Think of a messaging platform as the language-centered companion to your brands style guide. It provides efficient communication among the company's staff. The Branded Agency can help you create a comprehensive Brand Platform Document that will set your company up for success. So to find out more, go to drmichellemazur.com/3WR. We wanna talk about what they are doing, what are they seeing, what are they saying, what are they hearing about your area of expertise. Brand Messaging Your brand messaging is the voice of the brand. When should you create or refresh your brand messaging platform? A brand platform is a marketing document created to describe the distinctive features of a brand both ideologically and visually. Your message is not where your creativity should be going into. This helps to ensure well-rounded messaging that reflects the depth and breadth of an organization, as well as consistency across marketing materials and amongst spokespersons. With the right tools and services, including a brand platform, you can analyze your products and deliverables. These comments come directly from emails Ive received from nonprofit communicators and leaders who want to get the word out but arent clear about what those words are. Messaging platforms offer businesses and nonprofits a bank of content to pull from when they are writing newsletter copy, updating a website or drafting a presentation for an upcoming conference. We go through a four-phase process and here are the phases." These comments come directly from emails Ive received from nonprofit communicators and leaders who want to get the word out but arent clear about what those words are. Keep reading! Like, they're amazing at what they do, they are experts, they are multi-passionate, their clients love them, they get great results, and where their confidence really takes a hit is that they're not clear about how to communicate what it is they do in a compelling way that people can easily understand. Brand messaging is how your brand communicates its own story, personality, and value proposition through verbal and nonverbal messaging. How to Build a Brand on Social Media Through Messaging That Connects Messaging Platform | Central Washington University The brand message is usually developed by a brand messaging strategist. Harness The University of Alabama's storyline platform to write your own on-brand messaging. And then finally, I always give people a marketing strategy. Its also critical to take into account the different needs and wants of each customer segment, as well as the ever-changing trends in the market. Consider whether any of the following comments sound familiar: We need better brand recognition. By using the components of a brand platform to craft an actionable strategy, organizations can create a strong and memorable brand identity that resonates with their target audiences. Start Now or Contact Us Here. A good thing about Slack is its intuitive interface. Contents Why is a brand platform important? And this is not like a complex marketing strategy. Yes, you will refine it. This section defines it all, so your team can reach more of your best customers. So once we have that, we can move into what I call the client decision journey. So to find out more, go to drmichellemazur.com/3WR. Think about how much time you spend writing and creating content, on creating social media posts and emails for your list. Your messaging is not well aligned with your organizations strategic goals, mission, and vision. Some key considerations when writing a positioning statement include: -Identifying what sets the company apart from its competitors. I see this with my clients all the time when they first come to me. To help organizations get started on their branding journey, weve created a free Branding Platform Framework. If your nonprofit organization is undertaking a rebrand, it can make sense to start with messaging. It's very simple. And the answer is no. But the top benefits that come from using this document effectively are the same: Aligning your team, improve your brand's positioning in your customers' minds, standing out in your competitive landscape, and clarifying your brand identity. Your first step in developing your brand message is to define your target audience. So why do online businesses need a brand message platform? They have no idea that you're repeating yourself, and so I have this favorite Instagram post that I have posted multiple times now that says, "I can't remember what I ate for dinner two nights ago. Does your company need help with creating a strong brand? It conveys the foundational values of your company and often helps out with the broader marketing strategy. It explains exactly the unique value that your business brings to your clients, how your business is different from everyone else who does what you do, and how to persuade people and have them go from casual onlookers to wanting to be your client. And you know what? I do it for other people." Heck. Brand guidelines: Define how your brand's story is told, including your visual identity, values, and voice. This provides a clear, easy-to-understand message of the overarching benefit the brand delivers and helps to organize and prioritize all other benefits. It helps your brand feel like a real person your customers can relate to and connect with. By establishing a unified brand platform, organizations can create an effective and memorable identity that resonates with their target audiences. But once your business takes off, your team begins to grow, and your marketing strategy expands, maintaining your brand identity becomes nearly impossible without a strong brand platform guiding the way! Business owners with a strong brand platform can always give detailed guidelines for employees. Your message matters. What is a brand messaging platform - and why have one? You should agree with our Anti-Spam Policy. And you can even start repurposing content again and again and again, because you know it works. What is a core messaging document and why do you need one? According to Smallbiggenius, 89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values. You Need a Message Strategy > 8 Jobs Your Message Does for Your Business > What is the 3 Word Rebellion? This document aims to provide effective business management, find a certain niche in the market, and raise income by attracting customers. Brand platform versus brand guidelines. It creates strong associations with a brand and provides a clear position in the market. You can Login or Restore a password. I think Bren Brown is a great example of this. Your integrated marketing plans are built from the information in your message platform. From helping to shape ones elevator pitch to informing key selling points for products and services, language platforms help to ensure brand consistency and a consistent focus on audience-driven messaging. Step 4: Find your storyline. The goal is to make it easy for customers to understand how the product or service can help them and why they should buy. Like, what's the change they actually want to seek, and how do you know if they're ready for change? I would love to have my messaging documented, but how are my how are your clients, Michelle, using this?" It focuses on the "what" and "why," inspiring your team to reach your company's vision. It explains exactly the unique value that your business brings to your clients, how your business is different from everyone else who does what you do, and how to persuade people and have them go from casual onlooker to wanting to be your client. Members of your team dont know what to say when explaining your work - or they arent consistent in the way they describe it. Messaging platforms, sometimes referred to as language platforms, are an important foundational component of the branding process. If your brand feels stale, its relatively easy to update and roll out a new messaging platform compared to changing your logo and visual identity. Several factors go into a holistic brand messaging strategy. The Messaging Platform and Why It's Essential for Your Marketing And that consistency is exactly what builds stronger relationships with your customers. Now, a brand message platform might be hard to create on your own because of the curse of knowledge. Taking the time to plan and develop a strong document that encompasses all elements of the company branding will help ensure success in the future. your words matter. Social media messaging refers to how you communicate with your social audience (think: followers, fans, customers and prospects). Marketing Strategy: What Is a Messaging Platform. This information should be used to create a memorable and meaningful brand experience for customers. Best enterprise messaging platform | TechRadar The process requires assessing the current market and competitive landscape, defining the organizations desired position in that market, and establishing a fundamental brand platform to guide the personification of the brand. You know why it matters to people and you can communicate that well. And underneath each of these messages, there's usually about 5 to 10 different conversation starters that you can then convert into social posts or emails, or use it in marketing campaigns, or a launch campaign, content comes from here. This will help them differentiate from the competition, build credibility, and ultimately drive success. So this is the blueprint. Because this messaging does no one any good if it dies in a Google Doc. Developing a unified strategy that ties together all aspects of your organizations identity will ensure that you have a memorable and recognizable brand that speaks to your target audiences. Finally, the final reason is you can hand it off to a copywriter, a marketing team, a social media strategist, and they know exactly what to say and post for you. Brand messaging is the art of using the right words to communicate the essence of your brand to potential customers. In addition to a positioning statement, it is important to provide detailed guidelines for your product or service. Messaging as a Platform (MaaP) is the paradigm shift in the way businesses and consumers are set to interact on messaging. Brand Messaging Platform: What it is & Why Your Online Business Needs One, Want to Stand Out in Your Industry? It should be clear, inspirational, and concise. Online business owners, since we are a team of one or two, maybe five, we always are recreating the wheel when it comes to marketing, like creating new social media posts and new podcast content, and when you start to know exactly what to say to make sales happen in your business or to grow your audience, then what you get to do is become consistent so you are repeating your key messages over and over again, and you know that these key messages build relationships with your audience and help them make the decision to become your client or customer. So let's talk about why your business needs a brand message platform, what goes into it? And when you have a brand message platform, you can refer to that, and then it cuts down on how much time it takes you to create content. The corporate brand must stand for something singular across all important audiences. What is Messaging as a Platform (MaaP)? Three Steps to Take Now Like, if you get a brand message platform and you never look at it again, it's not going to help, so how do we create a marketing strategy that is simple and easy for you to get your message out into the world? Messaging platforms: What they are and how to create one Discover how to develop a well-defined brand platform in this section. A strong brand strategy drives all aspects of marketing, communications and product development. At the heart of a brand platform are components such as mission statement, core values, target audience and key messaging points. Creating a strong brand platform document is essential for any company looking to stand out in their chosen market and achieve success. . It's some of the same people who've seen it before. Messaging platforms and communications plans work hand-in-hand to help organizations get strong content in front of the right audiences at the right time. Unless you've gone to B-School and not the Marie Forleo variety, but the university kind, or worked in marketing in corporate America, you've probably not heard of this thing before, because we don't talk about it in online business and I am changing that today. Learn the importance of a branding platform, from what is and what value it can create for users. Developing brand is a process one that is driven by the vision and purpose of the organization and that builds on clearly defined core values and principles. Step 1: Get into character. So in the brand message guide, we include, obviously, your 3 Word Rebellion. And you know what? I love that Bren Brown special, even though I heard it all before. Uncover Your Biggest Marketing Gaps so You Can Build an Audience of Future Buyers. "One of the most critical activities and indeed THE most important marketing activity that a company must do is establish a strong value proposition for itself and its products with a clear, accurate, compelling message," says Jamie Barnett, a marketing adviser and investor who specializes in helping . Messaging as a Platform includes all spaces where messaging occurs, from social spaces, like Facebook and Twitter, to messaging apps, WhatsApp and Kik, and, of course, SMS (texting). Because your brand platform is a combination of the dozens of elements that make your brand unique, it's best to create your brand guidelines first, then use those guidelines to develop your platform. Brand strategy is the process of creating a brand platform. So this is something like I use in sales conversations all the time, when I'm talking to someone and I'm like, "All right. But if you arent sure, check out this helpful article by Farah Trompeter on the Big Duck blog: Is your brand healthy? Copyright 2023 Co-Communications. You can create your brand platform on your own, based on your brand guidelines and other key company details. The ultimate guide to brand messaging frameworks I've actually already used it in this show once. They provide a baseline for talking about one's company or cause and are the groundwork upon which everything from ad and website copy to email marketing and social media messaging are built upon. By creating a comprehensive document that outlines your brands vision, values, message, and marketing strategies, you can create an effective identity in the marketplace and ultimately drive business success. It is essential to form the holistic image of the business and provide a unique offer for the target audience. And these are three to five key messages that your business consistently communicates. For example, if you provide business consulting services to financial services firms and there are two other companies in your market offering comparable services, it is important to developing messaging that reinforces your unique value proposition, be it how you work with clients, a proprietary process or technology that you offer, or the type of organization that is a right fit for you. Brand Strategy and Brand Identity? Want to work with a Brand Coach or build your brand's DNA the smart way? Additionally, it serves as a framework for all internal and external communications, as well as a guide for how internal operations are performed. And these are three to five key messages that your business consistently communicates. It documents how you write and speak about your business every single day. It's best utilized by your in-house branding team. You should not be recreating the wheel. All rights reserved. Companies from Microsoft to Frigidaire, to your favorite online business owner, use one, but what exactly is it? What you should know about that trek is that the major bridge to get into West Seattle is closed until 2022, because it's on the verge of collapse. And I know when I'm on a sales conversation with someone, the number one thing I hear all the time is, "I feel like I should be able to do this myself. The final part of this is like, "Ugh, Michelle, what if I get bored?" This is where a strong brand messaging platform comes in. It focused on, like, where are you showing up, what activities are you doing to grow your audience, to engage people, have them raise their hand and say "yes" and make your offers. Brand Messaging Platform: What it is & Why Your Online Business Needs One By Michelle Mazur > June 15, 2021 Filed Under Podcast Do you know what some of the most successful businesses have in common? Are you leveraging your brand to determine which stories you should develop? Do you know how to communicate your nonprofits brand narrative through storytelling? For example, Nikes Just Do It slogan has become one of the most recognizable catchphrases in the world, capturing the essence of their brand platform - that anyone can achieve greatness through hard work and determination. ), Brand Character/Tone of Voice (How will the brand speak to its target audiences? In the article, we will explain why a brand platform is important, highlight its components and describe ways to create an effective marketing platform. Mmm interesting, huh? And sometimes they are so close to the work that they forget why their work matters. "Won't my audience know that I'm repeating myself?" We go through a four-phase process and here are the phases." They have no idea that you're repeating yourself, and so I have this favorite Instagram post that I have posted multiple times now that says, "I can't remember what I ate for dinner two nights ago. Thefollowing elements of a brand messaging platformare essential because they guide all of your content development: Establishing these elements will help you move past your primary messaging problems. Messaging Platforms: What They Are and Why You Need One - Mighty Citizen And how you speak about your business matters because it's what your clients remember. Your brand platform is as unique as your business. These tips will help you familiarize your team and accelerate the adoption of your brand platform: Your brand platform may not be adopted overnight, but with frequent reminders and easy access, you'll start to see this document reshape your business! If You Can Dream It, You Can Stream It: SodaStream Releases New This is how we build trust. I love that Bren Brown special, even though I heard it all before. The . We wanna talk about what they are doing, what are they seeing, what are they saying, what are they hearing about your area of expertise. Based on the tone of voice, language, and core message, companies can define a specific way to convey their ideas to the public. I believe there are four big reasons. You have difficulty communicating the unique value your organization provides. This is where all of your marketing and sales efforts come from and are inspired by. Brand messaging is the art of defining and creating a set of key messages to act as a foundation and guide for all brand communication. With a well-defined brand platform, organizations can create an effective identity in the marketplace and ultimately drive business success. We're always on message, the message has a purpose in your business to build your audience, find the right clients and generate more revenue. Launched as part of the Branded Agency family. First, you want to be bored with your message. We would recommend MarketPoint to any company or entity that is looking for a fresh brand marketing campaign. While developing an effective messaging platform requires a delicate balance of strategy and creativity, it is an essential component of ones marketing toolkit. This could include website, social media, email campaigns, etc. But for her, it was important to stay on message to expose new people to her work. It is the message your audience communicates for you when you're not around. More specifically, your organization's messaging platform should: " This isn't strategic planning; this is getting to the heart of your organization's purpose and describing it with clearest, most compelling language." This post originally appeared on moflow.ca. MarketPoint works with organizations to develop brand platforms that articulate a useful point of distinction. Before you engage a new partner, make sure they're agreeable to your brand's core values. 71 Raymond Rd. A brand platform is one document that collects all the elements of your brand in one easy-to-access place. Internet Marketing 101 Brand platform A brand platform is a marketing document created to describe the distinctive features of a brand both ideologically and visually. So the decision journey is a bulky part of the brand message platform, but this is where a lot of your marketing and copy will come from. And no, no you can't do it for yourself. And your brand message platform is how you stay on message in all of your marketing efforts. And I know when I'm on a sales conversation with someone, the number one thing I hear all the time is, "I feel like I should be able to do this myself. We also will talk about your model, your methodology or framework, so how do you explain the work you do at a high level that people could easily understand? At ZeBrand, we understand creating your own brand platform can feel overwhelming. Congrats, now you know all the main information to build your successful brand platform. Success! SendPulse uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. See the difference? Your brand messaging has to . The second reason, the process of creating a brand message platform brings radical clarity and confidence. Brand messaging is the way your brand communicates its unique value proposition and personality through its verbal and nonverbal messaging. Step 2: List your evidence. You're in. What goes into a brand messaging platform? So let's do this. Your brand platform not only tells your team what your business is all about, it helps keep your brand's positioning, brand voice, and message consistent throughout your marketing. And you'll know exactly what to say to convert strangers into clients, and you'll leave with a marketing strategy that makes implementing this message easy. You can also go to drmichellemazur.com/bmg and that will take you to the video to view it. This means thinking about what your audience needs and wants, as well as their desires for the future. So this is the change you want to create. Messaging can change based on current campaigns or areas of focus. Unlocking the Secrets of Successful Blogs. This section defines your tone of voice and how you engage with customers. Copyright 2015 - 2023. Thefollowing elements of a brand messaging platformare essential because they guide all of your content development: Establishing these elements will help you move past your primary messaging problems. Brand messaging or brand message is the statement, term or phrase that helps define, explain or capture the vision of your brand. This button displays the currently selected search type. It's called brand messaging platform, and your brand messaging platform documents how you write and speak about your business every single day. A detailed brand platform is the foundation your business needs to succeed, How ZeBrand's branding platform helps businesses succeed. And the reason they have one is because if you're creating a marketing campaign, you defer to the brand message platform. It involves researching customer needs, identifying core values, and crafting a mission statement that communicates who you are and why customers should care. Get recognized with powerful visuals and effective messaging to attract customers and inform every aspect of your brand. By defining the essence of the company's identity, it creates a memorable and cohesive image that resonates with customers and stakeholders alike. So when you go through the process of creating a brand message platform, you're going to have radical clarity about how you talk about your business, and then that's going to give you confidence, the confidence to sell, the confidence to show up and market, because you see the value in your own work. Once your positioning, personality and key messages are in place, you can build the following additional elements of your brand messaging platform: Once you have it in place, your brand messaging platform can be an invaluable guide and a framework that connects all of your marketing communications. So now that you know why your online business might need a brand messaging platform, and we got around some of the objections of having one, let's talk about the nitty gritty. I was surprised how much we could learn about branding, marketing, competitive landscapes, and more. Ready to begin your brand-building journey? Overview of Market Space (or Competitive Landscape), Competitive Advantages (What differentiates the organizations brand? What is a Brand Platform? (Examples and Free Branding Platform I would love to have my messaging documented, but how are my how are your clients, Michelle, using this?" New York, NY 10151. You Need a Message Strategy, 8 Jobs Your Message Does for Your Business, How to Build Your Audience & Business Around One Message, Consistency and repetition: it gets rid of random acts of marketing and help you to always stay on message without recreating the wheel, Clarity and confidence: when you go through the process of creating a BMP, you're going to have radical clarity about how you talk about your business and then that's going to give you confidence, Time-saving: content creation and repurposing become easier and less time consuming when you can reference your BMP, Outsourcing is easier: you can hand your brand messaging platform off to a copywriter, a marketing team, a social media strategist, and they know exactly what to say and post for you. So what does it look like to become an engaged audience member? And the answer is no. So now there's always this objection about the consistency and repurposing and saying the same thing over and over again. It's a tool that keeps your core brand values front-and-center, streamlining your decisions and aligning your entire brand. Words create the awareness of your business. I love how the appWazetells me exactly what to do. For companies with rich histories, updating ones language platform to reflect the current state of an organization is just as important as ensuring the contact information on your website is up-to-date. A value proposition that clearly identifies your company's measurable or demonstrable value to your potential customers or clients. So now there's always this objection about the consistency and repurposing and saying the same thing over and over again. tells me exactly what to do. A well defined brand platform provides value to every member of your company from your marketing department and sales team, to your product development and frontline employees. I'd like to receive the free email course. So it's good that you get bored, because that means you are being consistent and people can know what you're about. Please email us at support@sendpulse.com if you think this is an error. When I develop brand messaging for nonprofits, I always examine their vision, mission, values, and priorities because the brand must align with an organizations strategic focus and direction. Below is an overview of our brand messaging. The idea is to ensure that all communications reflect the companys identity and clearly convey its unique value proposition. A brand platform can be defined as an overarching set of values, principles and ideas that shape the identity of a company. Developing a comprehensive Brand Platform Document with all components included is key for any company looking to be successful in the long run. The Benefits of Developing a Strong Brand Platform, Detailed Guidelines for your Product or Service, Marketing Document to highlight External Communications, Marketing to Appeal to your Target Audience. Brand Messaging 101: The Ultimate Guide [2022] Asana