The Secret Sauce Missing From Your Strategy: Messaging
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So a strategy, very generally, is a plan of action. Most companies’ strategies live in someone’s head and it’s been communicated with their team (or hasn’t), but nothing has been documented, no timelines or expectations have been outlined… No accountability, you get the idea. The bigger problem is that most strategies are all missing a very important piece. Drumroll please… The messaging!
Most (ok, I’m optimistic) will outline what you’re going to do and how and when you’re going to do it, but they fail to document what’s being said and how that message is tailored depending on the audience. Whether it is your business/marketing activity, or your internal communications it is extremely important that you have documented and strategic messaging. Let’s be honest, if your staff or customers are receiving a different message than the one you think you’re sending, you have a problem. You are no longer controlling your own narrative. So let’s talk about why each is so important.
External Messaging
So we’ll start with the external messaging, because for some reason most people place it’s importance above internal communications (don’t worry I’ll get into this flawed logic in the next section). You want your messaging to resonate with your customers for obvious reasons, but where companies’ run into issues is when they think they are sending one message and their clients have a completely different impression. It’s so important to make sure that your messaging resonates with your target audience, in this case being your customer.
That doesn’t, however, mean that you want to use the same exact messaging to every external audience segment. For example, messaging that is specific to a product/service that has various benefits is going to be tailored to that specific audience and those benefits. But you should have core messaging that is business specific. This messaging addresses who you are, what you stand for, and what people can expect when they work with you. I like to say it’s the personification of your brand (the warm fuzzies your customer feels when they think of you).
Internal Messaging
So in a lot of companies internal messaging falls by the wayside. I haven’t quite figured this one out, but I would argue that it is more important that your messaging resonates with your people than it does with your customers. The reason I say this is because your people are an extension of your brand, your salespeople aren’t the only ones that you need to worry about. People also work harder for companies where they have an understanding of how their role fits into the big picture. While some people are more goal-driven than others, every person is purpose-driven. It is precisely when people feel purposeless that people leave jobs.
The best way to combat turnover, poor job satisfaction & performance, and a declining culture is communication! More precisely it is consistent and clear communication that addresses the goals/vision of the organization. When everyone is working toward the same goals (that they believe in) and understands their role on the team your business outcomes will speak for themselves. You also have a team of people that are all sending the same message (an extension of your company branding) to the people in their networks.
End of story, you can’t forget about messaging when you’re developing your business strategy. Whether you need help with your overall company messaging, or need messaging specific to a new product/service launch, new staff initiative, the list goes on… I’m begging you that the messaging is not an afterthought. If you need help with your internal or external communications, or simply just want to understand more about the importance of messaging I’d love to chat. Please reach out or follow me on Facebook or LinkedIn for updates or you can sign up for my newsletter below!
