Nail Your Marketing Message with Virginia PhillipsRead Time: 4 minutes

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What is your business marketing message?

According to Virginia Phillips, a business breakthrough strategist, a good marketing message showcases how company products and services can add value to customers’ lives. Though the concept of marketing to the wants and needs of potential customers is nothing new, a surprisingly large proportion of businesses today still fail to put out an effective marketing message.

With years of experience behind her, Virginia has learned what works best for brand messaging. She shares the basics of marketing messaging strategy with Tom, stressing the importance of empathizing with potential customers.

Marketing Messaging Pitfalls To Avoid

Too many businesses prioritize sharing their brand story over providing the valuable content potential customers are searching for.

Virginia explains that when businesses feature their mission statements or company history on their homepage, consumers lose interest.

While having a publicized mission statement may serve you in other ways, using company highlights and milestones as a focal point is probably not enough to convince consumers to become loyal customers.

Virginia feels that brands relying on such corporate marketing messages “… have not taken that next leap to get into their client’s head. Why is their client stopping at the website, what is happening with their client–get into their head.”

Consumers need to be convinced that your company’s products or services will add value to their lives before they are willing to make a purchase, so brands ought to shift their marketing messages to address this.

Virginia suggests structuring content to think about what your customer or client is looking for, to help speak to their pains and their goals, and to focus maybe 90% of what you’re talking about geared towards them.

Marketing Messaging Tips

According to Virginia, company marketing messages should exemplify what makes your brand unique from other industry leaders, as well as how the products or services you provide are superior to those offered by similar competitors. Consumers often look into their full range of purchasing options before committing to a brand, so it is recommended that companies accentuate the uniqueness of their products and services.

Virginia reminds Tom that brands can still publish a variety of content, but that all brand messaging needs to align under a common umbrella. When Virginia helps businesses identify the marketing message they want to put out, she tells them to consider what questions they would ask if they were in the position of the consumer. If you already know what questions consumers need to have answered before making a purchasing decision, you can adjust your marketing message to address these concerns.

How To Evaluate Your Marketing Message

As a business owner, it can be difficult to look at your marketing message objectively. Virginia recommends calling in outside opinions to gauge how well a marketing message is landing. Listen to the feedback and adjust your tone and substance as necessary.

Another way businesses can improve their brand messaging strategy is by looking at how competitors approach their messaging. Competitors in the same industry will often have similar talking points. Try looking at competitor websites to identify a niche that makes your business stand apart from other industry leaders and modify your marketing message to underscore this.

The Advantages of Niche Marketing Messaging

“Would you rather hire a specialist or would you rather hire a generalist for your issue?” Virginia asks Tom.

More often than not, consumers with a problem are seeking specialized help, believing specialization to indicate a higher quality of knowledge and industry know-how. For this reason, Virginia believes it is wiser to dive into a smaller business niche than to try to cater to a broad spectrum of consumers.

Like many business owners, Tom questions whether niche specialization might limit his business’ ability to gain new leads and grow. But Virginia explains that niche specialization does not necessarily limit your prospects. In fact, specializing tends to lead to longer-term business-client relationships with happy clients making referrals.

Profiting From An Effective Marketing Message

With an attractive marketing message, consumers are bound to convert into customers. If your copywriting focuses on providing customers with the information they need to make better purchasing decisions, and showcasing how your products or services stand out from the crowd, you are likely to land new leads.

KEY INSIGHTS

  • While marketing messages evolve over time with new technology and changing consumer habits, the underlying principle that marketing messages should convince consumers to become customers remains
  • Businesses can improve their marketing messages by learning from feedback, including thoughts provided by those outside the company
  • Specializing in a niche business may add strength to your marketing and does not necessarily limit your business prospects

VIRGINIA’S TAKEAWAYS

  • Companies should improve their marketing messages to showcase how their products or services provide value to customers
  • When evaluating your website copy, consider whether or not your content will help readers make better and more informed purchasing decisions
  • Businesses should compare their marketing messaging strategy to other similar sites to learn what makes their company stand apart from the competition

MORE FROM VIRGINIA

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The Healthy Profits Now Program from AOEE

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