5 messaging strategies of successful branding firms

By Michael Del Gigante

Why should anyone care about your product or service? Before you begin communicating with your audience, ask yourself that question. Too often, marketers focus on product/service features without addressing the core needs of their consumers or customers.

So, what should you do? According to Mashable, you should avoid things like buzzwords, messaging by committee and insipid copy. Instead, focus on capturing your audience’s attention by captivating them and motivating them to act.

Sure, that's easier said than done. Finding the right ways to inspire action takes time and patience. Still, there are some general approaches that tend to work. Here are a few key strategies respected branding firms employ to ensure their clients’ branding messages get heard:

No. 1 — Listen before you communicate

Learn about your audience before presuming to solve their needs. One way to do this is to ask your current and prospective customers to take a survey (on your website or via SurveyMonkey, for example). Keep an open mind. What you hear might surprise you. Use what you learn to tailor your brand messaging to respond to a prospect’s needs rather than your own internal marketing goals.

No. 2 — Don’t be boring

You can’t bore someone into buying from you. If you want people to act on your messaging, inspire them into action. Use language that creates excitement through active verbs. Paint a picture with your words.

No. 3 — Consider shareability

Word of mouth can be one of the most effective methods for promoting your product. But if you want people to spread your message, make it easy for them to do so. Try to encapsulate your key idea into 50 words or less. Anything more than that is just too complicated for an audience to remember—let alone pass along to the next person.

No. 4 — Avoid jargon

Resist the temptation to rely heavily on buzzwords. These commonly used expressions quickly lose their power when overused. Instead, try to combine industry terms with other words or phrases that differentiate your branding message from everyone else’s. The more unique your communication, the more likely it is to be remembered.

No. 5 — Keep it simple

Branding messages often have the life squeezed out of them by the opposing views of too many committee members. Trying to distill the thoughts of an entire committee into one single statement will only muddy the communication waters. The world is filled with messaging attempts that detoured from the path of clarity for the sake of consensus.

BIO

Michael Del Gigante is president and creative director of MDG Advertising, a full-service advertising agency with offices in Boca Raton, Florida and New York City. The agency has earned a leading reputation for developing effective branding strategies, unrivaled creative, and dynamic interactive marketing solutions for some of the world’s most prominent brands. Over the years, Gigante has written numerous articles for outlets such as Business2Community, PR Daily, DigitalCommerce360, among others. He has also been interviewed in Entrepreneur and Forbes and featured in articles in Adweek and Huffington Post.