How to identify — and improve — ineffective brand messaging

Avoid common pitfalls and craft messaging that works.

It’s a sad truth that brand messaging is often labeled as ineffective or inconsequential. The fact of the matter is, well-crafted messaging can be a cornerstone of brand success, consistently connecting brands with their audiences, driving meaningful engagement, and building internal alignment. Despite this enormous potential, many brands fall short in their messaging efforts. Why is that? Let’s explore.

What is brand messaging and why do we need it?

Brand messaging forms the foundation of how a brand — whether a company, product, or service — communicates its core essence. It’s sometimes called core messaging or messaging hierarchy. It consists of internal and external elements. Internal messaging is designed to align and guide internal communications, ensuring everyone is on the same page. External messaging serves all outward-facing communications, shaping how the brand is perceived by the outside world. Naturally, some messaging bridges both. Some examples of how brand messaging is activated include the following:

• Brand attributes
• Positioning statement
• Brand personality
• Tone of voice
• Brand essence
• Brand idea

Examples of external messaging:

• Key selling points (KSPs)
• Elevator pitch
• Company story
• Value proposition
• Audience-specific messaging
• Slogan or tagline

Examples of messaging that can be internal or external

• Brand values (a.k.a. brand principles brand pillars)
• Mission and vision statements

Why is brand messaging so crucial? Because 90% of building a great brand lies in creating an ideal blend of differentiation and consistency. And you can’t have either of those without brand messaging. The thoughtful work that goes into identifying a brand’s core attributes, ownable market position, personality, and voice is what reveals its differentiation. And without properly crafting and utilizing that messaging, your brand risks inconsistency and loses its distinctive edge. This brings us to the heart of the problem.

Where can brand messaging go wrong?

After 40 years of collaborating with a diverse range of brands across industries, we’ve learned all the ways brand messaging can work — and not work.

Here are the four most common mistakes people make when crafting brand messaging.

• Imperfect process: There is no one-size-fits-all formula for creating brand messaging. But there are plenty of approaches that may miss the mark. Messaging that is curated and crafted by committee will come out sounding vague and lacking focus. Messaging created in isolation without adequate input from stakeholders may miss critical insights and struggle to garner necessary buy-in. And messaging created by individuals who lack deep understanding of the brand or the business may simply fall flat.
• Unclear intent: When messaging lacks a clear purpose, it shows. Sometimes, companies develop brand messaging because they feel it’s expected, resulting in a box being checked without serving a meaningful function. Other times, brands may alter functional messaging for less effective alternatives simply because they get tired of it.
• Lack of refresh: Brands, especially in fast-paced industries, must periodically evolve to stave off stagnation. As they do, their messaging must evolve as well. It may seem obvious, but many brands take a “set it and forget it” approach to their messaging, leading to a misalignment between the brand’s identity and audience perception. This misalignment only widens over time.
• Lack of activation: The final step in crafting brand messaging is putting it into practice. Surprisingly, it’s also the step that is often overlooked. Brands invest significant time and resources into developing their messaging, only to assume that everyone will naturally implement it.

At the end of the day, if you’re wondering whether your brand messaging isn’t up to par, there’s one surefire sign: it’s collecting dust. Whether it’s buried in a folder, archived away, or nestled on a forgotten webpage, underutilized messaging is a missed opportunity.

How to put your brand messaging to work

Diagnosing and correcting brand messaging issues can be challenging, but here are some tips to maximize the effectiveness of your messaging.

• Know what you need — and don’t: As the list in the early part of this article demonstrates, there are many elements to brand messaging. Assess your specific needs, as not every brand needs every item. Perhaps your marketing lacks focus and cohesion, or your sales team requires stronger collateral, or your business units operate too independently. Understanding your internal and external marketing needs will help you create more effective brand messaging.
• Hold your messaging accountable: Clearly define what you’re trying to achieve with your brand messaging. Identify specific outcomes or issues each piece of messaging should address and monitor its success. Check-in with sales teams, perform pre-and-post surveys, and adjust your brand messaging as needed to fill any gaps.
• Partner with experts: When it comes to brand messaging, expertise matters. Collaborate with professionals who will partner with you, involve the right stakeholders, and ensure accountability.  We take particular pride in this at Adcetera. Our One Voice Program (OVP) methodology is designed to help brands craft and communicate their message with complete alignment, and we’ve successfully implemented it for Fortune 500 companies of all types and sizes. If you’re wondering whether your brand could use stronger differentiation or better cohesion, reach out to one of our brand strategy experts.