Every business needs a message. It’s how you stand out, how you catch the attention of customers and argue the point that your business not only has real value to offer the market but that it deserves support. Getting your message right means real strategy. These are the elements of getting it right, getting it heard, and keeping it heard.
The ingredients of the message
It all starts with what the message itself is going to be. This is the brand of the business and it’s not something you should just make up from the ground. Instead, it should grow out your understanding of your services and your market. You need to think about the market’s needs and how your business solves them. More than that, you should think about the emotional impact of solving those needs. A value proposition works best if it thinks beyond the product. Do you make your customer’s lives easier or help them fulfill a goal or lifestyle? You need to take the best-case scenario of using your product and make that the message.
Where to send it
Besides understanding the target market to better understand the message, it also helps you get a good idea of how and where you should be sending that message out. Which mediums, whether online or in the real world, are most likely to reach them? If you’re unsure, then you might need to combine your understanding of the market with the understanding of communications that teams like Paramount Communications demonstrate. The practical knowledge of how to apply your message and present it in its most appealing form to the right audience is important. It’s how you make sure you’re getting heard.
Don’t be afraid of a little help
Putting your branded stamp on your marketing efforts adds some authenticity to your message. But that authenticity isn’t always what the customer wants to see. They want to see some proof that you’re as good as your word. That’s where you need to look at spreading word-of-mouth, making a referral program and even getting in touch with industry influencers and tastemakers. If others are espousing the values of the business as much as you do, then it makes the recipient of the message more likely to believe it.
Keep adding more value
The benefits that you talk about in your business don’t end with the delivery of your product and service. To reinforce your message, you have to keep delivering those values to those who have already seen them demonstrated. Offer support, keep in touch, keep offering new deals to existing customers. Retain their loyalty and turn them into fans. That’s how you build a community that only serves as further evidence that your message isn’t just talking the talk. It shows that you’re the real deal.
You need to define the best message for the business, the best ways to disseminate it and, most importantly, the best ways to keep supporting it after delivery. It’s more than a flash in the pan, your marketing has to be an ongoing campaign to be at its most effective.
