Effective messaging is effective marketing. And if your messaging resonates, more people will convert. Conversions are the effect. But messaging is the cause.
And even though they're by far the most influential part of your website, how do you know whether it works? You likely measure every imaginable metric on your site, but do you know how your words work?
The way to improve messaging is to break it down into five components, measure, and work on each separately:
↑ Clarity (I get it)
↑ Relevance (it’s for me, helps with my specific challenges)
↑ Value (I want the promises)
↑ Differentiation (I get how this is different)
↓ Friction (resistance, doubts, anxieties)
When you conduct back-to-back message testing, you get to see how your copy scores on all of the above. You also see the improvements for each one of those elements in every iteration and notice the changes in your sign-up rate, lead quality, and volume.
The Wynter team has seen thousands of message tests. And we've been paying attention to the actual levers that make messaging more effective. This new framework is your go-to systematic way to get to messaging that works.
So, if you want to convert more customers through your messaging or get you into more consideration sets, here are the four layers it has to deliver on:
The very first thing you must do is lead with the category (e.g., marketing automation tool). And after you specify what your product is, you need to craft some copy around it. But the language has to be simple.
Don't fall into the jargon trap. Make sure everybody gets what you're talking about. Because if they don't get it, they'll lose all interest, and nothing else will matter.
Once your website visitors figure out what a company is about or what a tool does, they want to know whether they should even care.
Is your offer aligned with their priorities and challenges at hand? Are they the right audience for you? And most importantly, do they feel the connection?
To increase relevance, you need to vividly describe their pain points, talk about the desired gains you help them achieve, and show your product's use cases.
You've got clarity, so people understand what you do. Hopefully, you've got relevance, so they also get whether they fall into your category.
Now, it's time for action.
By providing value, you boost motivation and answer the big conversion-related question: "Is this for me?" Here, you have to tease the promised land and paint a picture of the future the customer could have by going with you.
You need to make them want what you've got to offer. Because if they're "meh" about it, the game is over.
You'd think your job would start after you've cracked the motivation code. But no. You have now unlocked a new product category they're interested in. Because once they get it and want it, they're either wondering if there's anything better out there or if it's a mature category. So, how are you better than the category leaders?
The more mature and competitive a product category is, the more you need to focus on your differentiated value.
Keep in mind, all of these steps are listed in order. They don't care about the value until they get what it is. The differentiation doesn't matter if they think the tool is not for them, and so on.
When you construct your messaging on your home page or elsewhere, focus on one layer at a time to keep your production process clear.
Every step has to be wrapped in proof and credibility. Support all your claims with data and proactively address any objections. Don’t be afraid to put your brand personality in your messaging - your brand might be the reason to choose you.
You've gone by the book – or the framework. How do you know if you're succeeding in each of these four layers?
You conduct message testing to measure success. Wynter has this built in, but you can measure a score for each layer using a Likert scale (from 1 to 5) – e.g., how clear do you find this or that?
Through message testing, you will learn how your messaging performs each step of the way. Through buyer intelligence (surveys and interviews), you will know what the correct information architecture should be.
Once you understand your shortcomings, you can improve your messaging, communicate effectively, and of course, profit.
