Crystal Clear Communications Blog

Marketers invest tremendous resources in paid advertising media to expose customers to their messages.

Last year American marketers spent more than $290 billion on paid media. To put that amount into perspective, it’s more than Finland’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Ad money exposes your message. But it can’t make a stale message fresh.

The fresher and stronger your strategic message is, the more likely your ad spend will succeed at bringing in customers and revenue. This begs the question: How do you know when it’s time to refresh your message?

Is it time for your marketing message to get a check-up?

Brands launch new strategic messages with tremendous fanfare, but as new campaigns come along, these strategic messages may fade into the background. Marketers sometimes sideline a message just because they’re tired of hearing it – even when the message continues to resonate with customers.

That’s why smart marketers are ever vigilant about their strategic message, watching for any signs that it’s time to refresh it.

Today’s blog gives you a quick way to assess whether your message remains relevant, current, and salient – that is, prominent and important in the eyes of customers.

How healthy is your marketing message?

Give your marketing message a check-up and refresh your message when:

• Your customers’ buying habits change. During the pandemic, customers got more comfortable with remote sales calls, online meetings, webinars, and virtual events. But now customers are returning to conferences, trade shows, and physical stores as they seek more of the human touch. Are you ready for the return of physical, non-digital marketing?
• Your competitors change. Has your set of local, national, or global competitors changed? Is a new start-up making a mark in your marketplace? Are competitors copying parts of your message? A new message helps you reframe your market to pre-empt challengers before they steal your customers and revenue.
• Your business needs change. Are you entering a new market? Launching new products and services? Serving a different type of client or customer than before? These are clear signs that it’s time to refresh your message.

Ways to bring new life to your message

To update your message effectively, look at it through the eyes of customers.

Then ask these questions. Be sure to gather input from both sales and marketing:

1. What questions do prospects and customers ask us most often?
2. Do our customers understand all of the benefits they get – the answer to: what’s in it for them?
3. Does our message paint a physical picture that customers can see? (Painting a picture matters because people recall concrete words that conjure up a visual image better than abstract words.)
4. Since customers’ buying decisions are driven by their emotions, does our message engage people on an emotional level?
5. Is our message truly differentiated from our competitors?
6. Are we speaking the same language as our customers – even non-expert customers – or using unfamiliar jargon they don’t know?
7. Is our brand’s story so simple that our employees feel comfortable telling it?
8. Do we deliver the same consistent message in all our digital, physical, and live media?
9. Are people habituated to your message? Have they heard it so much that your returns are diminishing?

The answers to these questions show you when it’s time to refresh your message.

When you need help to reframe or refresh your message, call 630-383-6047 or email me at george@crystalclearcomms.com