View from the Street: Do your communications repel or resonate? Four tips for crafting compelling, strategic messages
Published
Anna Dickens
“Our efficiency programme has delivered savings which have funded growth investments, offset inflation and improved our margins.”
I recently read this statement in a press release (not one of ours, obviously). There’s nothing particularly special about it within the wider world of nonsense corporate communications, but it irritated me anyway.
It brought to mind Lucy Kellaway’s Guffipedia, and, before I knew it, I was down a rabbit hole, laughing at some classics of the genre.
What a fantastic world we live in; a place where a renovated shopping mall can become, “an aspirational lifestyle destination … an experiential creative hub within the city that engages communities to incubate new ideas and passions, and enables shoppers to enjoy retail in a technology-enabled environment”.
Or what about the prospect of working for a company where, “Innovation is the force that will continue to drive our business and enable us to expand and increase revenues and profits – always through the lens of humanity – long into the future.”
For the love of humanity, please stop.
From mundane to memorable, irritating to emotive, let’s explore how to turn opaque gobbledygook into strategic messages that resonate and shift the dial.
Know why you are communicating and communicate the “why”
It sounds too simple and obvious to be a tip, but the “why” is often an afterthought at best. The world is full of communication for communication’s sake, which does nothing to shift mindsets.
Businesses and individuals alike are guilty of beginning with what they want to say instead of why someone should hear it and why it matters.
Audit your own key messages and ask yourself: how many of them are just statements about features. I don’t care that the car you make has traction control and electronic stability control. I want to know that your car will help me maintain control in all weather, keeping me and my family safe.
Good messages are birthed from asking, what do I want [insert audience/stakeholder] to think, feel or do differently?
Objectiveless and rudderless messages won’t cut through in a crowded media landscape and they won’t inspire your audience.
Lift your head
Tunnel vision can affect any organisation. But when your messages are developed in a silo they can, at best, be a waste of resource because they don’t land and, at worst, erode trust and damage reputations.
There are countless examples of companies whose messages missed the mark, ruffled those they were trying to communicate with and ended up costing them dearly.
I’m looking at you Pepsi, Burger King, and HSBC to name but a few.
Understanding your audience and their context is essential. Keep your finger on the pulse and consider what motivates the individuals or groups you’re communicating with.
Seek an outside perspective and lift your head to look beyond what makes sense within your organisational bubble. Top tip – hire an agency that will tell you the truth, not what they think you want to hear.
Be clear and economical
Cut the guff. And the jargon. It doesn’t make you sound smart, it alienates journalists or other influencers who might otherwise amplify your messages, and it doesn’t connect with, educate or influence audiences.
If you’re trying to communicate a complex idea, try a metaphor. And always explain terms, abbreviations and acronyms.
Don’t use 20 words when 10 will do. It’s common for hedging and filler words to creep into messages, particularly when communicating bad news. Instead, try the verbal equivalent of ripping off the plaster. Just say it clearly and succinctly.
I saw a recent example of this around the unfortunate closure of a charity:
“Work has been ongoing internally for some time to put into place arrangements for the continuation of support.” – 18 words
Instead, try:
“We have arranged for support to continue.” – 7 words
Test and tailor
The best way to know if a message will resonate is to test it. This could be something as robust as the message-testing focus groups we run with our partner business, The Diffley Partnership, which can refine key messaging to deliver maximum impact. But on a smaller scale, you can sense check with external stakeholders or test key messages on social media, measuring the reaction and engagements.
Whatever you do, test it. Not everyone thinks the same way you do, so they won’t hear your message the same way.
Tailoring is straightforward. Tailor and adjust your message and narrative to suit every platform and situation. Be consistent with your messaging, don’t be a broken record.
I hope this helps and if you want to chat messaging or hear more about our message development services, please get in touch: anna.dickens@charlottestreetpartners.com
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this from former Twitter boss, Dick Costolo:
“As we iterate on the logged out experience and curate topics, events, moments that unfold on the platform, you should absolutely expect us to deliver those experiences across the total audience and that includes logged in users and users in syndication.”
Thanks, Dick.