From instant to consistent messaging

Category: online PR
Posted by Nicky on 9th October 2006

The foundation for any successful B2B communications campaign is strong messaging. In the B2B world, if your messages simply don’t resonate with your target audience, it doesn’t matter how often or how loudly you say them.“Instant messaging” may be the current communication tool of choice for the kids, but continually inventing your messaging on the fly is unlikely to yield the momentum, consistency and credibility required to build a brand and create sustainable differentiation in the longer-term. Only by understanding what your customers really care about, what problems they are seeking to solve, and by rigorously and consistently applying the “so what?” test to each proposition, can you begin to create a solid messaging framework to drive your communications programme.

This process of “peeling back the layers” ensures that your overall strategic communications objectives are clearly defined, refined and tested. What change are we looking to cause? Who are we looking to change? How are we going to change them? It’s the absolute key to developing an effective PR plan.

So, whenever we engage with a new client, we kick-off each programme with our messaging workshop. The messaging workshop comprises a single morning or afternoon on-site session, with all of the stakeholders in the communications process present. We prepare and facilitate the workshop with the objective of understanding your business goals (objectives, expectations and sales priorities), your markets (key geographies, opportunities, threats) and your customers (who are they and what do they care about?). We also take the opportunity to review any previous communications strategy – what’s been tried, what’s worked, what hasn’t, and why.

Following the on-site session, we deliver a messaging matrix that outlines the company’s key communication goals, and maps the client’s core values against geographies and market segments to establish differentiated, substantiated key messages. Having taken a “media-neutral” approach, only at this point do we select the media channels that will most cost-effectively deliver those messages within budget, taking our holistic view of communications – PR and Web working together to leverage each other’s strengths and building maximum visibility and mindshare.

The overall deliverable is an actionable communications plan that we will deliver against. It’s a targeted, robust, strategic planning exercise that doesn’t devolve into Big Project Syndrome. Typically, the entire process – from specifying the workshop to delivering the final messaging matrix – can be completed within two weeks.

Aside from achieving its intended results, the messaging workshop process itself quite often acts as a catalyst for broader strategic discussions. Very often, it represents a long over-due opportunity for all of the key stakeholders to sit together and take an honest look at the direction of the business. With an external consultancy facilitating the discussions, it’s surprising the progress that can be made in one short session. As one of our recent workshop attendees commented, “We’ve actually made some decisions here today!”

“Consistent messaging” is unlikely to catch on with the kids, but it’s the cornerstone of powerful PR and should be the Next Big Thing for all B2B companies.

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