How clear is your messaging?

You’re excited about launching or advertising your event for the Carnival season… you are ready to launch your new product/service/campaign…. You are looking forward to the return of visitors for Vincy Mas and as such you are curating special tours or have special room rates or maybe you are entering the Airbnb market. How ready are you? Seriously… Are you really ready? Before you take the first step, what’s the key message that you want to communicate about your event, your campaign, your product/service? Is your messaging ready for launch? Don’t get carried away by the desire to just get started, develop a message and ensure it passes the 4Cs test: Is it crystal-clear and easy for your audience to understand? Is it compelling so it’s remembered? Is it consistent so it’s credible? Is it concise so it hooks your audience?

There’s an Indian folk story that describes how a group of blind men who encounter an elephant all have very different descriptions based on their individual experience of the parts, rather than the whole. When you communicate, it is vital to break ‘the elephant’ into the parts that make the most sense to the most people. Do a communication test to ensure the messages are clear enough to describe to four different people such as a colleague (fact-check version of the message), a child (simplicity), a customer (relevance- what’s in it for me), a taxi driver (does the message stand up to scrutiny of a stranger – be ready to explain yourself). Here are two ways to get your messaging ready for launch:

Test for clarity – Answer the question- what’s in it for me? What’s in it for the people who you want to stay at your Airbnb property? What’s in it for the people you are trying to attract with your Carnival promotion? Deliver one main message – people get confused when you try to deliver multiple messages at once. Help people solve the problems they have, not the problems you think they have.

Test for Consistency – Naturally our brains equate consistency with credibility. Tell one message across all platforms e.g., digital, print, LIVE i.e. if someone listens to your radio advert and then sees a print advert or an online post with graphics, they should walk away with the same message. Tell one message to your audience: your employees, your customers, investors etc. Any spokesperson or employee should also be communicating the same message.

Candice Sealey is the Founder & Principal Consultant at Ignite! a Full-service Marketing & PR Consultancy that helps businesses/brands to stand out and communicate the right message to the right people at the right time through Strategy, Marketing, Media services and Design solutions. She is also a freelance content writer, advertising copywriter, voice-over talent, media personality. Follow us on FB & IG 784-432-2223. Email: igniteresults@gmail.com