How to create a brand message framework in 5 steps (infographic)

If an actor plays a role, they become someone else. Their message is no longer their own, but their character.

Branding is a lot like that.

You can include a little bit of yourself in your creative marketing efforts, but your main goal as a marketer is to represent your brand.

How do you ensure that your language, tone of voice and imagery stay true to your brand messages in every content you create?

With a branded messaging framework.

What is a brand message framework?

A brand message framework is the basis for all your brand messages. Other than a literal basis, it is not a tangible thing. It’s a collection of efforts, documents, guides and statements that help you stay in character when representing your brand in any media.

However, this framework is not only important to you. It also ensures that any third-party marketer, freelancer, or partner who works with you can speak on behalf of your brand.

(I can not begin to tell you how often marketers use the “I know it when I see it” mentality for brand messages. If you can not articulate your brand personality to someone else, you do not know yourself well enough.)

How to create a brand message framework

Building an effective message framework does not necessarily create a proper message matrix. A graph or template can be useful to summarize your framework once you have created it.

But you do not start with a template (unlike what you may have read elsewhere). This is far too restrictive. Rather, start by identifying and articulating the elements that will affect your core messages. Once you have got the takedown, you can figure out the best way to suggest it.

To get started, we’ve identified the five key steps involved in creating a branded messaging framework:

1. Identify your target audiences

Phase one of your branding strategy is to identify your audience. Keep in mind that your key messages can reach people who are not buyers, but who can influence buyers. This is especially true for B2B businesses where decision makers are not necessarily the end users.

To identify your audience, you want to look at the following:

• Demographic data in Google Analytics (age, gender).
• Customer data in your CRM (job titles, location, preferences and dislikes).
• Your existing e-mail subscribers.
• Anecdotal information from your sellers and marketers.
• The different ways customers use your products (and what features they use).
• Any other information you may have about your users, buyers and / or readers.

Once you have done that, you can compile the information in an audience profile. Here is an example:

Important points to remember:

• A good message is only great if the recipients think it’s great.
• Provide a framework for your brand story and the most important message around it that your target audience will find wonderful.
• Expect to create more audience profiles (after all, there is more than one type of person using your product or service).

2. Explain your value proposition (s)

Value proposition is more about positioning than referring to a single function or functionality.

To say that your business has the most intuitive products or services in the industry is not enough – you have to put it into words how that differentiator adds value.

That’s why it’s so important to know your audiences. Before you can offer them value, you must know what they find valuable.

To articulate your value propositions, you need to identify all the ways in which your products or services add value. Some examples can be:

• A unique pricing model.
• Improved productivity.
• Cost savings.
• Greater employee satisfaction.
• Social benefits (eg sustainability).
• Strengthen confidence.

It is good to have more than one value proposition. The more points of sale, the more delicious. Each of your value propositions is a message pillar that can define your trading positioning statement (a little later).

Important points to remember:

• Strong brand messages show value, not features and functions; After all, people only care about features when they have value.
• Don’t just focus on eliminating pain points; discover how to add value.

3. Check your existing messages

Take a look back at your existing content marketing efforts to determine how you previously designed your brand messages.

Pay close attention when scanning your social media profiles, blog, website, YouTube page and other channels:

1. Who were your implicit audiences.
2. How you designed your value proposition (s).
3. If you demonstrate this value (with mindset and value-added content).
4. Fire voice.
5. The visual identity of your brand.

If you have never bothered to create a brand message framework, you will probably find inconsistencies. You can also discover examples of content that does not add much dimension or texture to your brand. Or cases where your brand voice and your personality are everywhere — ranging from frightening, sarcastic humor and academic twists. Or bad photos that have no uniformity in style and tone.

Some of what you discover can scare you straight away. Just look at the headline, chapter and stock photo of a blog post we wrote in 2010:

Now compare this with this 9,000 word post we created on how to do query research in 2020:

Which one do you think is best for representing our brand and showing our value?

Important points to remember:

• Document your findings – good and bad – while reviewing your existing marketing content.
• Check your marketing message at least once a year to make sure your brand positioning is still relevant; excellent brand is a moving target.

4. Create your message guide

Your audience profile help you find out who you are talking to.

Your valuations help you know what to say.

Your message guide helps you to say it the right way every time.

Start by patenting a trademark voice. Think of your brand as a person:

• What language would this person use?
• What details would they establish in their writing?
• What kind of analogies would they favor?
• Would they use a lot of idioms or say things in simple language?
• What tone would they use voice (humorous, satirical, academic, direct, clever, but related)?

Do a similar exercise to shape your visual identity. Think about how this person – your brand – can decorate their home:

• What color palette would they use?
• Would they want a sleek, modern and elegant look or something baroque?
• Would they be minimally decorated or stacked on the pines?
• Would they be a Persian rug or something modern in the middle of the century?
• Would they hang fancy black-and-white photos or fun, cartoon-like posters?

Once you have researched the details of your brand voice and aesthetics, you can create a handy messaging guide that includes at least the following:

• An explanation of your brand voice with examples.
• Textile preferences (eg real comma or none?).
• Your preferences for brand typography (including spacing).
• Your color palette of your brand.
• Examples of iconography.

This part of branding is so important. Your style guides provide clues for ads as you execute your content strategy.

Important points to remember:

• How you say something can be just as important as what you say.

5. Complete your trademark position statement and logo

Your trademark position statement is, for lack of a better phrase, an elevator. But it does not yield a product or service. It describes your whole concept as a brand.

At its core, a positioning statement explains four things:

1. What your brand does.
2. For whom it does.
3. Your distinctive values.
4. The outcomes of the distinguishing values.

Do it not Make a complete statement of your value propositions, products or services. Here is an example of a very good brand position statement from Beautycounter:

What makes it great?

• It’s concise.
• It was written in Beautycounter’s voice.
• It’s unforgettable.
• This clearly shows what the business believes.

A brand positioning statement – sometimes called a ‘brand promise’ – is the closest thing to a summary of what your brand is about. You do not necessarily have to share it with the world, but it is important to have one to guide your messages.

You also need a logo. Unlike your trademark position statement, your logo is shared with the world. It is a visual representation of your brand and must be carefully designed to express your values. This is not an easy thing to do, but we’ve given you some tips on how to create a killer logo. elsewhere on this blog.

Important points to remember:

• A good brand position statement expresses how you want your brand to be perceived; this is the identity you are going to market with.
• Your logo is the visual envelope of identity.
• If you feel inclined, you can also get a brand new brand (ours is “Fuel for your brand”) – but consider it an emphasizing detail, not a guiding principle.

Implement your brand message framework

Now that you’ve fully worked out your branding framework, the real work begins: content creation.

Remember: Use your trademark framework as the ground floor on which each content is built.

Do it, and you do not have to bother at all to create a consistent, memorable and memorable branding experience.