How to Develop a Brand Messaging Strategy That Delivers

A brand messaging strategy…what the heck is it and why does it matter?

Most small business owners and solopreneurs do not have the wherewithal or understanding of the significance of developing a brand messaging strategy for your business. It can feel seemingly etheric or energetic  in nature as opposed to something physical and tangible. But once you grasp the “energy” of it and define it, it can take on a more tangible feel or nature for your ideal clients.

Brand Messaging Strategy

A key component to understanding the branding process is to understand that you are creating an intentional way of:

  • being,
  • communicating,
  • operating and
  • performing.
  • This way of being can be reflected in:
    words,
  • images,
  • videos,
  • podcasts,
  • and ways of behaving or interacting.

What’s important is that you develop a brand messaging strategy around all of these areas  of your business…in others developing and building a brand!

Once you define your brand messaging strategy,  then consistently communicate and convey that, an “energy”  starts to form around that intention in consciousness.

That “energy” can be measured as to it’s level of consciousness, and importantly “power”.

Does the energy you create and emit around your brand messaging and intention have any power in consciousness? (I’ve created The Triple Power Play. The 1st Power Play discusses the Map of Consciousness and where true power exits. You can access this valuable information here.)

Let me give you an example of what I mean:

When you see a person who would be decibed as “Susie Sunshine”, would you agree there’s a particular “energy” that this person is emitting? What emotions or qualities would you say this person conveys?

Now, when you encounter an individual you would describe as a “Gray Cloud”, you see or feel something different. What emotions or qualities would you say this type of person conveys?

On first blush, which person would you rather have lead you in business? Which person would you rather buy from?

Though there are certainly other qualities and factors to take into account to make a purchasing decision, I make the point so you”get” the significance of how you communicate your brand consistently and effectively.

With this understanding, do you “get” why a brand messaging strategy matters?

Brand Communications Strategy

How do you want to be perceived?

Perception { really } is everything.

More importantly though, is how do your ideal clients percieve you?

Everyone is NOT your “ideal client”, so be sure to consider this when developing your brand messaging strategy.

What's the Definition of

While we are on this topic, let me give you an example of The Athena Arena brand tagline:

Supercharge your business with a “Wonder Woman” brand.

I am NOT speaking to everyone here!

I am only speaking to entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and small business owners that have the courage to step into their brilliance and own the fact that their brand has the qualities of  (what I calla) a “Wonder Woman”. (BTW…Wonder Woman and the Goddess of Athena have similar qualities.)

“Wonder Woman” brands have valour, meaning you are not afraid to be exactly who you are. No excuses, no apologies….love of self and siginificant courage is expressed at the level of valour!

That’s an example of the qualities of my ideal client at The Athena Arena.

So let’s move onto developing a brand messaging strategy!

Personal Brand Messaging Strategy & Framework

Developing and building a personal brand is WAY more than your logo and visual identity.

Your visiual brand identy is developed AFTER you’ve gone through the intentional brand development process.

The personal brand building process is different than your personal brand development process. Personal brand building  is how you implement your brand strategy in the marketplace in a wide variety of ways.

I think it’s fair to same that developing personal brand is at least 75% of the brand-building process whereas your visual brand is at most 25% of the  process.

Brand Messaging Framework

The brand development process is essentially identifying the following:

  • Your ideal clients…all aspects of them
  • Your brand “story”— purpose, mission, vision, USP, values
  • The problems you solve—articulate the pain points and speak to your audience
  • The results you delivery—how you differentiate and position yourself, and credibility
  • The emotions you want your brand to bring forth —your brand “tone”
  • The personality or brand archetypes you want to align with in branding
  • How (through market research) you are going to connect & communicate with your audience
  • The brand words and messages you will consistently use to stay “on brand” and attract your ideal clients

This brand development process will come together as your Company Branding Brief,. This is the document you will refer to again and again as you develop your brand messaging strategy and build your brand.

The brand building process is essentially an evolving and ongoing thing.

The brand building process is built on the brand messaging framework that is the foundation for your brand messaging strategy.

Here’s an example of a Brand Messaging Framework:

  1. Understand your SEO keyword market research to make sure you are addressing your online audience with the “keywords” they would use to search and discover you. You should have a keyword research report to use again and again as you build your brand. This will evolve as well.
  2. Select 6-12 clear & concise brand messages (developed from your branding process) There could be a clear and conscise “brand message” that conveys your:
    • brand position
    • brand personality
    • brand emotions & tone
    • ideal client or customer
    • uniqe selling proposition,
    • brand archetype,
    • client pain points
    • value-driven results
    • testimonials and credibility messages etc…
  3. Select 1-2 social media platforms you want to use to reach your ideal audience and stay focused on these.
  4. Decide if you are going to create a blogging strategy as part of your content marketing strategy.
  5. Video marketing
  6. Podcasting
  7. Visual Marketing on Instagram or Pinterest.

Now that you have an example of a brand messaging framework, you can start to develop your brand messaging strategy!

Here’s an Example of How to Create a Personal Brand Messaging Strategy:

I am a SEO website designer and personal brand builder consultant and coach. I am going to share my brand messaging strategy for this year., but here’s my process:

  1. I review my SEO keyword researcch report. I want to identify my greatest opportunities for building my business this year. I need to understand:
    • What people want or are looking for.
    • What the financial viability is for what people want. What are they wiling to pay for and how much?
    • How big is the market need and how steep is the competition?
  2. I need to determine the social media channels I want to focus on this year. I am narrowing it down to:
  3. I need to decide whether I want to pursue another podcast or simply stick with my YouTube channel
  4. I am an SEO specialist, so I will create a SEO driven content marketing strategy based on my ability to “get found” on Google searches.
  5. I have narrowed down my paid marketing avenues to:
    • Pinterest (for outbound and brand building marketing)
    • Facebook & Instagram for lead generation and
    • Google Ads for inbound lead generation and business building efforts.

Now that I have my personal brand messaging framework, I can now create a content marketing strategy around all of this. I will also create a content marketing calendar so I can keep track of the key “brand messages” I will be sharing throughout the year so that the messaging is consistent and “on brand”.

I hope you found this blog post about developing a brand messaging strategy helpful and that the sample brand messaging framework inspired some ideas for you.

I fyou need help with your brand messaging strategy, but you haven’t been through a brand devlopment process, I recommend you start here, with The Athena Arena personad branding wareness boost, a “starter kit” to your personal branding efforts.

Let me help you “Supercharge your business with a Wonder Woman brand!”

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