Welcome to the second article in B Corp Bark Media’s three-part series about developing an effective communications framework. In the first article, we explored why an effective positioning statement is an important foundation for your communications framework and how to develop yours. We created Ethical Honey Co., a fictional organic honey company, to develop an example positioning statement. In this article we’ll discuss how your positioning statement can help shape your organizational core messages.
What are core messages?
Core messaging communicates what you want to achieve, why you want to achieve it, and, most critically, why your stakeholder audience member should care. We are all bombarded with messages, ads, and asks. If your audience doesn’t quickly understand why it matters to them, they’re likely to move on.
Messaging can be looked at as your organization’s mission in action. It should include a specific “ask”: an action or position you want the members of your audience to take. The purpose of a message is to:
- Mobilize other people to support your vision and goal.
- Clearly communicate what you offer to add value.
- Show how you meet the needs of your stakeholders.
- Identify what you expect or want from your stakeholders.
Let’s take a look at this in practice:
First, review the positioning statement developed for Ethical Honey Co.:
“Ethical Honey Co. provides all-natural, organic honey made from ethically managed hives that replicate the natural behavior of bees as much as possible. We strive to do what’s best for bees while also providing quality jobs for our employees.”
The Ethical Honey Co. team is ready to turn to the next step in the process: core messages. At Bark Media, we use a framework of three core messages geared toward different outcomes. These brief, memorable statements are designed to help you communicate with your audience at increasing levels of engagement:
- Awareness: I’m new to this organization.
- Engagement: Tell me more.
- Conversion: I support this organization.
While you may never directly say these statements to your audience, the content and stories you share will illustrate these messages and help organize your communication strategy and relationships.
The development of core messages is a critical step in our audience-first messaging framework, which brings intentionality to every piece of content and uses it to build and engage with the people most likely to become supporters and advocates — your stakeholders.
Core Message 1
Let’s return to the hypothetical example of Ethical Honey Co. to illustrate how to identify your core messages. The product is for people who care about honey quality and pollinator health. In Core Message 1, we simply want to raise awareness and earn the attention of our ideal stakeholder audience members. We imagine that this message stops their scrolling on social media.
The person we are trying to reach with our first core message has never heard of Ethical Honey Co. What “problem” for this person does Ethical Honey Co. solve? A good stakeholder audience for this brand would know honeybees and other pollinators are important, care about them, and want to do something with their purchasing power to help rather than harm honeybees. (You may say, what about a person who doesn’t understand the importance of pollinator health? They are not Ethical Honey Co.’s target customer.)
Here’s a try at Core Message 1:
You can purchase the highest-quality, most delicious honey while protecting and supporting the health and well-being of the bees and other pollinators that are so critical to the health of our planet.
This is an effective core message because it speaks directly to the needs and cares of the audience member — getting great honey, supporting pollinator health — and overlays them with what Ethical Honey Co. provides. Note that this statement, positioned at the first awareness stage, isn’t trying to get the audience member to do anything, other than know who Ethical Honey Co. is and associate them with high-quality honey and pollinator health.
We will express this simple message in various ways across the channels where we believe we’ll meet this audience member, including organic social media, paid ads, SEO/organic search, and partner/influencer shares to increase awareness among our potential ideal audience members.
Core Message 2
Once a person is aware of the company, we want to provide information that makes them want to learn more and deepen the relationship. In the “engagement” phase, where Core Message 2 comes into play, we build relationships with our target audience members by expressing additional shared values. We also provide differentiators that help the audience members understand what Ethical Honey Co. does that its competitors don’t. We often think of this phase as “Why will this person opt in to be part of my audience?”
Here’s a try at Core Message 2:
Every jar of Ethical Honey Co. honey protects the lives of 100,000 pollinators and the livelihood of 15 people in underserved areas around the globe. With every purchase, you are part of driving this sweet impact.
We might share this message in sales campaigns, including discounts, free shipping offers, or at the point of purchase. We might also express this message with donation campaigns for like-minded/partner nonprofits related to our work or with materials designed to let the audience share their values with others (such as shareable social graphics for World Bee Day — which is May 20, in case you didn’t know — or “I heart bees” T-shirt promotions).
Core Message 3
Finally, in Core Message 3, we aim to drive ongoing action. In this case, it is getting someone to become a consistent customer of Ethical Honey Co. and an advocate for its work and mission. Core Message 3’s domain is the “convert” stage — when we’ve communicated enough about our shared values to build a relationship and make the person a reliable customer (or donor, volunteer, funder, or advocate).
Here’s a try at Core Message 3:
We go way beyond honey — the way we work encompasses sustainability, ecosystem health, biodiversity, and the well-being of our employees and the communities in which we work across the planet. You can support our efforts and be part of growing this impact.
We will share variations of stories and examples that bring Core Message 3 to life again and again to build relationships with audience members who are already aware of our company. We might express this message via photos of honeybees in the hive, infographics highlighting our impact, video interviews with hive managers and employees, articles about the link between responsible beekeeping methods and healthy ecosystems, and more. We share this message through the relevant channels, such as content, marketing emails, newsletters, videos, events, and surveys.
The most important thing to remember about your core messages is that they should connect your company or organization’s mission with the cares, values, or concerns of your audience members. Use those shared values to build a strong relationship with your stakeholders, walking them down the path from first awareness to advocacy. Through this relationship-building, you establish a rock-solid stakeholder base that will unlock the actions you’re hoping to drive.
You may be thinking, “This is all great, but we have multiple stakeholders we need to engage with, and we need them all to do different things.” In our next and final article in this series, we’ll explore how to interpret your core messages for each of your target stakeholders by developing your key messages.