Great marketing message strategies for successful campaigns

A campaign can be only as successful as the marketing message it delivers.

A clear, consistent, and empathetic message may just be the difference between a major success and utter failure.

It’s not an exaggeration to claim that a company’s messaging strategy is the very foundation of their promotional campaigns. As a marketing expert or manager, it’s your job to ensure that the target audience gets the message YOU want them to hear.

But doing that is easier said than done! Without the right strategy and proper implementation, any promotional campaign is doomed to fail from the start.

In case of business, it means a lot of wasted resources and effort.

Don’t worry; in this guide, we are going to talk about the importance of messaging and how you can incorporate it in your marketing campaigns in the best way possible.

So, keep on reading!

What is a marketing message?

Marketing message, by its very definition, means how an organization communicates to its target audience to talk about itself and what it does. That would be the marketing message definition.

A message strategy should comprise of a positioning statement and some points that support it.

What is a positioning statement? Well, think of it as your core offer. It addresses your target market’s most pressing problem and how your product, service, or technology can solve it.

Messaging turns a positioning statement into a series of key messages that marketers can use to prepare material for marketing communication. Think press releases, ad slogans, social media posts, scripts, advertising copy, etc.

Effective business marketing messages also make sure that everyone in an organization can communicate in a “language” that their target audience speaks.

A practical and well thought out strategy makes it easier to deliver the key message in all your communication channels consistently.

The ideal marketing message should do the following:

•       Explain your core offering to the people in a manner that’s easily digestible and memorable

•       It should resonate with your audience and make them feel like that their concerns matter

•      Give them a clear idea about what problem you solve, how you are different, what you stand for, etc

•       Establish trust in your product or service, so that they don’t hesitate to buy and also refer to others

How to craft the perfect advertising messaging using What, Who, Why?

What:

Message development begins with research about the needs of your organization. To do this, you’ll have to revisit the company objectives and positioning to reaffirm the outcomes that your messaging will help achieve.

It would also be wise to review some of the existing brand messaging examples to get a clear picture of the organization’s values, identity, and voice.

Who and Why

Once you have precise knowledge of the organization and their values, it’s time to focus on the “Who,” which is your target audience. Some messaging documents would need different sets of key messages to cater to different sets of audience.

For example, when a company has to report weak quarterly earnings, the leaders will develop different sets of key messages to deliver to the investors, employees, and their customers.

They will all convey the same message (more or less), but the important takeaways will be much different for an investor from that of an employee or customer. It depends on what they need to hear and know, moving forward.

When developing a marketing message, you should strive to avoid making it sound like everybody else’s. For that, you’ll need to conduct a thorough messaging analysis to identify the key messages and concepts other organizations are using.

Then figure out the ideas and keywords you want to associate with your product messaging, service, or brand.

6 Effective messaging strategies that big brands use

If you’re planning to run an advertising campaign to put your marketing strategy into practice now would be the best time to think about the messaging. We have got for you six tips to boost message strategy in advertising.

1. Ads using emotions

“People buy with their emotions and justify it using logic.” You probably have heard that quote before, and it’s true that the most efficient way to get people to buy something is by appealing to their emotions.

You can use this fact to your advantage by preparing a message strategy that capitalizes on your audience’s emotion to sell. You can create an ad that makes people develop an emotional connection to your brand or product.

Some excellent examples would be:

a. Buzzfeed/Purina – “Puppyhood” Where you can see the unique relationship between the newly adopted puppy and his human dad. This Ad serves the purpose of getting you hooked into the message of loving rather than advertising their product Puppy Chow directly.

b. Coca-Cola Happiness Machine – This ad succeeded in making the brand name associated with positivity such as smiling, laughing, and having a good time! Coca-Cola's “Choose Happiness” campaign got their consumers to share happy memories and feel special.

You can browse more such examples here.

2. Ad using your USP

USP or Unique Selling Proposition is supposed to highlight something about your brand or product that others cannot/do not offer. To create the messaging for this type of ad, you must figure out what sets you apart and if that resonates with the audience.

Apifonica, for example, offers companies an all in one platform where they can build superb customer communication service with SMS, voice, and social messaging.

Every product or offering “should” have a USP, how you get across to people depends on your marketing message.

3. Ads using Brand image

Not every sale has to come from the advertising you’re offering. In fact, the best way to secure customers and keep them with you for a long time is by creating a psychological connection with your brand.

4. Ads using Positioning

Using positioning in your message is the best way to compare yourself to your competitor. We talked a lot about positioning before; what we didn’t mention is that it needs to be believable and unique, above all things.

Otherwise, the message will go largely ignored by your target market. Here’s some advice to keep in mind when writing your positioning statement:

•       It should be short – ideally fewer than 12 words, not counting your product or brand name

•       It should be written in a simple language, devoid of jargons

•       Should be adaptable to different types of media

•       Should consist of one significant benefit

•       The major benefit should be supported by three or four additional claims

•       Should be unique, usable, imported, and most importantly, believable!

5. The generic ad

The generic ad is…well, one of the most obvious and commonly used. It focuses on selling a particular category rather than a specific brand or product. The goal here is to educate and give the audience something to think about; not hard sell.

6. Preemptive advertising

Pre-emptive marketing is something anyone could use and get great results from. Yet almost no one does! This form of promotion is so simple; it’s almost scary. What you have to do? Just explain to your customers and prospects the processes upon which your business relies.

That’s it! It doesn’t matter if you’re the only person doing it; as long as you get the word out first, you win.

If you’re in retail, tell your customers all about the meticulous planning that goes into picking out the product line for your store. Tell them how your employees are some of the finest and how much they are dedicated to guaranteeing your satisfaction.

If you have a creative or manufacturing business, explain to your customers the complete process that you follow step-by-step to ensure they are getting the absolute best. Talk about the raw materials used and why.

Tell them about the strict quality checks and brainstorming that precedes production. None of this has to be “unique;” they just have to be real and told before your audience hears it from somewhere else.

Some brilliant marketing message examples

You’ve read a lot about marketing messages, but do you want to know about some great examples? Or the common elements all these examples have? Well, read on further!

1. They see things from the customer’s perspective

In business, it’s never about you. It’s always about the customer. Weak marketing messages speak from the point of view of the seller, which is wrong! What you have to do is get into the minds of your audience and talk how they would.

WRONG: “Our best minds on the job have created this software that can be easily learned and implemented for your changing business needs.”

RIGHT: “It will take you no more than one hour to learn our software and put to use in your business.”

2. They don’t beat around the bush

Weak marketing messages talk a lot without ever saying anything. Your message should be crisp and to the point!

WRONG: “In this fast-paced modern world where people barely get any time to cook, our cooktop stove will make your cooking experience more efficient.”

RIGHT: “Our cooktop stove gets your food ready in half the time of a regular stove.”

3. They rely on originality

Weak and ordinary marketing messages sound like you could use them for any other product or service and that people won’t even notice.

WRONG: “With our social media management service, you’ll be able to free up time, save more money, and drive more engagement.”

RIGHT: “We’ll manage your social media so well that you’ll think you’re a rich celebrity.”

4. They use familiar language

Jargons are best avoided as much as possible, barring few cases. You might think using industry-specific terms will give you a leading edge, but that isn’t necessarily true. Take these two examples, for instance.

WRONG: “Our 24x7 customer service team can assist you with web hosting migration and set up the necessary systems that will enable sales with minimal interruption.

RIGHT: “Our 24x7 customer service will migrate and setup your website so fast that you won’t even notice it was down!”

5. They don’t need any further explanation

This is kind of obvious… but still needs to be said – don’t get clever with your marketing messages if you can’t make sense! If the average Joe doesn’t understand what you’re trying to say, your messaging has bombed!

WRONG: “We are the caviar to your high-ticket champagne campaign.”

RIGHT: “We will bring you way more leads for your high-ticket course offering.”

6. They are humorous and make you happy

Playfulness in promotional messaging can leave a long-lasting impression if done right. And we stress on the “if done right” part.

WRONG: “Our software is so easy to use that even monkeys can do it!” (Seriously, don’t compare your audience to apes.)

RIGHT: “Our software is so easy to use that you’ll wonder if it’s the soulmate you were searching for all along!”

Final words

You might have a lot on your hands and you probably always will, but NOT taking the time out to craft an original marketing message may cost your company dearly! B2B messaging or otherwise.

If you wanted to learn how to convey a message, we believe this guide enough to get you thinking and probably even take the first step to creating a better advertising campaign.

So, go ahead and do your thing right now!