Last week I received an email from an agency trying to sell me content marketing services. The tone assumed a level of familiarity that did not exist. The note was full of punctuation and grammar errors. The company tried to school me on why I should be investing in original content which they could create cheaply for me using AI. In about three sentences, the poor slob who wrote it got nearly everything wrong.

They didn’t know their audience. I’m their competitor, not a prospective customer.

They were pitching something I would never buy. There’s a complete disconnect between saying you provide original content, and then saying you use AI to generate it (which is not original at all.)

They assumed “cheap” is an attractive selling point. The value of content is not determined by how much it costs, but how much it achieves.

They don’t value grammar and punctuation. I’ve been earning a living on the back of the written word for more than a quarter century. I don’t expect everyone to be as attentive as I am, but I do expect writing service providers to demonstrate excellent editorial quality.

I bet you’ve had a similar experience with misguided marketing, regardless of what industry you work in.

Am I right?

It makes me wonder how often marketers even talk to their target audience. Brand strategists do it all the time, but when are actual customers included in marketing workshops? Do content marketers ever have a chance to sit down with customers to find out why they purchased from you in the first place? Who feeds into the content marketing strategy when it comes to audience preferences?

When I see an email like the one I described, I wonder how much time and money has been wasted either by individuals, the marketing department, or across the whole organisation. Nothing derails a content initiative like getting the messaging wrong.

What is messaging?

Messaging aligns your content marketing strategy, and all the content you create as a result, with your target audience. Messaging guides the way your company communicates directly to your buyers through email, social media, your website, articles, thought leadership and anywhere you’re trying to influence them. In an age of too much information, your messaging should aim to make a human connection with the people who would most benefit from your product or services.

Unlike advertising, which is designed to grab attention of the masses, marketing messages are developed in plain language, free of jargon or hooks. They are designed to resonate with people in your target audience when they’re looking for information or considering making a purchase.

Why is messaging important to a content marketing strategy?

I always start a content marketing strategy by running a messaging workshop. I want to have a deep understanding of:

  • Your intended audience and their needs
  • Your business goals
  • Challenges you face in meeting those goals
  • The competition, or perceived competition, for the people in the audience
  • What’s most important to your audience when making purchasing decisions.

Centring messaging on business goals and audience preferences instantly changes the way content is structured, how it’s distributed and amplified, and what content types, topics and themes are chosen. While creativity is a component of great content marketing, the backbone of any content program must be focused on what the business is trying to achieve and how the audience is behaving. More times than not, the opinions going into a messaging workshop change after going through a facilitated process.

How can a messaging workshop help content marketers?

Adele Revella, in her book Buyer Personas: How to Gain Insight into Your Customer’s Expectations, Align Your Marketing Strategies, and Win More Business, tells marketers their direction is simple. She says, “Effective messaging emerges at the intersection of what your buyers want to hear and what you want to say.”

The value of finding this sweet spot can’t be overstated. If you only speak about what you believe your value proposition is, you may never find your target audience and, worse, they won’t be able to find you. In the earlier example I gave, the business assumed I was looking for cheap content. They assumed I would want to automate or outsource content production.

They *knew* they had a solution to all my problems. They said everything they wanted and none of it was what I wanted to hear.

What else can a messaging workshop do to increase the value of my content?

A messaging workshop ensures your content marketing strategy is properly aligned with business goals and is focused on audience preferences and needs. It also provides another valuable opportunity for content marketers: arriving at a consensus about messaging and how to go to market.

When you’re writing content, recording podcasts, or producing videos, everyone in the organisation will have an opinion about things like tag lines, titles, or even marketing copy. It’s an infuriating part of working in marketing in general, and content in particular. Armchair marketing is common in ways other parts of the organisation like accounting, legal, or technology never have to contend with. Without consensus, marketers are constantly having to monitor their messaging, especially when it’s developed in areas outside of marketing. Who hasn’t had to reel in a rogue salesperson or pull up an exec who’s gone off message in comments to the media?

In nearly every instance, the motivation to get creative with messaging comes from a good place, however misguided. Getting the right people involved in a messaging workshop puts an end to the need to police the messaging going out in your marketing.

NOTE: Brand messaging and advertising are entirely different things. Content marketing messaging is heavily reliant on search behaviour, and the kinds of questions people ask AI agents and search engines. Without understanding what it is your audience wants to hear and how they’re searching for it, your content will never perform. It certainly won’t deliver organic search results.

Who should be in a messaging workshop?

Believe it or not, you don’t want a heavy marketing presence in a messaging workshop. The gold in these sessions comes from people who are talking to customers every day. You want a good representation of people who are dealing with customers at every stage, from the earliest contact with salespeople through to customer support and service.

For people in these roles, customer preferences are not theoretical. They bring invaluable insight into what your audience wants. By getting them to participate in the messaging, you instil ownership in them that no amount of coaxing or mandates can achieve. Aim for a group of 6 to 10 people from these areas:

  • Sales
  • Sales support
  • Customer service
  • Community managers
  • Research and development
  • Product managers
  • Service delivery
  • Customer complaints
  • Customer training
  • Business owners
  • Human resources
  • Corporate affairs
  • Communications
  • Reception
  • Marketing and brand.

It’s been my experience the savviest marketing people take a backseat in discussions and give the floor to the people who deal with customers every day.

How long does a messaging workshop take?

A SALT messaging workshop is conducted in half a day, preferably in the morning when everyone is fresh. There’s a short homework assignment for each attendee that involves having them think about the capabilities or parts of your solution they consider to be most valuable in the eyes of your target audience. A bulleted list of 10 items is perfect. Most participants already know the answers to the homework, so the time commitment is showing up on the day for around four hours.

Who facilitates a SALT messaging workshop?

Experienced workshop facilitators guide the discussion and extract essential points of difference between the people attending the workshop. Every person is encouraged to participate in an environment of safe but robust discussion. If there are differences of opinion about how to go to market, this workshop is the time to air them.

In addition to the facilitator, another SALT team member assumes the role of customer advocate to challenge your thinking, test your assumptions and provide a completely neutral viewpoint.

What are the deliverables to a SALT messaging workshop?

After the messaging workshop, the SALT team develop a Key Messaging Framework containing everything you and your team need to attract and communicate with your target audiences.

  • The messaging framework is written in plain English for maximum effectiveness and includes:
  • The audiences being addressed
  • A needs analysis for each audience segment
  • Your key messages
  • Elevator pitches incorporating those key messages, including three pitches of differing lengths
  • At least five examples of how each message could be delivered to each audience segment, addressing each of the needs identified in the workshop.

Each framework is customised for your brand and is approximately 5-10 pages (A4) long.

Find out more about content marketing messaging

Get in touch with SALT to discuss how a messaging workshop and messaging framework can put you on the path to gaining consensus and aligning your content marketing strategy with buyer intent. Our team have years of experience working in this area and are ready to help.