When businesses come to me looking to hire a copywriter to tackle their website or marketing copy, I know they’re visualizing the end product; a shiny new website with blocks of text and a few call-to-action buttons. Non-copywriters don’t realize those blocks of copy aren’t created out of thin air. You need a brand messaging strategy before copy can be written.
What is brand messaging?
“Brand messaging” is a catch-all phrase for the fundamental talking points your business uses repeatedly to communicate its unique value proposition and personality to your target audience. It’s the overall strategy that defines how your brand is perceived and how you talk to your audience.
If you don’t have defined brand messaging points and attempt to write your marketing or website copy first, you will encounter several challenges:
Inconsistent messaging
Especially if your marketing communications are split over several teams (e.g. Sales team, Member/Client Engagement team, Ad/Promo team, Creative team, PR/Corporate Communications team, etc.)
Lack of focus
Your copy may be too generic or unmemorable and fail to differentiate your brand from your competitors.
Ineffective targeting
If your brand doesn’t have a clear understanding of its target audience, the copy may not resonate with them, leading to wasted marketing efforts/budget and low conversion rates.
Difficulty building a cohesive and recognizable brand identity
A strong brand identity is built over time through consistent messaging. Without a clear messaging foundation, it can be difficult to establish a memorable brand.
What goes into a brand messaging strategy?
Every copywriter and brand strategist has their process, but through a combination of research, customer interviews, and questionnaires, your messaging strategy and guidelines will be compiled and presented into a shareable document or deck for your team to reference.
At Big Picture, your Brand Messaging Blueprint may include:
Brand Voice & Messaging Style Guide
RESEARCH & PREP
- Pre-Session Brand Strategy Questionnaire
- Customer Interviews
- Audience Survey + Testimonial Collection Template
- Competitor Research
MESSAGING FOUNDATIONS
- 1-hour Strategy Session via Zoom
- Elevator Pitch / Boilerplate
- 5Ps Brand Framework
- Purpose
- Perception
- Personality
- Positioning
- Promotion
- Value Props
- Differentiation Strategy
- Brand Archetype Overview
- Brand Voice Audit & Exploration
COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY
- Audience Persona Profiles
- Key Messaging Per Persona
- Brand Voice Use Cases
- Content channel use cases
- Sample executions
- Voice & Tone Guidelines
- Sample executions
- Copy Bank & Language Guidelines
How do brand messaging and copywriting work together?
Your brand messaging strategy defines your brand and lays down your proverbial foundation. Copywriting brings these elements to life through words. Copywriting amplifies your brand identity, establishes your brand’s unique voice and tone, and reinforces your marketing when consistently used across all marketing channels
EXAMPLE: Apple is a prime example of a brand that successfully aligns its brand strategy and copywriting.
Apple’s Brand Strategy:
Apple is known for its focus on innovation, design, and user experience. They position themselves as a premium brand that offers products that are intuitive, stylish, and high-quality.
Apple’s Messaging Strategy & Copywriting:
Apple’s copywriting consistently reinforces their brand strategy. Their marketing uses simple, elegant language that emphasizes the benefits and ease of use of their products. Their slogan “Think Different” was carefully crafted to align with their brand’s emphasis on innovation and creativity.
Are copywriters also brand strategists?
These are technically two different roles, but all good copywriters are practicing brand strategists as we cannot do our jobs without donning the strategy hat. However, not all brand strategists are copywriters.
In fact, most self-described brand strategists do not execute the strategy they’ve built. Instead, they will refer you to a copywriter who can take your strategy, extract the points relevant to building a messaging strategy, and translate that into compelling web copy or marketing collateral.
What is the Brand Messaging process like?
The BP Brand Blueprint process gets everything out of your head and onto the page. We’ll take audience research and “flip the script” to create pillar messaging points you’ll use everywhere throughout your marketing.
We’ll define your brand voice, craft marketable UVPs, and outline your language and usage guidelines in a shareable and editable deck that your team can use and build off for years to come. (Your old PDF brand deck could *never*…)
This service is a stellar launch pad for early-stage startups, growing businesses, or DIY copywriters ramping up marketing efforts or refining investor decks.
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