There are numerous ways to reach your ideal customer through digital marketing campaigns, virtual and in-person events, radio and streaming services and much more. But before you go galloping out into the world shouting about your offering, you must first figure out how to reach and connect with your target audience in a way that’s personal, relevant, unique and relatable.
In this ESSENTIAL guide to crafting a marketing message, we’ll define what a marketing message is, why your business needs one and give you tips on how to create your own compelling message that moves people.
What is a Marketing Message?
So you’ve got a product or service you want to sell. Great! Now, how are you communicating with your target audience about what you’re offering?
The way you talk with and to your ideal audience - the emotional tone, word choice, style and personality - is a part of your brand identity. It is this written part of your brand identity that you use to create your marketing message.
Generally, when developing a marketing message, you will want to start with a positioning statement that communicates the value of your offering. This defines your target audience’s pain point or challenge and addresses how your product or service can solve it.
For instance, let’s say you produce a type of custom skincare product that is designed to address the specific challenges that those with fair, sensitive, oily skin typically experience. Your positioning statement may be:
“PRODUCT is a paraben and fragrance-free moisturizing solution that provides those with fair, sensitive and oily skin with creamy, luxurious hydration and sun protection while also preventing excess oil buildup.”
Using this positioning statement, you would then create a series of marketing messages across numerous types of communications, such as your website, press releases, social media posts, radio spots and more. Your marketing messages should all speak to your audience using words and phrases they are familiar with and understand.
A sample marketing message in a magazine or online ad for this product might be the image of a young woman out enjoying the beach with friends that goes something like this:
Headline: Be FREE this Summer!
Text: Put your best face forward (even in the sun!) with PRODUCT, the skincare solution crafted specifically for those with fair, sensitive, oily skin.
- FREE yourself from excess oil
- FREE yourself from parabens
- FREE yourself from synthetic fragrance.
BE FREE with PRODUCT
Your marketing message makes up the foundation of your sales and marketing campaigns. Having a clear, consistent and impactful message can be the difference between a campaign that generates huge results - and one that falls flat.
Why Does My Business Need a Marketing Message?
We are all bombarded with hundreds and sometimes even thousands of marketing messages every day - via email, social media, online sites, streaming services, flyers, transit stations, television, billboards, and even in bathrooms.
Your company is competing with all of those other messages to stand out and grab your potential customer’s attention. A generic, uninspired and forgettable message that doesn’t communicate the value of your product or service will simply get lost in the noise.
Remember the old saying, “If you build it, they will come?” If nobody knows what you’ve built - how would they know when, where and why they should come? A product or service nobody knows about simply isn’t going to be purchased.
That’s why having a compelling marketing message - which you can then leverage across your strategic marketing and sales campaigns - is so vital to the success of your business.
How to Craft a Compelling Marketing Message
To get started on your marketing message, you must first understand more about your target audience, their pain points and challenges, and clearly define the value your product or service provides. How does your product or service, specifically, solve their problem or challenge?
1. Define Your Target Audience
Who are you talking to?
This is the person you are creating this message for. The more information you know about your ideal customer, the better.
- List your ideal customer’s demographic information, such as age, occupation, where they live and educational level (learn more about how to define your target audience here).
2. Define Your Audience’s Pain Points
What keeps your ideal customer up at night?
- List the challenges or problems your ideal customer has that may make them interested in the solution (the product or service) you are offering them.
3. Define Your Value to Your Customers
What do you offer that solves your customers’ problems?
- List the mission, vision and/or values of your business. Explain how your mission, vision and values provide value to your customers.
- List the benefits of your product or service and describe the value that they give to your customers.
- Describe the purpose of your business. Why does it exist? Why do you do what you do?
- Describe the unique value that you offer your customers. How is what you’re offering different from and superior to your competitors?
4. Define Your Company’s Personality
What is your company’s identity or brand?
To determine the overall tone and personality of your company, choose all the adjectives below that you believe describe your company:
|
Active Adorable Adventurous Ambitious Artistic Athletic Bold Calm Caring Casual Charming Cheerful Chic Classic Clever Collaborative Comfortable Confident Conservative Contemporary Convenient Cool Cooperative Courageous Creative Custom Cutting Edge Daring Dazzling Debonair Delicate Delightful Detailed Determined Direct Dramatic Dynamic Eager Earthy Eccentric Efficient Elegant Enchanting Endearing Energetic Ethereal |
Exciting Exuberant Fabulous Familiar Fashionable Festive Fierce Flirty Formal Frank Fresh Friendly Fun Functional Funny Futuristic Generous Gentle Glamorous Graceful Hip Hilarious Historic Impactful Industrial Informal Innovative Inspiring Intense Intentional Inviting Irreverent Jolly Joyous Low Maintenance Lively Lush Majestic Mature Modern Natural Nifty Noisy No-nonsense Nostalgic Organic |
Plain Playful Plucky Powerful Professional Proud Quaint Quirky Radiant Rebellious Reflective Relaxing Reliable Retro Revolutionary Romantic Rustic Scholarly Secure Sensitive Serious Silly Sincere Sleek Smart Soothing Sophisticated Stable Stimulating Striking Strong Stunning Sustainable Swanky Timeless Tranquil Trustworthy Unconventional Urban Versatile Vintage Whimsical Wild Witty Wistful Youthful |
Choose only one adjective from each line below that you believe best describes your company.
- Masculine // Feminine
- Simple // Intricate
- Neutral // Flashy
- Free-spirited // Authoritative
- Fun // Serious
- Professional // Casual
- Modern // Classic
- Sporty // Elegant
- Revolutionary // Safe
5. Define Your Positioning Statement
Using what you’ve learned about your customer, your offering, your tone and your personality above, create a positioning statement for your company. Try to keep this message to just one or two sentences.
Again, your positioning statement should clearly define what your product or service is, who it is for, and why it is valuable to them.
6. Develop Your Marketing Message
Using your positioning statement as a guide, craft a marketing message using everything you have learned in this guide.
Imagine this message front and center on your website or in an email header. Is it clear? Does it stand out? Does it quickly communicate the unique value you provide to your customers?
Additional Tips for Crafting Your Marketing Message
As you continue to develop marketing messages for various marketing and sales materials and campaigns, consider the following additional tips to help you create compelling messages based on your positioning statement - again and again!
Use Emotion + Logic
People are moved to buy products and services based on both emotions and logic. Your message should tap into your audience’s emotional impulses and back up those impulses with logical reasoning.
Hook Them Early
Use provocative, emotional, interesting, unique or arresting headlines that capture attention. Pair your message with compelling imagery that matches the same tone and personality of your brand.
Stand Out
Why should people do business with your company over one with a similar offering? There should be both emotional and logical reasons to do so, and these should be encompassed in your marketing message.
Speak Like Your Customer
Your message should be communicated in the same way that your customers speak. Use the type of language and word choice that they do.
Speak From the Customer’s Perspective
When creating marketing messages, always speak directly to the customer’s needs. It’s not about you! Avoid a message that only talks about the company, often starting with “we” or “our.” Instead, speak to your customer.
NO: We are the leading provider of financial software solutions for small businesses, saving them time and money by helping them streamline their finances.
YES: Start saving money this month with an easy-to-learn software solution built by and for small business owners just like you!
Strategic Marketing, Remarkable Results
At Marketing Essentials, we’ve worked with hundreds of regional, national and global brands just like yours to achieve remarkable results. If you’re not seeing the results you want from your current marketing efforts, consider a strategic marketing audit.
