How to Create a Core Marketing Message in 3 Steps

A core marketing message doesn’t just help customers understand what your business offers — it helps them understand who you serve and what makes you different from the competition. It also gives your marketing a clear direction and competitive edge while helping you stay consistent. When existing and prospective customers see consistency across your website, social media, email campaigns, advertising, and other marketing channels, it builds trust and brand awareness.

Understanding why your business matters shouldn’t be a guessing game, and your customers shouldn’t have to work hard to understand what you do. When you develop a core marketing message, you’re able to concisely explain what you offer and why you’re different from every other game in town.

What Is a Core Marketing Message?

A core marketing message is the main idea you want customers to understand about your business. It should clearly communicate:

• What you do
• Who you serve
• Why someone should choose you over the competition

A core marketing message is different from a slogan or tagline, but it’s easy to confuse the two. A slogan is typically a short, memorable phrase associated with a brand. A core marketing message explains more about your business, the value you provide, and what makes you different.

Think of your core marketing message as the foundation of your marketing. Once you create it, you can use it to build website content, social media posts, email marketing, paid advertising, sales materials, and more.

How to Create a Core Marketing Message

Before you create your core marketing message, you need to understand your audience. From there, you can determine what makes your business different and create a clear message that stays consistent across your marketing and various platforms.

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience

You can’t create an effective marketing message if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach. Your target audience is the group of people most likely to need or want your product or service.

Instead of marketing to the general public, find the audience that is best aligned with what your business actually offers. Depending on your business, this may include factors such as:

• Age
• Location
• Gender
• Income
• Occupation
• Education
• Interests
• Buying habits
• Online behavior
• Common needs or problems

You can collect audience data from people who already interact with your business — no need to reinvent the wheel. Pay attention to social media engagement, including which posts receive the most comments, likes, shares, and clicks, and who is interacting with your content.

Your website analytics can also provide useful information about who visits your website and how they interact with your content. Use analytics to track:

• Customer information
• Purchase history
• Surveys
• Email engagement

Don’t Try to Appeal to Everyone

You can’t please everyone. Not everyone has the same tastes, needs, or preferences — which is exactly why identifying your target audience matters. When you try to create one marketing message for the entire general public, your message becomes too broad, diluting what you’re trying to convey and resulting in something ineffective.

Instead, look for the largest demographic that best aligns with what you’re trying to convey. Once you understand that audience, you can create a message that speaks directly to them and their unique needs and wants.

Step 2: Define Your Value and What Makes You Different

The next step is figuring out why customers should choose your business over the competition. This is where your unique selling point — your USP — comes into play.

Your USP helps your business stand out. It could be any of the following:

• Product
• Service
• Process
• Experience
• Company values

Ask yourself: “What do we offer that somebody else doesn’t?” Maybe you offer a product or service your competitors don’t. Perhaps you have a different process, offer a unique customer experience, or specialize in serving a particular type of client. Whatever makes your business different, your marketing message should communicate it.

Focus on Benefits, Not Just Features

It’s tempting to explain what your product or service offers and stop there. But customers want to know how it can specifically help them. Features explain what something does — benefits explain why someone should want it.

For example, a smart home device may have features such as a mobile app, voice control, automatic scheduling, and energy monitoring. Those features translate into benefits like saving time, making the home more comfortable, reducing energy waste, and making daily tasks easier.

Your marketing message should make that connection clear rather than speaking in generalities.

Step 3: Create a Clear and Consistent Message

Once you understand your target audience and what makes your business different, you can create a message that clearly communicates your value. Your core marketing message should be easy to understand and consistent across every marketing channel.

Customers should be able to recognize your business regardless of where they encounter it. Your website, social media, email, advertising, and other marketing materials don’t need to use the exact same words — but they should communicate the same overall message. Consistency builds brand awareness and trust. If your business consistently says and does what it promises, customers have more reason to believe in you.

Put Your Marketing Message Across Every Channel

Once you have a clear marketing message, use it throughout your entire marketing strategy. Maintaining consistency across channels improves customer trust, brand recognition, and loyalty.

Your Website

Your website should make it clear who you are, what you offer, and who you serve. Your core marketing message can appear on your homepage, service pages, About page, and other key areas. If you have a blog, your content should support your overall message while providing useful information to your audience — and each post should include a clear call to action telling readers what to do next.

Social Media

Social media gives you another place to communicate your core marketing message. Depending on the platform, you may be able to include your message in your bio or a pinned post. Your regular posts should also support your overall brand message and reinforce what makes your business different.

Email Marketing

Email marketing can help reinforce your core message through email blasts, newsletters, promotions, and other communications. You can even include your core message in your email signature when appropriate.

Paid Advertising and Sales Materials

Your core marketing message should carry through to your paid advertising and sales materials. Because advertisements often have limited space, you need to communicate your value quickly. Brochures, presentations, proposals, and other sales materials should reinforce the same overall message — every interaction should help customers understand what your business offers, why it matters to them, and how you stand out.

Common Marketing Message Mistakes to Avoid

Creating a core marketing message sounds simple, but several common mistakes can make it less effective. Avoiding these pitfalls will help you build a stronger connection with your audience and a more dedicated consumer base.

• Trying to appeal to everyone — A message for everyone is a message for no one. Focus on the audience most aligned with your business.
• Talking only about features — Features are useful, but benefits are what drive action. Show customers how what you offer solves their problem or makes their life easier.
• Using vague language — Words that sound good but explain nothing leave customers wondering what your business actually does — and they’ll look elsewhere.
• Changing your message from platform to platform — If your website says one thing and your social media says something completely different, customers will become confused. Consistency builds trust.
• Focusing too much on what your company wants to say — Ask yourself: “What’s in it for them?” Your message should convey what your customers actually need to know, not just what you want to say about yourself.

How to Know if Your Marketing Message Is Working

Once your marketing message is in place, you need to know whether consumers actually understand it and if it’s gaining traction with your target audience.

Ask Your Customers

One of the easiest checks: ask customers what your business does. If they can’t clearly explain what you offer or who you serve, your message may not be landing. Use natural language that makes sense to your audience, and make sure online content is scannable — short paragraphs, clear headings, and bullet points that make important information easy to find.

Make Sure You Solve a Real Problem

Your marketing message should address a real problem or need your customers have. The benefit should be obvious. Customers shouldn’t have to think too hard to understand how your product or service can help them.

Track Your Marketing Data

Your marketing data can tell you whether your message is connecting with your audience. Track metrics such as website traffic, contact form submissions, phone calls, email sign-ups, social media engagement, sales, conversion rates, and cart abandonment.

Build a Marketing Message That Connects With Your Audience

When you create a marketing message, you want it to be concise and consistent across every channel. You also want to build trust with your customers, avoid vague language, and make sure people understand not only what your product or service has to offer — but how it can benefit them.

At Let’s B Media, we understand that every business has its own unique trajectory. We take the time to sit with our clients to understand not only their unique needs, but the unique needs of their customers. Whether you’re looking for someone to curate blog entries or help with your next social media campaign, we take the time to understand your goals and help you every step of the way — from creating topic ideas to promoting them across social media. Contact us today to get started.