The way we speak about our business is more important than ever. There’s a lot of noise out there, with brands trying to shout louder and more often than all others. There’s good news, though. If you speak effectively, you don’t have to shout at all—your messaging will speak volumes on its own.
Here are a few things we emphasize when we rework the messaging for our clients’ brands.
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This is probably the most common issue we run into: Businesses are trying to say too much in their messaging. As a business leader, it’s difficult to choose what’s important for people to hear. You see everything as important about your business, and you want to include it all in your messaging. That’s why our OVRFLO process exists—to help you hone in on the messages that matter most.
The reality is this. Your customers don’t have much time. They’re inundated with messaging all the time. They need to know what you do, why you do it, and how it’s going to impact their lives. The rest is just fluff, or at least details for another time.
It’s Not About the Product
If you sell “widget X,” it may be difficult to hear that “widget X” is not what really matters. It’s simply the means for which your business accomplishes your true purpose. It’s the mechanism for transforming lives. If you sell furniture for a living, your purpose probably isn’t found in a couch—it’s found in providing comfort and quality for your customers, and a meaningful workplace for your team. Or, maybe it should be.
The point is this: Once you realize what your true business purpose is, you should lead with that, not your product. Customers make decisions based on that purpose, and they make those decisions very quickly, in a matter of seconds (Learn more about how that works in our article about limbic messaging). All of the technical information simply justifies the buying decision they’ve already made, or worse, clouds their decision-making process.
Trust Your Customer
A lot of good customer messaging comes down to trust. People are smart, intuitive, emotional beings, and they make decisions on a level we don’t always recognize or respect as business owners. When you’re defining your company’s messaging, do it in a way that doesn’t pander or over-explain to your customers. They can figure out plenty on their own.
In fact, that intuition can pick up on a lot of things, for better or worse. If you’re doing business for the right reasons, with a greater purpose in mind, people will be able to pick up on it quickly. It may take time, but you’ll end up winning them over because of that authenticity—not because you explained it better than the competition.
It’s Truly a Win-Win Scenario
When you communicate with your true purpose in mind, you’re creating a symbiotic relationship between your company, your team, and your customers. Ultimately, you want everyone to feel like they’re on the same mission together, and everyone is getting what they want in the end.
USAA is a great example of a company that does this well. They don’t base their entire purpose on savings like some other insurance companies but focus on their purpose of serving military veterans and their families. They aren’t the cheapest. They’re not the most expensive. But, they’re winning because they’re creating a relationship where everyone feels like they’re on the same team, going in the same direction.
Consistency is Key
My last point is maybe the most important. Once you’ve honed in on your messaging, don’t give up on it. Your brand isn’t shouting, so it may take a little bit of time for people to hear you. Eventually, customers learn to ignore the noise and focus on things that truly matter, but it’s not a process that happens overnight.
Define your brand’s messaging and keep at it. In general, people need to hear the same message seven times before it truly sinks in, and that’s if they’re hearing your message every single time you deliver it. And, if you’re doing it correctly and speaking from a place of purpose and authenticity, the right kind of customer won’t get tired of it. The truth never gets old.If you feel like you’re running into a wall with your company’s message, get in touch with one of our representatives. We’ve designed our OVRFLO process holistically, to start from the ground up and build messaging that resonates on a deeper level.
