Sometimes it’s difficult to see the path through the shrubs – without evaluating your position from afar, you can easily get lost. What may seem simple or easy to understand for you may not make sense to your customer, so it’s important to step back, evaluate, and ensure your messaging is clear enough that your customers understand your messaging and what it is that you actually do.
If you are ready to expand your sales and find new leads, it’s time to evaluate both what you say, and how you say it.
So, why is messaging important?
Ultimately, if your audience doesn’t understand why they should do business with you or how you can help them, they probably won’t buy from you. Without clarity in your message, you will continue to be just another business that shows up on your audience’s social media feed or in their inbox. Strong messaging, therefore, gives the consumer a clear reason they should buy from you. Communication is the key to business success, so it’s important to present yourself well, whether that’s through emails, phone calls, or social media, and leave the customer understanding exactly what you were asking of them.
First, understand your audience
Before composing your business messaging or communications, it’s important to understand your audience and their needs. Who are they? What do they value? What problem is your product or service solving for them? How do they communicate? Your messaging will change depending on the answers to these questions.
Even if your business caters to a broad audience, you’ll never serve everyone. You’ll still have a core group of customers – those groups of people who are more likely to need what you’re offering, and more likely to connect with your brand than the brands of your competitors. Focus on speaking to this group of people first. Find clarity around their online behaviours, preferred social media platforms, and how they respond to different types of content, and you will find clarity on how you should speak to them.
Does your message serve your goals?
Before you write your next newsletter, blog, or sales advertisement, think about the end goal. Are you writing to convey a sense of trust, to offer a discount, or to share your latest article? If you don’t understand the reason behind your communication, your audience won’t either. It’s wise to pause and revisit each piece before you hit the “publish” button. Think like your customer and ask yourself what they would do if they read your email, post, or new blog. Does it meet your goals? Does it make sense? Would you feel inclined to make a purchase, or reach out for more information?
It’s also important to consider if your messaging is in line with your business’s brand. You can learn more about branding here.
Where are you delivering your business messages?
There are a number of ways you can promote your business and its offerings, and each outlet can serve to reach different goals depending on where your audience is in the buying process. If you’re looking to develop rapport with a new customer, you might send them a follow up email or link to a relevant article that will teach them more about their new purchase. If you want to advertise a new promotion to previous customers, you might send them a small discount via your email newsletter. Wherever your message is, whether that’s your website landing page, your blog, your social media page, or a recent case study, you should make sure that it’s consistent with the way you want to be perceived, and that it gives clarity around your offering and the benefits of buying from, or working with, your business.