Creating an impactful brand boils down to aligning a lot of self-reflection with 6 key elements of your brand messaging strategy.

Because when you invest your time, energy, and intention into your brand messaging strategy, something special happens.

You start looking at your business and your purpose with fresh perspective. You show up in a way that’s consistent and clear. And you’re able to step into your brand message with confidence, no matter the context.

Brand Messaging Basics

First and foremost: what is brand messaging? It’s the recognizable way your brand shows up in the world.

Your brand messaging fills in the details of all the big-picture blanks, like what you do and why it matters, what you stand for, and how you’re going to stand out.

And this foundational strategy guides all your visual branding, content creation, customer experience, the works.

No matter what area of your business you’re focusing on, how you show up in the world depends on the who, how, why, and what of your brand. Brand messaging strategy answers these questions and allows you to share your message and mission with ease.

Brand Messaging Elements

So, what are the moving parts that go into an impactful brand messaging strategy? One that connects on a human level? One that allows you to run a business that not only feels good, but also does good?

There are six basic elements that I include in each brand messaging guide I co-create with my clients:

• Brand Statement
• Mission Statement
• Brand Values
• Brand Voice
• Target Audience
• Core Messages

Brand Statement

Your brand statement is essentially your elevator pitch, positioning statement, or unique selling proposition. It sums up what you do, who you do it for, why, and ideally, what makes you different.

This can be used in your social media bios, on your boilerplate for press releases or event registration pages, when you introduce yourself in person, and beyond.

Mission Statement

Another essential brand messaging basic is your mission statement. This is a guiding force for internal and external decisions, as well as the basis for all communications. It’s your why.

Think about the impact you want to make. Imagine the transformation you can facilitate. Articulate the reason your business exists. That’s what you want to include in a mission statement.

Brand Values

If you’ve been around my corner of the internet for any length of time, you know how important brand values are to my approach to business. By standing for your brand values, you’ll stand out in all the right ways. You’ll also attract all the right people and repel all the wrong ones.

You first need to establish the 3-5 core values that matter most to you AND your audience. Then you need to define what they specifically mean to your brand. And most importantly, you need to actively apply your brand values to every area of your business.

Living out your brand values means that you’ll become known for something people can see and feel. It’ll draw your audience, team, and partners closer to your mission. And it’ll push your business toward your impact goals.

Brand Voice

Your brand voice should be consistent across all your outreach and interactions. It’s your recognizable way of communicating that carries through everything, from marketing to customer experience to partnerships.

So even when your tone changes—like when owning up to a mistake vs sharing a big win—the voice stays the same.

Target Audience

Your target audience are the people you dream of serving best-case-scenario. Create a detailed customer persona in order to speak directly to this *one specific* type of person who represents an entire audience. Be sure to include both demographic and psychographic factors.

As you niche down your audience, you’ll attract who you’re looking for and repel people who aren’t the right fit. The upside: when you aim for a target audience, you’ll still resonate with additional people outside of that “ideal persona.” But you’ll reach them without wasting the energy of actively seeking out these outliers, or spreading your message too thin.

Once you feel confident and clear about your core audience, you might create multiple personas. This would allow you to tailor different campaigns and offers to different segments.

Regardless, thinking as your ideal customer persona avoids the pitfall of making decisions based on your own personal biases and centers your decisions on what your audience needs and wants from you.

Core Messages

Your core messages are key soundbites that can be recycled, combined, broken down, and adapted infinitely. Think: sales calls, website copy updates, outreach letters/emails, media pitches, networking conversations, video scripts, social media posts, and marketing collateral.

Generally, I divide these core messages into three basic buckets: About The Founder, About The Brand, and About The Offerings. There’s some overlap between each category because they all tie back to your mission, values, and audience. But it’s helpful to approach these topics from many different angles.

Aim to strike a particular chord that resonates with your target audience. Then use that message as a fresh jumping off point to go even deeper and broader.

Creating A Values-Aligned Brand Messaging Strategy

From the bite-sized “marketing speak” messages to your overarching mission, piece together these six elements into a complete values-aligned brand messaging strategy.

You can leverage this strategy yourself so that you’re more confident and consistent in talking about your own brand. And you can hand over your brand messaging strategy to your social media manager, blog writer, copywriter, VA, customer success team, referral partners—whoever needs to understand the vision you’ve created.

And your future self will thank you for all this upfront reflection. Refer back to your brand messaging guide when making ANY decision. If it’s aligned with your mission, values, and audience, you have the green light. If not, it’s an easy no.

No matter what you choose to stand for, your unique “why” and “how” set you apart. Your brand messaging strategy reinforces what makes you memorable and connects you to the exact people you want to reach.

Taking Confident, Meaningful Action

Download “A Visionary’s Guide To Elevator Pitches” to talk to real people about what you do and why it matters.

And if you’re ready for outside perspective and a co-created brand messaging strategy guide that will allow you to get visible with confidence, consistency, and clarity, the Messages That Matter VIP Day is for you.