Communication is a vital skill in any field, but especially in strategic communications, where you need to persuade, inform, or inspire your audience. How do you design a message that is creative and clear, that stands out from the noise and delivers your key points effectively? Here are some principles to guide you.
Before you start crafting your message, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with it. What is your main goal, your desired outcome, your call to action? How do you want your audience to feel, think, or do after hearing or reading your message? Having a clear purpose will help you focus your message and avoid unnecessary or confusing details.
Knowing why you're communicating is essential. It's like a guiding light that keeps your message on track and makes sure it makes sense. You should always remember your purpose when you're creating your message, so you don't get sidetracked. Think of it like a compass that shows you where you're going. By staying true to your purpose, you can remove anything that doesn't belong in your message. Even creative touches should be there for a reason, to help your message stand out and connect with your audience.
In my experience, a message's effectiveness hinges on a well-defined purpose. Before crafting it, ask: What's the goal? What should the audience feel, think, or do afterward? This clarity guides your message, preventing unnecessary details and confusion. Purpose is the key to impactful communication.
I like to also refer to the purpose as the mission. The why ultimately sits at the centre of any message. When I am crafting a message I am clear on what will look different in terms of what people will say. What stories will they tell after engaging with this message? How will it feel different to before in terms of the language used by my audience? What's the role of the message in achieving this change? Being laser focused on this in the planning stage is key.
Another essential step is to research and understand your audience. Who are they, what are their needs, interests, values, and challenges? How do they prefer to receive information, what tone and style do they respond to, what are their expectations and objections? Knowing your audience will help you tailor your message to their needs and preferences, and use the most appropriate channels and formats.
In my experience, research is a linchpin for effective communication. Beyond knowing your message's purpose, understanding your audience is equally vital. Dive deep into who they are: their needs, interests, values, and pain points. Grasp their communication preferences, the tone they resonate with, and even their expectations and objections. This audience insight becomes your compass. It empowers you to craft a message that's not just relevant but deeply resonates with them. It's like speaking their language, addressing their concerns, and offering solutions to their challenges. When your message aligns with their world, it has a far greater impact. ??
Make sure, especially for internal team communications, you know the history and outcome of past actions. Take time to connect and create a space for truth telling to occur between yourself and the workforce. What messages were delivered in the past and how? What was the outcome and impact on the people? What was successful and why? What didn't work and why? What needs to be done differently moving forward? How do people want to connect with your messages?
AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action - a model for designing messages that capture and hold your audience's attention, spark their interest, create a desire for your offer or idea, and motivate them to take action. To structure your message with the AIDA model, start by grabbing your audience's attention with a catchy headline, a surprising fact, a provocative question, or a compelling story. Then provide relevant and useful information in clear and concise language that answers their questions or solves their problems. Show how your offer or idea benefits them and create a positive association with emotional appeals, testimonials, or social proof. Finally, tell them what you want them to do next with clear and specific commands, incentives, or guarantees.
I figured my answer worked better here because it is a practical model on how to implement the AIDA model. To design a creative and clear message in my work in communications, I first focus on understanding my target audience's preferences and needs. This helps me tailor the message to resonate with them. I then craft a compelling narrative or story that captures their attention and maintains their interest. Keeping my language concise and free of jargon is crucial to ensure clarity. Incorporating visually appealing elements like graphics or videos further enhances the message's impact. Finally, I always test the message with a small group to gather feedback and make necessary refinements before wider dissemination.
Creativity is not only about being original or innovative, but also about being relevant and meaningful. You want your message to stand out from the crowd, but also to resonate with your audience and convey your brand identity. To be creative, you can use storytelling, metaphors, analogies, humor, or visuals to make your message more engaging and memorable. To be consistent, you can use a coherent tone, style, and format throughout your message, and align your message with your brand values, vision, and personality.
The final step is to test and refine your message before you launch it. You can use feedback, surveys, focus groups, or analytics to measure how your message performs, how your audience reacts, and what results you achieve. You can also use A/B testing, split testing, or multivariate testing to compare different versions of your message and see which one works better. Based on your findings, you can improve your message and make it more creative and clear.