You know your business better than anyone, but this may be a hindrance at times and can make it a challenge to craft a clear and impactful message. This may result in inconsistent, overly complex communications that simply do not resonate with your target audience. 

The solution? Bringing in a fresh pair of eyes – hiring an external Marketing & PR agency can provide fresh perspectives, invaluable expertise, knowledge and strategies that can help propel your company’s communications to new heights.

Importance of a Strong Brand Message

A brand’s message is the foundation of how your company communicates its values, vision and persona to the world. A strong brand message is what can set you apart from competitors in the space – it is more than just words, it is how you present yourself to prospects, clients and peers. 

A strong brand message:

• Can differentiate your company, products and services in a crowded market and/or create greater visibility.
• Builds trust and emotional connections, creating recognition and loyalty with audiences.
• Increases business growth by motivating your clients to come back for more and attracting new ones.

However, when messaging is inconsistent or not clear, it often creates confusion and dilutes your position in the market. Audiences may find it difficult to identify what your company stands for, its value in the industry and how your solutions can help them.

Why Companies Struggle with Clear Messaging

Marketing & PR in the financial sector have been gaining more and more popularity over the past several years. As companies embrace these, they often realise that crafting their brand message is more difficult than they first thought. We frequently find companies struggle to answer the simple question of, “What do you do, and what makes you special?” When companies are too close to their own stories, members of their marketing team or C-suite can find it challenging to have an impartial view of the value they bring to customers. 

This can lead to the company assuming everyone knows what they know – which is often not the case. Using jargon, highly-technical terms, or internal references may make perfect sense to the company and its team, but it leaves the audience out of the loop and confused. Moreover, companies lacking a clear message may skip over crucial information, as for them it is assumed or obvious. Many times, clients cannot read between the lines, so skipping over these details can dampen your message.

Additionally, marketing teams may over-emphasise certain things that are important internally, such as focusing on features, processes or achievements that matter to the team but do not necessarily resonate with the customers. For example, a team without a clear message may choose to focus on technical aspects and features of a product, instead of how their solutions help solve customer problems. The benefits of solution-focused Marketing & PR have been discussed in greater detail in a previous blog post, which you can read here.

Your agency is like an editor for a novel: no matter how talented and focused the writer is, a professional editor’s perspective is important to refine the story – the same goes for your brand messaging! More than once we’ve had clients say, “Oh, we haven’t thought of it this way,” during a messaging session.

The Advantage of an External View – A Fresh Perspective 

Bringing on a Marketing & PR agency can provide valuable benefits that internal teams often cannot achieve on their own. Agencies bring objectivity to the table, offering non-biased views of your company that are not based on preconceived notions or carry emotion. An external perspective allows the agency to see your brand from the customers’ point of view, pinpointing the gaps and new opportunities you may be overlooking. This can also help with strategic positioning of products and services.

With years of industry knowledge and expertise accumulated from working across several sectors, agencies understand how to best get your message across and resonate with your target audience. By using creative, new angles to project your message, agencies can move away from stale and repetitive tactics to produce unique methods and ideas for optimal coverage and marketability. In addition to strategy, agencies can streamline processes such as content creation and earned media outreach, saving time and resources by taking on the heavy lifting. This allows your team to focus on core business operations. 

Partnering with a Marketing & PR Agency

Working with an agency can impact the way your team works day-to-day, allowing you to gain:

• Clear and refined messages that resonate with your target audience.
• Alignment of your brand story, values and persona across channels – PR, website, socials, marketing collateral, press coverage and more.
• Well-planned strategies using market insights on how to best position your company.
• Professional support in creating campaigns, content and materials, as well as clear implementation plans and scheduling.

When Should You Consider Hiring a Marketing & PR Agency?

There are quite a few clear signs you will see that indicate it is time to hire an agency to help your company. 

• If you feel as though your brand is outdated or inconsistent, it may be time to seek professional help to realign your communications with the appropriate audience. 
• Another clear indicator is struggling to connect with your target audiences – whether that is due to gaps in communication, unclear positioning or a lack of engaging and consistent content, this can negatively impact your company. 
• Entering a new market or launching a new product/service needs strategic methods to maximise visibility and impact.
• Your competitors keep popping up in the press, but your name is not there.
• Lastly, if your internal team is being stretched way too thin and you find opportunities are passing you by, it may be time to hire outside help to effectively engage with the media and produce marketing materials for your company.

Conclusion

Clear brand messaging is important, but it can often be hard to achieve without an external opinion. An external Marketing & PR agency provides a fresh perspective, creativity and the knowledge needed to expand your messaging to the right audience. 

Do you feel like your brand is lacking a clear message? Reach out to our team of experts to help your company reach its potential.