Messaging. It’s one of those things that everyone knows is important, but few brands truly master. We have hundreds of meetings every year with marketing leaders, brand managers, and entrepreneurs, and no matter their size, sector, or level of experience, they often struggle with the same thing: getting their messaging right.
A few bullet points in a brand strategy deck won’t cut it. Messaging needs to do the heavy lifting across every touchpoint — outbound sales calls, inbound customer service emails, DMs and comments on social media, weekly newsletters, blogs, brand videos, product descriptions, advertising. And that’s just the start. Without clear, consistent messaging, every single one of these interactions becomes harder. More effort, less impact. Yikes.
The antidote? A messaging guide. This doesn’t need to be a 50-page behemoth (although it can be). Even a sharp, well-crafted three-to-five-page document can work wonders. It should outline your core brand messages, tone of voice, and how to apply these across different audiences, channels, and formats.
The compounding effect of consistency
The most successful brands are the ones that live in your mind rent-free. And that’s not by accident — it’s by design.
Research shows that at any given time, only 5% of your target audience is ready to buy. The other 95% just aren’t there yet. But when they are, you want to be the brand they think of first. And the best way to achieve that is through consistency.
That’s because seeing the same key messages, expressed in the same voice, across multiple touchpoints builds familiarity. Familiarity breeds trust. And trust leads to conversions. It’s that simple (but we never said it was easy).
Plus getting it wrong can have the opposite effect. If the paid ads you’re running are beautifully written with cut-through creative, but the website your audience clicks through to tells a different story, you have a problem. That inconsistency erodes trust and is a fast track to losing customers to your competitors. And that’s not good for growth.
Not all messaging is created equal
The thing is, good messaging doesn’t mean sounding like every successful brand out there. Not every brand needs to be visionary like Apple, or cheeky like Who Gives a Crap. In fact, for most businesses, that approach would be entirely off-brand.
Your messaging should reflect your unique brand identity: your values, personality, and positioning in the market. It should speak directly to your audience, in a way that feels natural and authentic to them. The goal isn’t to mimic industry giants but to carve out a space that feels unmistakably yours.
Think about how you communicate in real life. Are you direct and no-nonsense? Warm and conversational? Quirky and irreverent? Your messaging should be a natural extension of that voice, applied consistently across all touchpoints.
In a nutshell, good messaging is:
- Clear. No jargon, no fluff, no guesswork. If people have to decode what you mean, you’ve already lost them.
- Consistent. From ads to emails to customer service chats, your messaging should feel like it’s coming from the same trusted source.
- Compelling. It speaks to real problems, desires, and emotions. It makes people feel something, and act on it.
- Differentiated. If your messaging could be swapped with a competitor’s and still make sense, it’s not strong enough.
- Adaptable. Good messaging can flex easily across platforms and audiences while staying true to its core.
A tone of voice guide includes handy examples of what the brand would say and wouldn’t. This is an example from a verbal brand identity project we did for Commonfolk Coffee.
Getting your messaging right makes everything easier
While a clear, well-defined messaging strategy makes your brand sound good, the benefits go beyond that. It makes every single aspect of your marketing more effective.
- Content creation becomes more straightforward because you’re not reinventing the wheel every time you need to write a blog post, social media caption, or email.
- Your team can confidently communicate with customers, stakeholders, and partners, because they have clear guidelines on what to say and how to say it.
- Paid advertising and organic content work together seamlessly, reinforcing the same key messages rather than competing for attention.
- Sales and customer service teams can handle objections more effectively because they’re equipped with messaging that addresses common concerns and questions.
It’s a domino effect: get your messaging right, and everything else falls into place. More impact, less stress. More clarity, less confusion. More conversions, fewer missed opportunities.
So, if your brand’s messaging lives in a forgotten corner of a Google Drive folder, buried under decks and documents that no one ever opens — fix it. Invest the time in creating a messaging guide that brings clarity, consistency, and confidence to your communications. It’s the single most effective thing you can do to strengthen your brand, cut through the noise, and drive better business outcomes.
Getting your messaging right will set you free. So, what are you waiting for?
