Want Clients to Choose You First? You Need a Messaging Strategy

 

There's serious confusion about what messaging and messaging strategy actually mean.

Over the years, I’ve heard messaging defined as:

• Your elevator pitch
• A content plan
• Developing your offer and pricing your offer
• A unique selling proposition 
• The copy on your website

These definitions all miss something critical: messaging is what makes your expertise undeniable and your marketing actually work.

Since consistency with your brand messaging can increase revenue by 20% (Marq, 2021), let’s clear up the confusion between messaging, marketing, and copywriting.

What is the difference between Messaging, Copywriting, and Marketing? 

Let's start by defining what each of these actually does for your business.

Messaging

A strategy comprising the key messages you consistently share, your positioning, the beliefs you shift, and the invitations you make.

All your messaging should lead the right client to your offers. Its main job is persuasion—building the case for why working with you isn't optional, it's essential. Messaging is your overall communication strategy that informs your copy and marketing.

Marketing

Refers to any action your business takes to attract an audience and potential leads to your product or services through persuasive messaging. Marketing amplifies your messaging. 

Copywriting

The words you use and how you say them are also a sales conversion tool. Copywriting produces a physical deliverable for your website, email, and other business collateral.

The shorthand:

• Messaging is what you say
• Copywriting is how you say it
• Marketing amplifies your message

Before you hire a copywriter or a marketer, you need to craft your business’s messaging strategy. Otherwise, you're just amplifying confusion.

What are the Core Components of a Messaging Strategy

From discovery to the deal, a strong messaging strategy ensures you're consistently on message as potential clients move through their customer journey with you.

Your strategy should include the following:

• Positioning & Differentiation: Your message should make it crystal clear how your business differs from competitors and why you're the only choice.
• Client Empathy Map: Specific messaging that shows you deeply understand your right-fit client's struggles—making them feel seen before you've even spoken.
• Problem Definition: What's the real problem you solve? Not just the surface issue, but the root cause and its ripple effects on their business and life.
• Your Unique Solution: How your approach differs from everyone else's—and why that difference matters to your client's results.
• Belief Shifts: The key mindset changes someone needs to make before they're ready to work with you (this is what separates teaching from persuading).
• Why Buy Statement: The most compelling reason to work with you right now—your elevator pitch that actually works.

Once you create your messaging strategy, the next question is, how do you know if it works?

Want a new way to communicate how your business is different? Check out the 3 Word Rebellion free audio workshop that creates a one-of-a-kind message that positions your business in a category of one. 

How Do You Know If Your Messaging Strategy Works?

Your brand's messaging powers your marketing and copywriting. But how do you know if it's actually doing its job?

Big companies with massive audiences (and budgets) hire market research firms for extensive messaging studies or A/B testing.

Most expert-driven businesses don't have the time, money, or audience for that kind of research, so you need to rely on more qualitative measures.

Let's talk about the best indicator and the worst indicator of messaging success.

The Best Indicator Your Marketing Messaging Works: Sales

The best indicator that your message is indeed working is sales. 

• Are you booking sales calls with people who already want to work with you?
• Are people filling out your intake form regularly?
• When prospects show up on calls, are they ready to say yes—just checking if it's the right fit?
• Are you making the sales you want to make?

If you answer yes, I have enough sales and getting enough leads, then great news, your message is working the way it should. 

My client, registered dietician Cassie Christopher experienced this firsthand. Here’s what she said:

If the answer is no to making sales, your messaging is not doing its job.

As a reminder, the job of your message is to persuade and turn someone who doesn't know you at all into a client. Your message should be about leading people to your work. It should be about persuasion, making that argument. 

If the answer is no—you're not making sales—then your messaging isn't doing its job.

As a reminder, your message's job is to persuade and turn someone who doesn't know you into a client. It should lead people to your work. It should build the argument for why they need you.

Even though sales are the best indicator, I still see business owners getting confused because of the worst indicator of messaging success.

The Worst Indicator That Your Marketing Messaging Works: Social Media

It's easy to think that if you build a huge following on social media, your message is working and sales are imminent.

Here's a reality check from the good old days of 2019: An Instagram influencer with 2.6 million followers decided to launch her own clothing line. She'd start with a t-shirt.

All she needed was 36 people to buy a t-shirt to produce the first run. That's a conversion rate of 0.00001385.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't get 36 of her 2.6 million followers to buy a t-shirt.

What's going on there?

A big audience does not equal an audience of buyers!

Social media is a poor indicator of whether your message works because it casts the widest possible net, and your audience may not be filled with buyers.

They might follow you because they like the look of your account. They saw an inspirational post and thought, “Wow, this person is great.” But they weren't actually interested in the problem your business solves.

For expert business owners, sales will always be the ultimate test of whether your message works.

What are the Key Benefits of Creating a Marketing Message Strategy?

There are five significant benefits to creating a messaging strategy that make it worth investing time, money, and energy.

#1. Consistent Branding and Brand Messaging Can Increase Your Revenue by 20%

It’s no surprise that your clients are looking for the same experience of your business, whether they interact with you on social media, hear about your business on a podcast, or visit your website.

In a study conducted by Marq, they found that having a consistent brand can boost revenue by 20%. Why?

When you’re consistently on message, your audience knows what you stand for and can trust you’ll deliver. In fact, according to a Salisfy.com study, 46% of consumers are willing to pay more for a brand they trust!

#2. Boost Brand Awareness By Being Known for Something.

Starbucks is known for coffee. Amazon is known for its massive variety of products. Nike is known for its athletic shoes. What is your business known for?

A message strategy helps you create a message around that “thing” your business does and then develops the key messages you constantly repeat to be known for your work. 

#3. More Opportunities for Visibility

When your business is known for something, more opportunities for visibility come your way. 

Whether it’s podcast interviews, media appearances, speaking on stages, or teaching in masterminds or conferences, you need a message worth sharing and repeating to land those opportunities. 

Better yet, when your brand message strategy is so clear and compelling, those opportunities start coming to you! 

#4. Clients Show Up Ready to Work with You

Your message strategy is all about persuasion. When you’ve got it dialed in, your clients show up ready to work with you. 

They understand the problem you solve, how it benefits them, and how you work with people. 

Sales become easy when all of your marketing messaging leads people to your work. 

#5. Spend Less Time Marketing and More Time Doing What You Love (Working with Your Clients)

None of the expert business owners I work with started their businesses so they could market their expertise. (Most hate marketing). 

Once you’ve got your messaging strategy dialed in, you know what to say, what kind of content to create, and what marketing assets to build over time, so you get to spend less time on marketing because your marketing is far more effective. 

How do You Know If Your Business is Ready for a Messaging Strategy

If you’ve read this far, you might think that messaging strategy work is something your business should invest in at some point.

But how do you know if your business is ready to go all-in on creating a messaging strategy? Here are the tell-tale signs:

#1. A Proven Offer that Gets Results

A proven offer doesn’t mean that you’ve made millions of dollars but that you’ve had a handful of clients and customers go through your process and get results. 

Your clients love the results they get, but it leaves you wondering, “If I’m so amazing at what I do, why don’t more people know about me?”

Messaging strategy is the right step if you’ve got a great offer but need more people to know about it.

#2. An Over-Reliance on Word of Mouth/Referral Marketing

Word of mouth is excellent. Referrals build entire businesses. Referral marketing is also erratic and unreliable. 

You never know when that referral is coming in, and you have to rely on your client being able to describe the work you do accurately. 

If you want more stability, you need more marketing systems than referrals, which means you need a message to power your marketing. 

#3. Increase Your Reach and Impact of Your Work

Whether you want to start a group program or reach more people who need your work, you’re tired of being the overlooked expert.

Deep down, you know your business could reach and help more people. 

It’s going to take marketing to make that happen. Some of my clients know that they have books in them or want to be speaking, but they need an audience to make that happen.

If you feel that you need to reach more people and that your work deserves to be seen by more of the right people, you’ll need a messaging strategy to make that happen.

My Approach to Creating a Messaging Strategy That Stands Out

Through my Done-For-You Messaging service, the goal is to powerfully communicate the value your business creates—whether you're marketing to one person or a thousand.

When you work with me, you'll have a whole new way to talk about what you do and understand the key messages to use in your marketing and sales. Plus, you'll feel more confident when sharing your work.

The deliverables include:

Driving Belief Statement: What your clients need to believe before they're ready to work with you—this becomes your North Star for all messaging decisions.

Client Empathy Map: Deeper insights into what your clients are thinking, feeling, doing, and saying so your message feels like you're reading their minds.

Problem Definition: The presenting problem, triggering event, root cause, and ripple effects—so you can speak to the real issue your clients face.

Positioning Your Unique Solution: Key messages that identify what makes your approach different and give compelling reasons to choose you over competition.

Why Buy Statement: The most compelling reason to work with you right now—think of it as your elevator pitch that actually gets people to lean in.

Reasons to Believe: Outline typical and possible results so clients know what they can expect from working with you.

Finally, you'll receive a Marketing Message Guide that documents your messaging in one place. You can reference it when you need to create content, prepare for podcast interviews, write sales pages, or update your website.

Ready to create your signature messaging strategy? Learn more about Done-For-You Messaging or book a consultation call.

Ready to create your signature marketing messaging strategy? 

Download Your Service Guide

Your messaging strategy is critical to standing out in your industry and making your marketing efforts pay off. 

The sooner you tackle your messaging strategy for your business, the sooner you’ll boost brand awareness, grow your audience, and have more of the right clients book your business, which means your business sees more revenue! 

Want more messaging and marketing insights to stand out in your industry? 

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