Ashley Friedlein — CEO and founder of Guild — once said, “Your brand is a sum total of how people perceive it. Branding is about shaping that perception.” For the perception to be positive and consistent, your brand message must be clear.
For small businesses, having a clear brand message is one of the basics of small business branding; however, it isn’t always a priority. There are so many other things you need to accomplish to keep your business running smoothing. But, your brand message depicts your brand’s intrinsic value proposition across marketing channels and campaigns. It’s extremely valuable.
Not sure where to get started outlining your brand message? Keep reading.
Benefits of Clear Brand Message
Shortens the Consideration Stage
A clear brand message can shorten the amount of time a potential customer considers using your product or service. With your brand message clear, your prospects and leads will more easily understand what it is you offer, eliminating any second guessing or procrastination associated with moving along to the next stage of the buyer’s journey.
People are likely to purchase a product whose benefits they understand the fastest. If your brand message is easy to understand, potential customers won’t take long to consider using it.
Streamlines Market Penetration
Penetrating the market can be tough. Every small business has tons of competition, and in order to get the funding needed to make it to the next round, investors need to know what your brand is about. And they need to believe in it.
If you have a simple yet compelling brand message, investors, customers, potential employees, and the press will be intrigued to learn more. And if their positive perception of the brand matches reality, they will love and share your product. This goes a long way for market acceptance.
Minimizes Advertising Expenditure
If your brand message is clear, people will form the perception you want them to have about your company faster. That improves the efficiency of your advertising campaigns and reduces the frequency of adverts. This could mean that you’ll only spend a fraction of the marketing budget to hit the conversion rates you want.
Improve Referrals
With a clear brand message, loyal customers can easily understand your company and its value proposition. It’s also easier for them to get behind it and build advocacy. As a result, it will be easier for them to get friends, family, and followers on board when they push your products through word of mouth.
How to Create a Clear and Consistent Brand Message
If you don’t steer how people perceive your brand, they’ll create a brand story for you. And, their version of your brand’s story may not match your vision. Whether you want to redefine your brand message or create a new one, here’s how to go about it:
1. Define Your Target Audience
You have to create your brand message with someone in mind for it to be effective. As Seth Godin states, “When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one.” If you want to achieve clarity with your brand message, you have to narrow your focus to your archetypal customer.
Do rigorous audience research to determine the traits of your potential customers. Define their needs, demographic information, perspective on life, and life experiences. In addition, evaluate how your product meets or exceeds their expectations.
2. Identify Your Brand’s Perceived Message
If your brand has been in the market for a while, find out how people currently perceive it. Ask your employees, loyal customers, and external suppliers to describe what they think your brand represents.
Does the version of your brand story in the public domain match what you want it to be? If not, your brand message isn’t clearly defined. It needs some tweaking and realignment to reflect what you stand for.
3. Create your Core Brand Message
Remember: You want to realign your message so that people can see what your brand stands for. For that to happen, you’ve got to outline the subtle details about your brand, such as:
- What is your product/service, and how do you do business?
- What sets your brand apart from other brands in your niche?
- Why do you offer the service or products? Why should the customer care?
- Who are your customers?
String together this information to create the core brand message. Create a story that conveys your brand’s values and attributes. In addition, build supporting messages around your brand using case studies, testimonials, and data to give it more leverage.
4. Consider Creating a Tagline
Taglines aren’t for everyone, but they can be helpful in conveying your brand message.
A tagline is a short yet memorable phrase that summarizes your brand message. Ensure the tagline is so simple that a 10-year-old can understand what your brands offer when they see or hear it. Some of the best practices when creating a slogan include:
- Keep it to one sentence.
- Ensure it is easily scannable and doesn’t require an explanation.
- Make sure it captures a solution to the customer’s problem.
- Make it easily repeatable.
5. Create Consistency Around Your Brand’s Message
Creating a brand message is one thing; ensuring it sticks in the minds of your target audience is another. For the message to be consistent throughout your business, make sure employees, press, suppliers, and customers know what it stands for and what it is.
Remember that people will learn or hear about your brand on different platforms. Their first impression will shape their view of your brand. Share your brand message and story across all touchpoints to get everyone moving in the same direction. Consistently presenting your brand can increase your revenue by 33%.
According to statistics, it takes people five to seven impressions to remember a brand. If the impression is the same across all channels, there’s no doubt that with sustained effort, your brand will become memorable.
Enjoy the Benefits of a Clear Brand Message
You can’t overlook the significance of a clear brand message. As we’ve already seen, maintaining a clear brand message offers numerous benefits to your company.
If you’re getting started, the steps discussed above will help you coin a clear brand message and achieve consistency in how your business appears to interested parties. You could also hire a seasoned branding expert to guide you through the process.