3 reasons to fine-tune—or overhaul—your organization’s message

Running a successful company today isn’t just about the product or service you have to offer, but the story you have to tell about that product or service.

Just as important is the story you tell about yourself.

Businesses have never before had more immediate interactive access to customers (and vice versa). Video, email social media are all direct avenues for your customers to reach you.

EVENT: Learn to find your leader's real voice at the 2016 Leadership and Executive Communications Conference.

You’re not the only one with these tools at your disposal, though. If you want to ensure that customers are heading to your business and not to your rivals’, you need something to hook them—something inspiring, something compelling, something personalized.

That’s why it’s so important to have a clear, concise, up-to-date message about your brand and what it offers those customers.

As for when to update your message, there are a few catalysts. For example, if people’s eyes gloss over when you give them your elevator pitch, and then they say, “Oh, that’s great,” and change the subject, it might be time for a revamping. If they ask you to explain it again and again, the messaging may need some fine-tuning.

Here are a few more reasons you might need to conduct a messaging session:

1. It’s just not working out. Your current message may be too muddled to speak to customers clearly or to identify why your product or service is the ideal solution to their issue(s). This could be reflected in weak online traffic, sales numbers, etc. It might also be failing from a PR perspective, in that the current message is too confusing or not compelling enough to gain media coverage.

2. It’s not relevant anymore. Industries evolve at a lightning pace, and what may have been relevant five years ago—or even one year ago—might not fly anymore. You have to be quick to update your messaging to accurately reflect the constantly evolving wants and needs of your customers, or you’ll get left behind.

3. You just began working with a specialist. If you just hired a PR/communications partner, kick things off with a messaging session to ensure that both parties start on the same page. This guarantees that any coordinated efforts for digital PR, social media strategy, media relations, content, etc. are all hammering on the same message—and that nothing is lost in translation or miscommunicated.

Your story should be heard by the world, so it’s important to get it right from the start.

Cheryl Gale is the managing director of March Communications.

(Image via)

from PR Daily News Feed http://ift.tt/29TCI8k