Online marketing strategy is a very broad topic, but if you’re just getting started, here’s a quick tip—start and focus on your messaging.
This means before you even consider things like formatting, choosing your layout, how to create copy that's easy to scan, and so forth, you have to have content that is compelling, relevant, and shareable.
To do this, you need to…
- Look to your customers
- Research and understand what is important to them
- Study keywords that they look for
All while highlighting what your brand or product has to offer.
Create Your Messaging Strategy
Often, writing online copy can be overwhelming—leading most to go off in different directions. A messaging strategy is meant to give your overall content a singular theme, tone, and rationale.
It basically serves as the guidelines for the content that you have to write. Here’s a step by step guide to get you started on your own messaging strategy:
1. Create your positioning statement—this will be the central idea and theme of your brand or business.
- It should be short and written as a statement
- It should have a single, clear benefit that addresses your user’s needs.
- It should be unique, feasible, and executable.
What it should do is shape your communications to follow a streamlined thought.
2. From here, you have to hash out supporting points (stick to 3) that will bolster your claim. Where you overall positioning identifies a high-level, maybe even abstract benefit, your supporting points should be executable and easily demonstrated.
3. Apply this central message across the different elements of your business—web copy, product descriptions, ads, brochures, etc.
More Tips To Consider
- Know that your users are different—while some will appreciate content heavy sites, others won’t; and your copy should cater to both. This is why you should really make sure that your messaging is adaptable.
- Support your claims with proof—best done via testimonials, reviews or even social proof.
- Key concepts can be supported using video demonstrations.
Your messaging and positioning statement is not static—it’s constantly evolving, depending on how your audience or business develops. Understanding your users via research can lend itself to more effective messaging.
Understanding Your Users For Better Messaging
The goal is to gather customer information so that you can tailor your content in a way that is relevant and useful for your users.
Here are a few easy ways how:
- If you have an existing email list, send out a brief survey with a few exploratory questions.
- If you have strong social media presence, go online and actually TALK to your community.
- Gather key demographic data. To start, you can speak to your target users–the group of people who you want to sell to and gather information such as:
- Age group
- Marital status
- Number of children
- Education
- Annual income
- Websites the frequent
- Hobbies and interests
- Technological inclination
Segment Your Audience
Focus your energy on the select group of people who will most likely visit your site often. Choose the group that’s most likely to be your customers, who have a need that you can fill and will have the spending power to avail of your products and services.
Finally, Here’s The Real Secret To Good Marketing Messaging
You’re only writing for a quarter (a third at most) of your audience.
When you have your messaging down pat—a positioning statement that is distinct but executable, supporting points that demonstrate value for your audience, a thorough understanding of your users—understand that there really is no cut and dry way to make that unique niche you’ve carved all happy.
Don’t even try. If you do, you’ll end up creating copy that is so bland and neutral that you fail to make your marketing efforts compelling.
Creating messaging that will resonate to 10000 potential customers is difficult, especially when you know that you only have about a couple hundred (at most) from that number primed to convert or optin for whatever it is you have to offer.
If what you’re selling is made specifically to answer the needs of a small market segment, own that and address your message to them. Craft your messaging to target the select, but perfectly matched few to gain conversions.
– Mercer
