Messaging Strategy as Marketing Strategy

Usually, when small businesses hire us, it’s because their marketing isn’t working for them

They’re struggling with things like

• The website isn’t generating leads
• Social media is flat
• Wasting money on paid advertising
• etc.

They’re doing all the right things, but it’s not working.

So, they hire us to help them find the right words to make all of their marketing efforts more effective.

As you hear me say INCESSANTLY, “If you don’t have the right words, nothing else you do will matter.”

What our clients don’t anticipate is our ability to revamp their marketing strategy just based on what we uncover in their initial Messaging Strategy Session.

Here’s what I mean…

Messaging Uncovers Your Real Customer

Our Messaging Strategy sessions have helped over 100 organizations create crystal clear marketing messages that help them grow their business or create more impact (nonprofits and churches).

Brand messaging, at its core, answers these questions (among others):

1. Who is your customer?
2. What does she want from you?
3. What problem does she have that you solve?
4. How does she feel about that problem?

The value of bringing in an outsider to walk you through these questions is you will 100% uncover insights that you never would have considered on your own.

Your problem is that you know your business better than anyone. The catch to being that knowledgeable about your business is you sometimes fail to look at it from the perspective of your customer.

When you dive into your customer during a messaging strategy session, you might find…

• Your customer profile has been a little off.
• You’ve focused more on what you provide than what they want.
• The problem you solve is more focused than you thought.
• You may have entirely ignored feelings and emotions (which happens a lot).

When you realize these things are off, it often clarifies your marketing strategy going forward.

Turning Messaging Strategy into Marketing Strategy

Here are a few scenarios I’ve run into over the years with some of our clients.

• You’ve been spending $5k/mo on Google Ads, but it turns out your customers spend most of their time in online communities or attending trade shows.
• You spent a fortune on IG Reels with no results, but it turns out your customers don’t care much about you until the second they need you. So, you dive into SEO and Google Ads to get in front of people in their time of need.
• You sell software for large financial institutions and have positioned your marketing as a pitch toward the C-suite with no results. It turns out that it’s the tellers and branch managers who deal with the problem, and you need to show them how your software saves them time and hassle and give them the tools they need to pitch it up the ladder.

When we dedicate time to fleshing out your messaging strategy, it will likely impact your marketing strategy.

The better you understand your customers and where they hang out, the easier and more cost-effective it will be to reach them.

Often, that results in a much higher return on your marketing dollars because you’re putting them where your customers live and hang out.

At a minimum, you’ll save money because you’re not wasting money in the wrong places.

When you find the right words and put them in the right places where your customers hang out, your business will grow.

Want to start 2025 strong? We’re booking early 2025 Messaging Strategy sessions now.