of her one core message. She’s getting a decent number of clients, but it’s all over the map— some people scaling up to $200K and other people asking her how to post a story. She’s feeling a bit burned out because she’s doing so much work to pull people into her courses and feels like she’s constantly repeating herself— all while taking a gamble of who’s going to join her high-ticket offers.
Coach 2 also gets clients. She doesn’t get on a lot of sales calls as most of her leads are very warm by the time they’re DMing her. Sometimes they recite their favorite part of her offer to her, making the sale more of a celebration than a traditional ‘sales conversation.’ She’s never scrambling for words and content ideas because she knows what her brand stands for and that conviction shines whenever her brand opens its mouth. Almost every client that comes into her world is a perfect fit. She often feels like she’s so lucky to have a business that draws in people she’d choose as friends— but messaging strategy often masquerades as luck because it makes everything easier.
As you can see both coaches get clients. I would never say ‘a good messaging strategy is the ONLY way to get clients’ because that’s extremely false. It simply makes everything easier. More focused. More fun. More passive. More echo-y. And I know if you’re on my blog, you’re way past wanting to do what works. You want the path that points to thrive.
Crafting Your Messaging
This doer can’t write anything theoretical so we’re gonna do. How do you craft your messaging base? I do this for my clients in The Brief. Yes, even my strategy offering is done-for-you. First, I dig into their business— asking about the basics like ideal client, value statements, differentiators, and pain points. Then, I go through those and create the articulation around how they’re going to convey those in their copy and marketing.
For example, a client would say ‘I serve moms who are overwhelmed and need someone to come in and create automations so they can continue running their business with ease while growing their family.’
Great. That’s the business basic, but we need to create the foundational messaging around that. Because no one gets activated by ‘overwhelmed’.
I’d go in and write something like ‘Systems support for the mom who wants admin tasks to run on autopilot so she can attend to the milk spill in aisle 5, while her oldest decides to build a volcano on a Tuesday at noon’
As you can see that is not your dry-ass ideal client avatar statement. Then, I’ll go through and do this for every aspect of a client’s brand messaging until they have a document that informs the articulation around everything their brand is saying.
Need an example?
When they get this document, they know:
Exactly who they’re talking to, what they’re saying to them, what their potential clients' actual issues are, how they’re communicating value in an on-brand way, and what to say to illustrate their differentiators.
Their multi-dimensional brand voice. Kind, Empathetic, Patient. Boring. By mixing adjectives that don’t typically go together, then getting hyper-specific about the flavor of each voice dimension- I create brand voices that sound like a human you’d actually want to meet.
Their key message. The lines they say again and again until people are reciting them in their sleep. The phrases that show their differentiators within 2 minutes of meeting their brand. The headline that goes smack-dab on their home page. It’s all there.
Okay, so you know I can do this for you in the The Brief. But for funsies, I packaged this exact process into a workbook so you can do it in jammies while jamming out to Pearl Jam for .00004 (I think) of the price.
Messaging Mistakes That Physically Hurt Me (And Emotionally Hurt You)
As you’re bouncing along, trying to nail your messaging you might fall in a hole. Not a threat, just like watch for the hole. These are messaging mistakes that I’d consider pretty deadly sins when you’re trying to stand out.
Mistake 1: Being generic
A lot of my clients know the power of getting specific. I don’t get a lot of ‘I’m for everyone’ people. But being specific goes way deeper than being able to pick your ideal client out of a line up. Can you talk to her in a way that makes her say, you get me, at every touchpoint?
Instead of: Transform your life through HIIT training
It’s: Ditch the hour-long elliptical torture, and find your best burn in under 20 minutes
Anytime you think you’re being specific, get even more specific. You can do this with sensory details, setting a scene, or throwing away buzzwords. The point is, I should feel it, taste it, see it, when you’re talking to me.
Mistake 2: Not getting to why people *actually* care
I help business owners nail their offers.
Great, why do I care?
Because your offer suite is confusing your ideal client.
Great, why do I care?
Because if your ideal client is confused they’re going to buy from someone else.
Great, why do I care?
Because you’re leaving money on the table.
Perfect.
The messaging we need to now craft is around how an unclear offer suite is leaving money on the table. We can add in some sensory details (aka not be generic) and craft something yummy like:
Stop settling for random, run-of-the-mill offers and put things in the market that your people will be drooling over— asking, ‘how can I work with you after this?’
Mistake 3: Changing your messaging every week
When planning trips with my friends, they’ll make fun of me bc I always say ‘I’m a pick and stick’ girlie. I don’t want to switch hotels every 2 days. I don’t want to hop around cities. I want to pick and stick, knowing a tiny town like the back of my hand after 3 weeks in the same cafe.
You need to pick and stick with your messaging. If you’re changing it up all the time, trying to figure out what resonates— nothing will. You can experiment, but slow down and give things some time to sink in. If you’re swaying from chill cool girl to profesh badass every seven seconds, you’ll hurt that trust factor bc people won’t know what to expect.
Take the first step
At this point you’re probably oscillating somewhere between ‘I need to give my brand messaging some love’ and ‘I kinda want you to craft my brand messaging.’
So here’s a good first step as you’re figuring that out.
I like to craft messaging from a positive lens, not negativity. I think trying to be someone you’re not for the sake of ‘polarizing’ is an incredibly bad idea. That’s why I created the quiz— what’s your brand messaging superpower?
I want to know what your brand is naturally good at so we can create messaging from there. Because if you know what you’re good at, that’s such a strong base to craft communication to amplify those strengths.
*this is an affiliate link meaning if you purchase I will get a portion of sales without affecting your ticket price
Trust me, this will be way better than journaling prompts, writing out random adjectives that come to mind when you think of your brand, or hoping your logo does the talking. Let me diagnose your superpower, and then where you’re playing small in your messaging will become abundantly clear.
Why Messaging Strategy is The Solution
There are a million things you can invest in to make your business better. But so many of these solutions rely on a strong messaging base to be effective.
Try running ads with weak messaging. A recipe for wallet disaster.
Try creating content with weak messaging. A recipe for ‘the algo hates me.’
Try designing your website with weak messaging. A recipe for RIP: The prettiest site that never converted.
I’m not saying this to scare you out of other investments. Investing in all of these things will eventually be important. It’s just, what do you start with first? Messaging strategy is your foundation. If you solve messaging gaps, you’re fixing the root cause of underperforming marketing. That’s why this work is powerful.
If you’ve made it to the bottom of this article and you’re now thinking, I need to see what’s going on in my messaging because I think this is why things have been feeling so ‘off’ lately, let me in to audit your website, sales page, or IG page.
It’s a relatively inexpensive way to see if your messaging is holding you back so you can get insight into that before you hire the marketing agency, the coveted coach, or the dream designer.
And because I’m a doing girlie, if your messaging is holding you back, I will verbally rewrite parts of it for you so you can physically see how stronger messaging for your business sounds— allowing you to make some impactful edits that’ll have an effect right away.
