Running a successful company today isn’t just about the product or service you have to offer, but the story you have to tell about that product or service – and just as importantly, the story you have to tell about yourself. Businesses have never had more immediate, interactive access to customers (and vice versa) than they do right now. Video, email, social media, chat – these are all direct avenues for your customers to reach you.
But, you’re not the only one with these tools at your disposal. And, if you want to cut through the noise of your competition and ensure that customers coming down the funnel are heading to your business and not your rivals’, you need to have something to hook them. Something inspiring, something compelling, something personalized.
That’s what your message is – and that’s why it’s so important to have a clear, concise and up-to-date message about your brand and what it has to offer those customers.
Why undergo a messaging session?
There are a number of reasons why it may be time to reposition your core message.
- It’s not working. Your current message may be too muddled or confusing to speak to customers clearly, or identify why your product or service is the ideal solution to their issue(s). This could be reflected in weak online traffic, sales numbers, etc. It could also not be working from a PR perspective, and that the current message is just too confusing or not compelling enough for reporters.
- Relevancy. Industries evolve at a lightning pace, and what may have been relevant five years ago, three years ago, even one year ago, may not fly anymore. You need to be quick to update your messaging to accurately reflect the constantly evolving wants and needs of your customers, or you’ll get left behind.
- Hiring a communications specialist and/or partner. When a new client begins a relationship with March, kicking things off with a messaging session helps ensure that both parties start on the same page. This guarantees that any coordinated efforts for digital PR, social media strategy, media relations, content, etc. are all hammering on the same message – and that nothing is lost in translation or miscommunicated.
When is the right time for a messaging session?
There are many opportunities for updating messaging, but they may not immediately leap out as the right time for a messaging facelift.
For example, are you looking to redo your website? Maybe it’s disorganized or not visually appealing; maybe it’s not conducive to driving lead gen. Or, is it time to update your copy? Maybe your current content is out of date, and references statistics, studies or use cases that are no longer timely.
All of these factors tie into messaging – they all represent a drive to upgrade your customer-facing presence. If you think now is the right time to update your site or your written copy, then it’s also the right time to update your messaging.
Why a PR agency is key for client messaging
The reason why you would enlist a PR agency to oversee your messaging workshops – and the reason March has been so successful at it with so many of our own clients – is that we take a personalized and granular approach to crafting your message.
Our workshops are designed to help you do a better job identifying the stories and messages you should be talking about to key influencers and reporters in your industry. More than that, our workshops take you into account – rather than bombarding you with an overkill of presentations, we take a more interactive approach to get you directly involved.
This builds a stable foundation for both you and for us, ensuring that we’re producing messaging statements that everyone is happy with. And, because it’s a more engaging tack for you to take part in than simply being talked at for hours, it makes the prospect of more messaging sessions in the future something to look forward to.
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