Just like every one of us, each business has its own individual personality. Some are loud, some are subtle. Some go through the occasional transformation, some never change. And just as we express our personalities in what we do and what we say, a business’s expression is its brand. There are all kinds of ways to define your brand and shape the world’s view of you. But perhaps the most effective way to take control is through the strategic development of brand messaging.
A brand messaging strategy is a valuable asset to any brand. If used effectively, it underpins just about everything your business says and does, to create cohesion and build recognition.
In this post we’ll:
- Define what brand messaging is
- Explain the value of a brand messaging strategy
- Review elements of a brand messaging framework
- Look at inspiring real-world examples
- Help you get started with yours
What is brand messaging?
Brand messaging is the strategic approach for how a company communicates, to inform target audiences about who they are, what they do, and how they’re different. It’s an opportunity for a business to tell a cohesive story, position themselves in their market, and reinforce their brand individuality. Brand messaging is a critical part of the overall verbal identity, a system that when successfully developed and implemented, creates consistency across all written and verbal portrayals of your brand.
Why is it important to nail your brand messaging?
The way your brand speaks matters — a lot. The words and phrases you choose to use, spoken in the voice that conveys your brand’s personality, are all taken in and interpreted by your audiences. If you want your audience to take you seriously as a brand, and trust what you have to say, you need the consistency, distinction, and polish of a strong brand messaging framework.
As your brand evolves and grows, it’s very likely that your brand messaging will do the same, especially if you plan to expand into new markets and reach new target audiences. Having a carefully considered brand messaging framework will give you a helpful foundation from which to evolve your messaging. It will also become a “source of truth” for anyone representing your business, ensuring that everyone stays on brand. That includes writers, content creators, marketers, sales teams, PR pros, customer service reps, and more. Once defined, a brand messaging framework can streamline the development of everything that comes after it, such as marketing materials, sales enablement collateral, crisis management plans, and new-hire training resources.
What makes a best-in-class brand messaging framework?
As we mentioned, brand messaging is one part of a brand’s broader verbal identity. There are some elements of your verbal identity that might precede your messaging — things like your brand narrative, company vision, and brand voice. Your brand messaging becomes the external expression — in other words, the real-world application — of all elements of your verbal identity. When building out a brand messaging framework, these are are few pieces you can’t leave out:
Your brand messaging framework may have variations of these elements, or include others like:
- A tagline
- A mission statement
- An elevator pitch
- A boilerplate
- Brand pillars
- Different tone uses
There’s no one-size-fits-all brand messaging framework template. Every business will have their own version, with elements that add the most value, provide the most clarity, and support the overall brand messaging strategy.
Once you define your strategy and build your framework, it’s an asset to be shared with your entire company. Get company-wide alignment on the messages presented to grow as a unified business and cohesive brand. As part of your broader verbal identity, your brand messaging should also be complementary to your brand’s visual identity — learn more about that here.
What are examples of businesses with a strong brand messaging framework?
When we look at the businesses that have been successful with their messaging platforms, it’s easy to first think of household names in big tech and retail, like Google, Apple, and Nike. We know their company visions. We’ve memorized their taglines. We can recite their slogans. They’ve all effectively delivered consistency with every campaign, commercial, and buyer experience. But they’re also bold. We remember them because they speak with voices of confidence, innovation, and fearlessness. They’re never long-winded and make their point in just a few words: “Think different.”
Let’s look at some other brands who have effectively built and executed a cohesive and differentiating messaging framework:
- Airbnb has built a well-defined brand on their priority pillars of belonging, community, and diversity. They’re clear about the unique experiences they promise their customers and hosts, and have created the expectation that they will always bring innovation to the world of travel.
- Etsy has uniquely positioned itself as a global online marketplace for creative goods with a local feel. With the tagline “Keep commerce human,” they make known their mission to maintain human connection and community as core pillars of their platform.
- LTN is a media technology company that has positioned itself atop a foundation of reliability, efficiency, flexibility, and scalability. Operating within a complex industry, they’re able to distill their messages into clearly defined points of differentiation that resonate — and they’re all backed by testimony and evidence.
Build your bold brand messaging strategy
No matter your stage of growth, your business will benefit from having a strong brand messaging strategy. If it seems like a large undertaking, that’s where we come in. We’re a B2B branding agency that helps ambitious brands grow with bold storytelling, design, and content. By blending creativity with strategy, we build brand messaging for companies ready to break through. Get in touch with us here to get started with yours.
