Debunking 3 Myths about Brand Messaging
To someone who isn’t immersed in the language and concepts of business marketing, the term “Brand Messaging” can understandably be a bit mysterious, even somewhat cryptic or vague.
The irony here is that “Brand Messaging” itself is referring to how your business or brand speaks and how it communicates – which you want to ensure is clear (not confusing) and compelling (not boring or weak).
Every industry has its insider jargon, and in my opinion, it is the job of the experts in a field to help remove barriers (i.e. the curse of knowledge) and communicate clearly in order to help people, especially potential customers and clients, more clearly, easily and effectively understand.
I’ve been a StoryBrand Certified Guide for over six years now, and I’ve literally mapped out hundreds of BrandScripts (aka: story frameworks). This is the framework I use to help my clients identify their Brand Message and what we create in a Messaging project. (You can read more about this in our other blog here and in the book Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller.) I’ve helped tons of small business owners create effective Brand Messages for their companies so they can communicate about their brand with clear words and a cohesive narrative anywhere and everywhere in their marketing.
And after helping so many businesses with their Brand Messaging, I’ve identified three common myths that I regularly help my clients “debunk” right out of the gate, before we dive into the heart of their messaging project. So now, I’m going to share these with you!
Let’s Debunk 3 Myths about Brand Messaging
MYTH #1: I have to figure out my ONE perfect story
There is no ONE perfect story to tell or uncover about your business.
In all the businesses I’ve worked with – from construction companies to event venues to skincare brands – there is never just one problem that a business solves for their customer. There is never just one thing a customer wants as it relates to a product or service. There is never just one desired successful outcome a customer has after working with a service provider or purchasing a product. There is never just one tragic result or potential failure a business helps their customer avoid.
There is always more to the story than what’s on the surface. There is always more to the story, that if you dig just a little bit deeper, can help you craft and communicate a story that taps into aspirations and the internal feelings of your customer.
That said – the goal is to discover and clarify a brand message that is a home run, not just a base hit. While there could be many different elements to focus on for a brand narrative, not all stories will be a home run. Let’s avoid those, but also be willing to believe that there is more than just one story you could tell that could leave the park.
One common mistake is you can get so deep when trying to uncover your story that you get off track from the core essence of what your business does or offers. You still want to craft the narrative around the clear and obvious thing that customers are coming to you for, not a “sub-issue”.
For instance, an award-winning BBQ restaurant could craft their Brand Messaging around being a place for community gatherings. They could execute this messaging in their marketing, and their business could grow. But we’re looking for the home run messaging here, remember? If they instead built their Brand Messaging primarily around being a place to get delicious BBQ, that’s the homerun opportunity for their Brand Message. It doesn’t mean there isn’t a time and place to tie in the fact that their restaurant also happens to be a great place for community gatherings, but it’s about choosing not to lead with that narrative and lead with the food first.
There is no ONE perfect story for your business, but there are a few stories that are more clear and obvious than others – where the water is already flowing, if you will. We want to find those (aka: the home runs). We don’t want to dig a new trench off to the side to force the water in a different direction (aka: the base hit). Ya follow me?
Every single business is unique and has its own twist, flavor, tone, and vibe. For example, I’ve worked with a variety of different companies within the construction industry, and every single one of their Brand Messages is different because we honed in on what makes their business unique. We uncovered things like – how they set themselves apart from their competitors, how they show up for and serve their customers, what their brand vibe is like, and what their goals are. All of these elements play into how a company’s brand message is crafted to help shine light on a homerun message for them.
When you realize there isn’t just ONE perfect story to uncover, there is so much freedom in the process! It takes off the pressure and intensity around finding “perfect” and allows for a fun experience to uncover a narrative that resonates with both your customers and yourself as the business owner.
One more note to small business owners interested in doing a Brand Messaging project…
Over the years, I’ve noticed business owners generally love the brainstorming part of a Messaging project – listing out as many things as we can think of for the various elements of the BrandScript and laying all the ideas out on the table – but when it comes time to CHOOSE and make decisions on each element, they often face resistance. They hesitate. They get afraid (subconsciously) to commit to a specific choice.
I want to take a second to normalize this. It’s normal that the idea phase feels easy, but as it comes time to narrow in and make decisions, it can feel difficult to put a stake in the ground and “claim” a focused direction for the brand story. Why is this? Because choosing is inherently limiting. This, not that. It’s normal to be afraid of picking a specific story because it brings up “what if” questions around who and what you might simultaneously be saying “no” to. Like wondering, “What if I pick the wrong story?”
Instead of thinking with scarcity here though, I encourage you to think in terms of abundance. The first story you pick will lead to the next story, and so on. We are growing, changing, and evolving beings, and so are our businesses. If you aren’t growing…well, you are dying. So don’t put the stress on picking your “forever” story that is “perfect.” It won’t happen. Iterations are your friend. There is no waste.
My job is to help you choose — to help you decide on a focused brand message and implement it. I know when I find a clear and compelling story. Let’s invite your customers into an interesting story.
So to folks heading into a Brand Messaging project:
Know the resistance will come up and that’s normal,
Choose to have a posture of open hands and an open mind, and…
If you trust the process and bring your full self to it, we will arrive at something great for your business!
MYTH #2: I will have all the words I need for my marketing
Somewhere along the way (and I suspect it’s due to what I shared at the start of this blog), a misunderstanding or misperception of what a Brand Message actually is has led some people to believe that they’ll have the exact copywriting (aka: the words/text) to use in their marketing.
Another reason this may be is that in StoryBrand terms, we often talk about the BrandScript, which is the story-based framework or map we use to outline the Brand Message. It’s called a BrandScript, but you don’t necessarily end up with a word for word “script”. It’s a messaging roadmap.
What you will get from a Brand Messaging project (and creating your StoryBrand BrandScript) is:
A compelling narrative for your business using the essential and time-tested components of a good story (that you’ll find in every great movie or book you’ve ever seen or read)
It will position your customer as the HERO of the story (not you). It will position you/your business as the GUIDE that has a PLAN to help solve your customer’s PROBLEM so they achieve SUCCESS, AVOID FAILURE, and reach their ASPIRING TRANSFORMATION.
A one-liner
It’s a 2-3 sentence pitch/hook about your business, which includes three important elements: problem + solution + results. (This is not your slogan or tagline, although it could inspire one or both of those!)
Keywords for your business
In the Messaging process, you’ll inevitably uncover keywords to use throughout your marketing. This is super important for accomplishing consistent and cohesive communication about your business throughout your marketing, plus it is especially beneficial for SEO (search engine optimization).
The heart of your business’s voice, tone and story
When we clarify your Brand Message, we’re getting at the essence – the heartbeat – of how your business communicates about itself. We’re identifying where you’re putting a stake in the ground in your field or industry. We’re getting focused and dialed into a specific, unique narrative that serves as a map and a resource for your marketing. Once you have this, you want to come back to it all the time as you create content and write the words for your website, lead magnets, emails, social posts, ads, etc. – to give you inspiration and also to keep you focused so your marketing remains cohesive, consistent and compelling.
Now…THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU WON’T HAVE specific words, phrases or exact copy that you’ll use on your website or in your marketing. You will. There will be parts of the BrandScript you’ll copy/paste right onto your website or elsewhere, but the point of the Brand Messaging is so much broader than copywriting (i.e. the words or text written and used in your marketing and promotional materials). We use the Brand Messaging as a reference and a tool to guide and inspire targeted, on-brand copywriting. This is why having clear Brand Messaging is so foundational to great marketing.
Here are two helpful analogies I often use when I talk to folks about Brand Messaging to help explain this in another way.
Analogy #1: Brand Messaging is like your Maps app
You can plug in your desired destination in your Maps app, and it will tell you how to get there. But you don’t just turn your car on and turn your brain off to actually get there. You have to know how to drive – how to operate a vehicle. You have to know how to use the pedals, steer, stay in your lane, follow the road signs and traffic signals, use a blinker, and understand what the lines on the road mean (among many other things). You have to know what to do to get there. The Maps app can’t do that for you.
In the same way, your Brand Messaging – your StoryBrand BrandScript – is a map that gives you the framework (or “directions”) for reaching your destination: successful marketing that grows your business. You don’t just copy/paste your messaging map on your website. That won’t get you where you want to go. You have to know how to drive. In other words, you have to be an artist with your words and take the clear message you now have and then communicate it publically with intention and skill.
Let’s be honest, there are crappy drivers and there are great drivers. There are student drivers and pro drivers. In the same way, there’s a crappy way and a great way to take a wonderful story and tell it (write about it) in and through your marketing. So the question is… should you be the one writing your copy? Are you a good writer? Do you have time to write? Can you articulate clearly and in a compelling way about your business? If so, then get after it. If not, recognize that quickly, then hire us because that’s what we’re here for.
Analogy #2: Brand Messaging is like a book outline
It’s critical when writing a book to make an outline first because it gives the author clarity and a plan when it’s time to sit down and start writing the chapters. A good outline can save an author loads of time, energy and money in the long run. A good outline tells the author where the book is going – if they have a story arc, if they have enough content to fill up a book, what goes into each chapter, and maps out a plan for how they’ll keep the reader turning the page chapter after chapter. The outline is essential, but the outline is not the book. The author still has to take that outline and write all the words to fill the pages. The author has to bring their voice and story to life. The outline maps out the plan to bring clarity and order so that when the author does sit down to write, there’s a framework to go off of instead of staring at a blank page trying to figure out where to begin.
In the same way, a Brand Message gives a business a clear plan – a clear outline, if you will – for communicating about the business to the world. It provides the framework to come back to when it’s time to write words to market the business so that you’re not just staring blankly at a screen or copying what your competitor is doing. It gives you clarity, focus, order, intention, a strategy and a compelling narrative that applies to your business so that you can keep coming back to it and using it for all your marketing efforts. It helps you communicate consistently and clearly everywhere in your marketing.
MYTH #3: Finding clarity is easy
Simplicity and Short. Punchy. Words. are great. But getting to that point is often the difficult part.
Sometimes simplicity and finding clarity is easy, but most of the time, taking something that is complex and making it simple is the hardest part. It’s easy to write a lot of words, but finding fewer words that are more selective and targeted can be tough.
I love the famous quote from French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal: “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.” In my experience, this is spot on.
Yes, there is a process and a plan to make the Brand Messaging experience simple and clear. But simple is different than easy. Finding simplicity in a company’s brand message is usually the hard part. It takes more effort to discover and hone in on the simple clear story, but that’s the win when we nail it down. And let’s just say it like it is… if it were EASY, you’d have already done it yourself.
Instead of heading into a Brand Messaging project looking for “easy”, be on a mission to uncover the story that best resonates with your customers and reflects the unique voice, vibe and purpose of your business.
Your 3 Takeaways:
Your story or brand message isn’t going to be “perfect,” and there isn’t just one for you
Your brand message is more like a Maps app. It maps out a clear route (story) then it’s your job to do the driving (communicate it well)
Your message should be simple to understand, but that doesn’t mean it is easy to craft
Now you are ready to pick a great story. Think abundance, not scarcity. You got this.
And if you’re looking to get clear on your brand messaging, we can help. As a StoryBrand Certified Guide, I’m passionate about creating brand messages to help small business owners communicate effectively with their customers (and we offer copywriting services, too!). Schedule a Call with us today to get started. ⚡️
More soon,
Mahla
CONSULTANT + PARTNER
P.S.
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