3 Essential Messaging Steps for Successful Small Business

Written by Vicky Zancanella | October 9, 2014

Messaging. Conveying. Transmitting. Sharing. Informing. Communicating.

Messaging is a critical part of running a successful small business, but how exactly should you do it? Well, this is not a simple process if you are seeking a unique meaningful message, but it can be broken down into 3 essential steps.

Craft it. Tell it. Live it.

Let's dive deeper into all three steps:

Craft it

This is your messaging or the process you go through to brand your company.

First of all you need to ask and answer these three questions:

What is the focus of your message?

What exactly is your message?

Who are you saying it to?

How do you say it?

You should not be crafting your message in a vacuum. You need to have context to understand your target audience and understand how people receive information as well as changes in human behavior.

How do you do this?

Skillfully put together a message using the 5 W’s- Who, What, Where, When, & hoW
Craft a strategy-the plan for dispensing your message.

Included in your plan should be factors such as:

Environment and market

Channels of communication to use

The most effective way to put the pieces together

Include factors such as timing, frequency, mediums, etc.

Tell it

After you have crafted your message and you have a strategy in place for sharing this message, Tell it! When telling your story or sharing your message you need to use both Outward Communication as well as Inward Communication.

Outward Communication:

This typically includes various forms of advertising. This can be done on a number of traditional platforms, online platforms or some combination of both.

Examples may include: Media (TV, Radio, Billboards)

Website

Printed Assets- Direct Mailing

Press Releases

Social Media Platforms

Email marketing campaigns

This is where the Craft it and Tell it collide- use the strategy you crafted, and the platforms of advertising you chose to Tell it.

Inward Communication:

This is the communication that needs to happen within your company to your employees as well as between departments. In a company of any size- whether you have 2 employees or 200, internal communication is key. Clear communication of your business culture, business goals, who you are as a company and where you are going are vital parts of the Tell it piece of business.

When leadership communicates with employees, your entire company can be on the same page and allows for all those in the company to tell your story that much better.

Also, when departments communicate with one another, they are participating in a grander plan. They are more likely to work towards a common goal if they understand what that common goal is and the parts they play.

Live it

This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where your customers and employees can tell if you walk the walk and don’t just talk the talk. Are you jivin’ or are you real? Okay, you get the picture.

Consumers in 2014 are more focused on companies who do what they say and are authentic. They are looking to buy from businesses who are who they say they are. And with how fast information, reviews and word of mouth spreads in today’s tech savvy world, news spreads quickly. Whether that news is good or bad is up to your company and the culture you cultivate, from the advertisements displayed on mass media, down to the smile on the face of the clerk at the returns counter.

If living out and practicing what you preach is a problem in your company there are three areas to start with since they are main touchpoints with the public (depending on your industry and type of business these may apply):

Sales process- are your salespeople authentic, helpful, knowledgeable and skilled? Do they look to help people find the solutions they are looking for?

Client Fulfillment- Are you delivering what you promise as a company? Those claims you made in the marketing and sales process- are you fulfilling them. Make sure (again with internal communication) that what you saw you will deliver, your team delivers.

Customer Service- Are you delighting your customers? Do they come back (and not just to return products)? Do they promote you and say wonderful things about you to their friends or the world on social media?

Messaging is more than an ad you create to put on mass media. Is how you choose to craft, tell and live out the message of who you are and what you stand for as a small business. The shotgun approach is not very effective in a world with lots of noise, it takes intention and a focused strategy.

If you need business consulting or a team to do messaging and advertising for your business, contact us today at Half a Bubble Out.

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