5 Tips to Create More Compelling Messaging

Have you ever been stuck in a content rut? Or struggled to write or present something but couldn’t find the right words? If you answered yes to either (or both), congratulations! You’re human.

Discover strategies to help when posting to social, creating a website, shooting a video, preparing for a presentation or simply day-to-day sales interactions.  

1.       Know Your Audience

There’s a reason this is first on the list – and possibly the most important first step in writing, presenting and general content creation. Define your target audience, their challenges, and work backward from there. Here are a few tips:

• Take advantage of your social analytics - If your social media profiles are set up as business accounts, this data is at your fingertips and provides valuable insight into your audiences’ gender, geographic coverage, engagement times and more.

• Conduct a customer survey – Keep it simple, concise and include a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions.

• Become the virtual Sherlock Holmes – Don’t just look at the customer’s website. Dig into their reviews (Yelp, Google, Glassdoor) to discover possible pain points. You can also review the past year of the organization’s social media content to find promo buying opportunities like company picnics, award ceremonies, large events and more.

• Ask more questions – If you can’t find an answer, just ask. It’s much safer than making assumptions.  

2.       Make it About the Audience

Once you define your audience, turn the focus immediately to them. For example, if you’re creating a video, include “you” or “your” in the first sentence of what they see or hear. This approach can also be applied in prospecting. Don’t start by just telling a new contact about your experience, education, business, etc. Instead, explain how you can enrich their organization.

3.       Use Commanding Language

Especially in headers, captions and social media posts, it’s important to use strong verbs that also subtly push people into action. Some of my favorites include “discover”, “learn”, “create” and “explore”.

Don’t say: “A portion of this bottle’s sales goes to restoring our oceans.”
Instead, say: “Discover the ways this bottle helps you restore our oceans.”

The second sentence is a subtle command that reads as an invitation or call to action.

4.       Benefits Outweigh Features

This is often considered a golden rule in selling and copywriting and is a simple way to elevate your approach.

Don’t say: “This jacket includes a reflective zipper and 8-ounce cotton/poly blend.”
Instead, say: “With its reflective zipper, this jacket makes walking at night much safer – and with a heavy, poly-blend material, keeps you cozy and warm!”  

5.       Translate to Value

Take the above step further and paint a picture of the emotional, real-world application and impact.

Instead say: “Stay safe and comfortable on dark, chilly nights with this warm, high-visibility jacket.”

This gives the recipient a clear picture of how the benefits truly translate to value in their life. Bonus: since it also starts with a commanding verb, it encourages them further to imagine themselves in the scenario. If you ever struggle to get here, just keep asking yourself “Why does X matter?” and work it back from there.

In a product-driven space where commoditization can at times present a threat, it’s critical that we have the tools and awareness to properly communicate our value-add. Customers and stakeholders must understand the strategy, design, application, and humanity that we in the print and promo industry bring to the table. Now, get out there and communicate your unique brand message with command, purpose and significance!