Content marketing is all about delivering the right content to the right people at the right time, and with messages that encourage them to continue the conversation. The core messages in your content should:

• Describe what your solution does
• Resonate with your target audience as a potential solution to their main challenges
• Clearly differentiate why your solution is better 
• Repeat consistently across all content forms

Before you start crafting your key messages, make sure you’re not biased. You may be proud of your solution, but it’s probably not unique, and its advantages may seem clearer to you than to your prospects.

How Are Your Key Messages Different?

Your core messages should clearly differentiate your offering from those of competitors and compel customers to explore what you have to offer. The first task in refining your core messages is researching the competition:

• Look at press releases, case studies, or analyst reports on competitors’ websites and write down repeated keywords or phrases. 
• Ask your sales team what they’re hearing from prospects. Pay attention to the roadblocks they say prompt them to opt for a different solution. Your messages should address these roadblocks as well as your value.

How Do You Craft Your Messages?

Next, you’ll start creating specific messages that set your company apart in the market and resonate with your buyers. As you write down the messages, try to phrase them in a way that speaks to buyers’ challenges. I use an outline like this:

Our Solution…(25 words) - A maximum of two sentences simply describing what your solution does.

Is For…(25 words) - Who’s your target customer? Messages could be rearranged depending on whether you’re selling to IT managers or CIOs, for example.

Who…(50-100 words) - What are their challenges? How do those relate to your product’s value?

…and want to…(25-50 words) - How can your solution ease their pain? For example, if you’re selling an identity management solution, talk about issues your solution addresses, like simplifying the process, improving access control, or reducing administrative costs.

With…Your product name

Which…(50-100 words) - Addresses the “and want to” statement above with 3-5 of your solution’s most important advantages.

Unlike…(50-100 words) - Don’t name your competitors – just list, in general, why they’re not as good at solving the ‘and want to’ issues above.

Elevator Pitches…(25, 50, and 100-word versions) Write short, compelling descriptions of what your solution does and why it’s better, using the content you’ve entered above. You’ll need the length variants for different uses like home page copy, sales battle cards, blogs, emails, ads and social media posts.

Taglines…(5 words maximum) - Come up with 3-5 taglines that crystallize the elevator pitch. You’ll use these in press releases, ads, social media posts and marketing emails.

Refining the Messages and Getting Buy-In

1. With your outline done, it’s time to show and tell. Post it in the cloud and ask for initial comments. 
2. Round up the decision-makers and put your initial matrix on a whiteboard. (Schedule 30-60 minutes for this meeting - people have lots of differing opinions.)
3. Ask the team for specific likes, dislikes, and alternate word choices or phrasing suggestions. Capture them in a recording or have someone take notes. 
4. Incorporate the team’s input in a new version of the matrix, and repeat the process until everyone approves.

When everyone has agreed to the messages, you’re ready to move forward with your content marketing campaign.