6 Secrets of Effective Messaging
By Rachel Henry
In this article, we uncover 6 steps to craft strong messaging:
- Know your audience and what matters to them
- Get clear on your vision, mission and values
- Focus on your impact through the use of bold language
- Establish your brand personality, voice and tone
- Use language that resonates
- Create communications guidelines for clarity and consistency
6 steps to craft strong messaging
1. Know your audience and what matters to them
It’s time to take a deep dive, no scuba gear required! Your organization needs to know what problems your clients are facing so you can solve them effectively. To truly understand who your audience is, what they value, and how you can connect with them emotionally, you can conduct an audience analysis to learn how you can best reach them.
2. Get clear on your mission, vision and values
People can sense when you’re being genuine or not, and that includes your messaging or jumping on a movement just to increase support. Be authentic and transparent about your organization’s values and intentions. Inspire support through an emotional story, but be clear about how your vision, mission, and values align with your organization’s actions.
3. Focus on your impact
Consider your messaging like an epic story. You want to draw your readers in and get them excited about where your story is going. Think big and don’t be afraid to state, in no uncertain terms, the impact your organization is creating. Use candid, bold declarations and aspirational language to describe your mission and vision, and share the perspectives and data-driven statistics that support these claims to establish your credibility.
4. Establish your brand personality, voice and tone
Create a strong first impression by establishing a consistent, distinctive and memorable brand personality. Start by deciding what you want to say, and how you want to say it, and share your organization’s unique perspective and values through your brand voice. When paired with the right tone, you can represent your brand personality every time you communicate with your audience. This includes word choice and sentence structure in all content you create.
5. Use language that resonates
The use of inclusive language demonstrates to your audience that you recognize and value individuals for their differences. Respectfully acknowledging uniqueness helps to forge an authentic bond with readers. A sense of belonging generates a desire to be engaged, which means they’ll show up for, and support, your organization in powerful ways. Make sure your writing stays well away from terms that denote bias, slang or discriminatory expressions.
6. Create guidelines for clarity and consistency
A communications plan will help clarify how and when your team should communicate. Highlight who is in charge of what, how to disseminate important messages and ongoing project details, and through what tools. Don’t forget to specify when status updates are required, and how frequently they’ll be shared.
It’s time to take a deep dive, no scuba gear required! Your organization needs to know what problems your clients are facing so you can solve them effectively. To truly understand who your audience is, what they value, and how you can connect with them emotionally, you can conduct an audience analysis to learn how you can best reach them.
2. Get clear on your mission, vision and values
People can sense when you’re being genuine or not, and that includes your messaging or jumping on a movement just to increase support. Be authentic and transparent about your organization’s values and intentions. Inspire support through an emotional story, but be clear about how your vision, mission, and values align with your organization’s actions.
3. Focus on your impact
Consider your messaging like an epic story. You want to draw your readers in and get them excited about where your story is going. Think big and don’t be afraid to state, in no uncertain terms, the impact your organization is creating. Use candid, bold declarations and aspirational language to describe your mission and vision, and share the perspectives and data-driven statistics that support these claims to establish your credibility.
4. Establish your brand personality, voice and tone
Create a strong first impression by establishing a consistent, distinctive and memorable brand personality. Start by deciding what you want to say, and how you want to say it, and share your organization’s unique perspective and values through your brand voice. When paired with the right tone, you can represent your brand personality every time you communicate with your audience. This includes word choice and sentence structure in all content you create.
5. Use language that resonates
The use of inclusive language demonstrates to your audience that you recognize and value individuals for their differences. Respectfully acknowledging uniqueness helps to forge an authentic bond with readers. A sense of belonging generates a desire to be engaged, which means they’ll show up for, and support, your organization in powerful ways. Make sure your writing stays well away from terms that denote bias, slang or discriminatory expressions.
6. Create guidelines for clarity and consistency
A communications plan will help clarify how and when your team should communicate. Highlight who is in charge of what, how to disseminate important messages and ongoing project details, and through what tools. Don’t forget to specify when status updates are required, and how frequently they’ll be shared.
Learn how to use your messaging effectively
Messaging is a key component of your organization’s overall branding strategy, but it needs to be consistently cultivated. Without concise messaging, your audience won’t understand your values and if they resonate, but Perch can help. Perch is a boutique storytelling and communications company that can help you establish powerful messaging to tell your story in profound ways, through actionable steps. Contact us for a free 30-minute consultation.
