First off, what IS a messaging strategy?
A messaging strategy is your agency’s guide for creating clear, compelling marketing communications that:
- Concisely define who you are and what you do
- Distinguish your firm from market competitors
- Resonate with employers and job seekers
- Guide copy for your website, sales collateral, social media profiles and posts, job postings and more
If people don’t understand what you do, what you do well and why they should partner with you, they will look somewhere else. The most successful marketing hooks the audience, engages them and compels them to take action – and an effective messaging strategy is essential to this process.
Why do you need a messaging strategy?
Creating a messaging strategy keeps everyone on the same page, from sales and recruiting, to your clients and candidates, to your competitors. Good messaging shows how you’re different, how you are better and why everyone should choose you over others in the marketplace.
So, what should your messaging strategy include?
- What makes you different. What makes you truly different? It can’t be that you really listen, or that you know clients’ businesses inside and out. Everyone says that! Maybe you partner with local community colleges to provide hands-on welding training and find jobs for the graduates. Maybe you’ve used AR to create a virtual forklift training facility. Those unique things are what set you apart, and you should be talking them up throughout your messaging.
- Whom you are targeting. A typical staffing company that we work with has two audiences: clients and candidates. Decide who you want to speak to in every piece of communication you create. Use your website to designate client and candidate pages. Use your company’s blog to discuss solutions to the questions those two audiences want to know. Your message will be different if you’re, for example, talking about how well-trained your welding candidates are versus telling a welding candidate how you’ll find them a good job fast.
- Why an employer or job seeker should partner with you. Why would a potential client choose you? Will you make it easier/faster/cheaper for them? Why should a candidate work with you? Will you make finding a job easier and faster for them? Will you get them more money? Better shifts? A shorter commute? Create a message that explains that instantly!
Next Step: Get everyone on board.
Your messaging strategy will only work if it’s consistent. Once you’ve made the mental commitment to define your messaging strategy, involve your team:
- Have a company meeting to discuss these changes and show you’re committed to them.
- Review your website copy, to make sure content aligns with what you define. (Don’t forget to update the SEO on your website!)
- Create new collateral your salespeople and recruiters can share.
- Update your social media profiles and train your staff to weave your message into future posts.
- Create blog posts that carry the messaging to wider audiences.
