Your message can make or break your brand.

Now, don't get me wrong, a brand is far more than just a message. It's the feeling people have about your business based on every interaction with your business.

But how you communicate says a lot about your business.

Take these messages, for example:

The first is confusing. I mean, what the hell do they actually do?

The second is somewhat clear, but doesn't provide a compelling reason to buy from them. It's a fact statement, not a compelling statement.

That last one? Talks all about the company, not the transformation they bring.

All of those were taken from former prospects — real businesses trying to stand out and attract their ideal customers.

And all of them are struggling to do so because of their brand message.

What Your Brand Message Should Communicate

Messaging is often the hardest part of creating an epic brand.

Most businesses want to focus on what makes them great — being the best, the industry leader, their quality, or what they actually do.

But what makes you great and what customers are looking for are often different.

You have to put yourself in your customer's shoes and ask: "What do they need to hear in 10 seconds to get what we do and want to work with us?"

That's no easy task.
And it's not something Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or the custom skill some fluffluencer created can do for you.

Your brand message needs to communicate one of the following:

The transformation you bring to your clients

This isn't what you do, but how working with you impacts and changes your clients' businesses.

Take a look at these taglines we wrote for our customers:

• Where data sparks action
• Demand more from your high vacuum system
• Master Your Infrastructure as Code

They all speak to the transformation — how your company will be changed after working with my client.

Your differentiation (and how it matters to them)

Focus on the uncopyable thing you do and how that matters to your customers.

These one-liners we wrote for our clients are great examples:

• Recruit high-impact, energy leaders with confidence. Our TripleFit System maps technical, cultural, and visionary fit into every hire.
• Treat yourself to luxury amenities and concierge laundry services that fit your lifestyle, all designed to make you feel like a VIP.
• EnergyCAP removes data complexity and helps you create, validate, and visualize the energy program you need now.

Each of those speaks to the uncopyable thing our clients do — making it clear why you should buy from them.

Framework to Write a Better Message

So, how do you write a brand message that is clear, compelling, and moves the right people to choose you?

Here is the framework I follow to write better messaging.

Step 1: Start with Your Positioning Statement

Your message is a core part of your positioning — meaning it should draw from your positioning statement.

Write this statement first:

The main elements of your brand message are hidden in that statement:

• Transformation
• Differentation
• Who you're for

Take your time nailing your positioning, and your messaging will be easier to write.

​Get help writing your positioning statement with this $29 course.​

Step 2: Decide what to communicate

Before you start crafting a message, decide what actually needs to be communicated.

Look at your positioning statement and ask:

• What do our customers need to hear to trigger curiosity in our offer?
• What will get our customers to scroll on our website rather than bounce immediately?
• What is the most important thing we need our customers to know?

You only have 10 seconds (or less!) to capture their attention and get them to scroll to learn more.

Meaning — you can't communicate everything about your service. You need to be extremely picky about what your message should say.

My advice: Choose the one thing that matters most to them when they first look for a service like yours.

It grabs them where they are and keeps them scrolling on your website.

Step 3: Decide how to communicate it

Once you know what you want to communicate, it's time to decide how you will communicate it.

This is where the fun comes in (yes, I'm nerdy as hell).

I was a double major in English Lit and Business Admin in college. So I love playing with words.

Here are a few tips for choosing your words:

• Map out what you want to say in as boring and plain a way as you can
• Look for words that match what you want to say and your differentiator
• Use ChatGPT to get synonyms you can use
• Look for ways to make what you're saying compelling

Let's take the message I wrote for Define Instruments above: Where Data Sparks Action.

Here's my sketch of how I came up with that message ↓

That sketch is how I write all of our client taglines.

Switch out words. Try synonyms. Figure out creative ways to stay clear while saying what you want to say.

Remember: clear is important, but clear + compelling is what gets people to remember you.

Craft a Better Message

Your brand message should help ideal customers choose you.

A clear, compelling statement that highlights your differentiation and the transformation you bring to your ideal customers does the trick.

You want them to understand you, remember you, and choose you.
All in 10 seconds or less.

That's not easy to do. But once you nail the right message, lead gen, demand gen, and sales get a lot easier.

Take your time to craft a better message. It will pay off big time.

Until next week,

#SassyJason out.

✌🏼

-----
PS. Get a brand messaging system that attracts and converts your ideal customers with our Brand OS packages.