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“When you are
through changing,
you are through."
- Bruce
Barton
Advertising Hall of Fame
Here’s a basic principle
of messaging that may shock some: your messaging efforts are never finished. In
fact, you may make some messaging mistakes along the way. A healthy business is
a living entity, and your clients constantly evolve. So your messaging needs to
evolve, too.
Author Paul Shoemaker is
an advocate of making brilliant mistakes. In his recent Inc. article he explains that, when ”uncertainty is high, your problems are complex and
innovation is your game … a good portion of your assumptions are likely wrong.”
Strategic messaging
embodies this spirit. Evolving your message to higher levels of effectiveness
requires acknowledging that your business is never static. Assumptions can be
wrong. Key message points eventually fall out of alignment. Target market profile
shifts.
Don’t wait for perfection
in your messaging. Perfection isn’t a one-time event; it’s a process, sometimes
an uncomfortable one. As you infuse your message throughout your organization
and to your various audience constituents, pay close attention. Do you notice a
difference when language resonates with your audience? Does one metaphor work
better than others in face-to-face conversations?
Always look for that next
piece of language, the next value statement that hits the bulls-eye. When you discover
an assumption about your audience that is — gasp! — incorrect, adjust your
message platform to reflect different motivations and barriers.
Ongoing adjustment is the
name of the messaging game, as is reframing your attitude about the “missteps” you
make. “Mistakes” are opportunities to learn more about your ideal customer.
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