Seven Signs of a Muddled Brand Message

Why is it so difficult to come up with a brand message that resonates with your ideal clients? You already know your business inside and out. Explaining what you do and the value you offer should be easy. But it’s not. You can be so close to your message that it’s difficult to distinguish between what you care about and what really matters to your target audience. Unfortunately, you might not even realize there’s something wrong until these warning signs start showing up in your business.

#1 You Think Everyone Is Your Client

It’s easy to get carried away in considering the sheer number of people or businesses that could use your product or service. But if you approach marketing with the assumption that everyone wants or needs what you are selling, your message will be ineffective. You might be selling canned air on Mars, but some people will go on holding their breath rather than buying what you have to offer. The bad news is that most of your market is not ready to buy anything you are selling at a given point in time. The good news is that refining your brand message will help you connect with the people who are primed and ready to move forward right away.

#2 You Can’t Stop Talking…and Talking

If you can’t sum up what you do, who you serve, and how your customers win in a few short sentences, you don’t have brand message clarity. It’s easy to get excited about the benefits and features of your product or service. However, overwhelming people with information means your main point gets drowned out by the noise. When you keep going off on a tangent and running through a huge list of things you offer and all the cool features, chances are high that your sales will suffer.

#3 You Get Stuck with People Who Waste Your Time

Do you keep landing clients who micro-manage everything you do and still find reasons to complain? How about the prospects who waste your time and have no intention of spending any money? There’s a reason you keep attracting your less-than-ideal customers. It’s because your brand message isn’t set up to actively deter tire kickers and people who are impossible to satisfy. It might surprise you to learn that a clear brand message does just as much to disqualify bad prospects as to attract good ones.

#4 You Chase Customers Instead of Attracting Them

Are you begging people to let you tell them about your product or service? Do they begrudge giving you even ten minutes of their time? That’s not because they are busy (no matter what they claim). It’s because what you are saying doesn’t inspire them with burning curiosity or hit them where it hurts. You don’t need everyone to be open to hearing what you have to say. But your ideal, “ready to buy right this minute” prospects should be chomping at the bit to speak with you.

#5 You Keep Getting Hammered on Price

Doesn’t everyone want to get a great deal? Isn’t it natural for every customer to want a bargain? Actually, no. What’s natural is for people to focus on price instead of value…if you let them do that. With a strong brand message, you tap into what really matters to people. And it’s not getting the lowest price. It’s solving a problem. If you can solve a big enough challenge for a client, they will pay almost any price you ask without batting an eye. An effective brand message sets the stage for a conversation that explores the value of what you offer instead of a negotiation over how to get it for the cheapest price possible.

#6 You Are Blowing Your Marketing Budget without Getting Results

Any marketing and advertising campaign requires experimentation and iterative improvement to deliver results. No matter who you hire to do social media, digital marketing, or traditional advertising, they aren’t going to hit a home run on the first go. But if you are starting with a vague brand message, you are going to spend a LOT of money just getting into the right ballpark in the first place. In fact, you may run out of funds before you figure out that you were playing on the soccer field instead of the baseball diamond the whole time. A fully developed brand message allows you to start close to your target and make smaller adjustments to get the precise results you want. That’s a surefire way to get higher ROI for every dollar you spend.

#7 You Feel Envious of Competitors

It hurts when you deliver a superior product or service and your competitors still get all the attention. Maybe they have a nicer website or a big budget to spend on shiny advertising. Perhaps they’ve just been around for so long that everyone knows their name. It’s not fair that they get all the customers when you have so much more to offer. But you can’t grab any market share away from the competition unless you articulate what makes you different—and better. A generic message will not win this battle. However, if you are crystal clear you can easily beat out the competition even when it’s impossible to outspend them.

Are you ready to stop trying to be everything to everyone and position yourself as the perfect fit for your ideal clients? Contact me today and we’ll set a time to talk!