What is business messaging? There are complicated answers like this one that talks about messaging apps and services. But that isn’t what copywriters and marketers mean when they say “business messaging.”
There are 2 big changes you need to make to your business messaging right now. But before we get into that, we should probably talk about what business messaging is.
I know a lot of people aren’t sure exactly what messaging is, and there is even more confusion around this term that happens when people who don’t understand both marketing and copywriting try to define it on their own.
That’s why you have me, because understanding business messaging and writing it in a clear, concise way is what I do.
What does the term “business messaging” mean?
We all know what business is, so once we talk about what messaging means, you’ll be able to put the two together easily.
The word messaging refers to your message. Your message is made out of the words you use to talk about your business. But unlike other normal words, your business message needs to sound the same.
Good business messaging does the job of building a foundation of consistency that lets your ideal clients get to know you and trust you over time. Without trust, no one is ever going to feel comfortable paying to work with you. In fact, things are so competitive now that even if you give away something, if your messaging isn’t consistent, people won’t be interested.
Even complimentary classes and packages will take up time, and if the person you want to help doesn’t trust you, they won’t be willing to invest their time with you even if it involves zero dollars.
So, simply put: good business messaging is made up of carefully chosen words that represent your business in a consistent way and communicate about your ideas, products, services, etc.
When you have a large company that needs to follow one set of business messaging, we often refer to that as company culture or business personality.
How Do I Talk About My Business?
A lot of business owners don’t understand how to talk about themselves, so they hire someone like me to ask them questions, talk to them, find out what their stories are, and what their voice sounds like, so that I can write for them to start.
Next, I make a list of phrases they use and attitudes they have. I also make them a list of phrases and attitudes they wouldn’t want to use so that when they bring new people into their business, those additional staff members can write business copy that sounds like the business.
I used an industry-specific word there, so let me explain. Copy is any piece of writing that shows up. In journalism, it’s the words that make up articles. In professional places, business copy is made out of the words you use.
In the business world, the person who writes copy is called a copywriter. And when someone is writing copy for your business, they need to make sure it sounds the same. A messaging report is a document that an experienced business messaging expert can create to guide you and anyone in your company on how to write consistently for your brand.
I have written many of these types of reports over the last few years.
Now I use a condensed version of a messaging report as part of my Do-It-With-You and Do-It-For-You offers.
If you don’t already have some sort of document that helps you and anyone else on your team sound consistent, you need to change that right now.
Consistency Matters
Consistency is the basis of all trust, and without trust, no one is going to hire you or your team.
Now that you know what business messaging means, let’s talk about the next important question you should ask yourself about it.
Should your business voice (AKA your messaging) sound like you?
This is a question a lot of business owners ask me, and it’s a good one.
While your business voice needs to sound authentic, and that will be easiest if it sounds similar to you, it doesn’t need to sound exactly like you.
For example, my business messaging is super empathetic. While I am generally empathetic as a person, in real life, I’m a tiny bit more edgy than my business persona. And as I’ve worked with more and more business owners, my business persona has become much more straight forward than my actual personality is.
Should Your Business Messaging Be An Exact Match For Your Personality?
The best way to decide how to adjust your personal way of communicating to function for your business is to ask what kind of branding your audience needs to hear.
That doesn’t mean that if you’re easy-going that you switch to yelling. You can communicate the same messages in a variety of ways. I have a friend whose business messaging is scattered with adult language even though she consults for billion-dollar companies. Why? Because that’s part of her personality, but also because for the topic she handles in her business, it’s vital to be straight-forward. In her industry, fluffy language won’t help.
In some industries, though, it makes sense to have more sensitive language. I have another friend who helps people overcome anxiety. Her business wouldn’t benefit from super punchy language because the people who need her help are already stressed out.
So, feel free to make your business messaging sound like you, but also keep in mind that specific services and products need special considerations.
Does your messaging match the kind of interaction your ideal customers need? If not, that needs to change right now.
However, what I’m not saying is that you should change your personality to attract certain people. Subtle language shifts are much different than an over-the-top persona you create to target the people you think you want to work with.
If your business messaging reflects a majority of your personality, you’ll attract people who want to work with someone like you. Being yourself is far less tiresome than putting on a thick persona that will attract people you find exhausting to work with.
Do you have any questions about business messaging? Comment and I’ll get back to you.
And if you’re ready to find out which one of our storytelling systems will work for you, book a call today.
