Do you find it difficult to describe your offering?
When you provide more than one service, it can be tricky to write the overarching messaging for your business.
As each service has different selling points and benefits for clients, it makes creating a single and compelling message challenging.
In this tip, I breakdown how to approach this task for your business.
#1 Write the messaging for each service first
Once you have made the decision about which services you want to actively promote, it's initially best to start this process by planning the key messaging for each service separately.
There's a quick exercise you can do to help with this. Get some paper and draw a table with five columns.
First you want to list each service you offer in the far left column.
In the top row for each column heading, write these words:
- Target audience
- Problem it solves
- Benefits
- Value
It should look something like this:
The task is to populate the gaps along each service row and map out the key facts.
In the Target audience column write a description of the typical ideal client – what are the characteristics that make them a good fit?
Next write the main problem the service solves in the following column.
In the Benefits column, list the key benefits clients receive when they purchase the service.
Side note: be sure to write benefits instead of features – more on that below.
And lastly, in the Value column, we translate the benefits into outcomes the target audience is looking to achieve.
To determine the value of a service, you need to think about the impact the benefit has on the clients' lives.
When it comes to distinguishing between the features, benefits, and value, April Dunford describes this well in her book, Obviously Awesome which is all about how to position brands effectively:
Feature: something your product does or has
Benefit: what the feature enables for customers
Value: how this feature maps to a goal the customer is trying to achieve
Here’s an example of what this could look like for a HR consultant offering a training course on diversity and inclusion in the workplace:
- Feature: The training course has a module on cultural awareness
- Benefit: Delegates gain a better understanding of the importance of working in an inclusive and fair environment
- Value: The course helps to improve employee relations – enabling people to work together more collaboratively
So think about the impact your service has on the client and populate the Value field.
Once you have completed all four columns for one service, repeat the process for the other services you offer.
By mapping it all out on paper, it will help you to spot the running themes and what your services have in common.
#2 Look at the bigger picture
Now that we've worked on each service individually, we need to zoom out and think about how you can group the services together to describe them as a single offering.
Writing the messaging for your brand as a whole requires you to identify the similarities between your services, but it also comes down to identifying the wider problem your business solves for clients and the overarching results your services enable.
Is there a consistent benefit/value that was apparent when you wrote them out for each service in the exercise above?
If so, this would probably be a good aspect to focus on for your key messaging.
And if you can you combine two benefits/value, it will make your messaging even more compelling.
#3 Use this messaging formula to tie everything together
Once you have some ideas for your overall business messaging, an easy way to experiment with different wording is to use this framework:
I help [description of ideal client] solve [main problem] – this enables them to get [key result]. Unlike my competitors, I [unique characteristic of your offering].
Following this formula will ensure you are being clear and get straight to the point.
Action points
Writing effective marketing messaging is crucial when it comes to attracting the right clients – so it’s a key thing to get right.
It's also important that once you have crafted your messaging, you stick to it each time a potential client comes into contact with your brand – whether that's online or in real life interactions.
Your action point for today is to read the messaging on your website or LinkedIn pages as if you were a potential client and consider whether it’s doing your business justice.
If you think there is work to be done, or that you are trying to sell too many services at once, complete the above exercises to write effective messaging for your business.
