Is your sales cycle getting longer? Are you seeing fewer leads in your pipeline? Is it suddenly feeling like you are rowing against the tide?

It could be the changing business cycle, or increased competition, or that the market is evolving. Whatever it is, now would be a good time to review your marketing message.

So what makes for a good marketing message, and how do you know that your marketing message is right for you? The key to a good marketing message is, first and foremost – a very clear understanding of who you are crafting the message for (your target market), and secondly, what you need to tell them in order to get them to engage, and ultimately, buy from you.

To do this, you must take the time to clearly identify your target market and really understand how they think about the problem you plan to solve (or already solve) for them. You need to fully understand the problem from their perspective. Are you selling drills when they’re in the market for holes?

Armed with this information you can craft a message that will:

• Get attention and build awareness
• Connect emotionally
• Clearly illustrate how you solve their problem and how this will benefit them
• Reinforce the reasons why they should trust you to solve their problem
• Set you apart from your competition

Every aspect of your message should be thought through, and elements that are most important to customers/prospects should be emphasized. Your message needs to be purposely crafted based on research– completely aimed at your ideal customer. Think in terms of your customers, not your business.

Quick Check

Answer these questions to rate how well your marketing message stacks up:

Do you have a clear understanding
of who your target market is?

Have your defined your ideal customer persona?

Have you surveyed your customers?

Do you know what emotional outcomes they value?

How does your target market views
the problem you solve?

What do they say the benefits of solving the problem are?

How do they rank those benefits?

Are they willing to invest in solving the problem (what happens if they don’t?)

Is your message consistent?

Do a quick check: write down what you think your message is, then ask your sales and marketing staff to do the same. Are the results consistent?

Do your brand elements (graphics, colors, use of fonts) support your message?

Is your message constantly applied in all of your marketing assets? Do customers see the same message everywhere; web, print, social profiles?

How does your message differentiate
you from your competition?

Have you researched your competition lately?

How does your message differ from theirs?

Crafting your marketing message is an essential element of your marketing strategy. Aligned with your ideal customer profile, your marketing channel identification, the customer experience, and supporting content, your marketing message can be a powerful asset in the arsenal of your marketing system.