Message-market fit is the answer to the comprehensive need to stand out. How do you become unique in this competitive market, with most businesses jumping on social selling? We can sense the competition rising as more companies concentrate their marketing efforts online.
Every day, our potential customers are bombarded with ads, emails, newsletters, and webinars (among others). Additionally, individuals’ attention span is decreasing, and people are spending less time reading and skimming content. So, how do you shine in sunny land? The answer: GIVE VALUE.
To ensure your message is being read and your audience follows that call-to-action, you need to tailor your content to your target audience. Most of the time, that’s more difficult than it sounds. So let’s figure it out.
What is Message-Market Fit?
Message-marketing fit refers to the degree to which a company’s communications resonate with its primary audience. You must tell a story that your audience can relate to. Speak their language and be there when they’re ready to buy. Yes, it can be a lot.
Here are some questions to consider when thinking about your message-market fit:
- Who is your target audience?
- What are your target audience’s specific needs, values, and interests?
- How does your product or service meet the needs of your target audience?
- What are the key benefits of your product or service for your target audience?
- How does your product or service solve the problems or challenges faced by your target audience?
- What makes your product or service unique compared to your competitors?
- What is the primary message or value proposition of your marketing campaigns?
- How do your marketing messages compare to those of your competitors?
- How effectively are your marketing messages driving conversions or achieving other marketing objectives?
If you can answer all of these questions, then you’re almost there.
But let’s step back a little. What are these target audiences, primary audiences, and potential customers that we keep mentioning? And how should you know what messaging fits them? You may not even know what message fits you. Well, if you had this train of thought, you are asking the right questions. Knowing your target audience is the first step in creating value-driven content.
Getting to Know my Buyer Personas
Likely, your product or service isn’t useful to everyone living (or operating) in this world. Your buyer personas represent the ideal customers most likely to buy from you. Take this article, for example. A content piece on message-market fit is probably not useful for firefighters or lawyers. However, this article’s information benefits marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone working in the digital marketing world.
To go even further, this information is not helpful for entrepreneurs like Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos; they figured out their marketing message long ago. This article brings value to early-stage startup entrepreneurs. Companies at that stage lack the resources to invest in a good marketing team, so the CEO or CTO will go to Google instead to get their answers. We now know one of our personas: first-time entrepreneurs. And there’s more.
Creating a buyer persona takes more research. Here’s a list of all the information you want to have:
- Demographics
- Industry
- Location
- Income
- Goals
- Pain points and challanges
- Their preferred channel of communication
The bigger this list gets, the better. There’s no such thing as too much information regarding your ideal customer. To make it easier for yourself, create your perfect customer using make my persona tool for Hubspot.
Be Where Your Personas Are
Now that you’ve figured out your target audience, it’s time to find them. Understanding where your ideal customers spend their time online is key to raising awareness about your brand and even starting that initial contact.
It is so easy to find most people online. But even though you found them on Facebook, you should still explore a potential partnership via Messenger. Go where they talk business. Your best options are their professional accounts, and if they don’t have any, check Linkedin or Email. You can use the same approach for ads too. People on Linkedin are always thinking about business; that’s why Linkedin ads make a significant investment.
The same reasoning applies to search engine optimization. You want to be the first option when someone is looking for your service or product, even if they don’t know they are.
Leverage Storytelling to Nail your Message-Market Fit
Storytelling can be a powerful tool for communicating your message and finding a market fit. Storytelling can help you engage your audience, connect with them, and persuade them to take action.
A compelling story is what will make you unique from the competition. Stories that resonate with people often evoke joy, excitement, or sadness. Consider how you can tap into these emotions to make your story more impactful.
You can start by using these storytelling frameworks:
- The Hero’s Journey: A typical narrative pattern, or story template, is the hero embarks on an adventure, learns a lesson, triumphs with that knowledge, and then comes home changed.
- Once upon a time: This framework is built around conflict. Usually, it consists of the setup, the conflict, the resolution, and the moral of the story,
- The Rags-to-Riches: refers to a circumstance in which an individual goes from poverty to fame, fortune, or happiness. We usually see the main character (usually the writer) go from poverty to opportunity to another obstacle and the happy ending.
Be Clear and Test
This process is trial and error. Along the way, you will get better and watch as your company grows. While you explore different messages, keep it simple. Don’t overcomplicate to sound smarter cause you won’t.
The key to great messaging is to keep it straight to the point. The shorter, the better. It’s essential to use language that is easy to understand and avoid jargon or technical terms that may confuse your audience. This will help ensure that your message is clear and compelling.
You don’t have to nail a single line. Test different messaging and then gather data to see what’s working and what’s not.
Design and Message-Market Fit
Design and message-market fit are both important considerations for businesses, and they can often work together to influence the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Good design can support the marketing message and make it more memorable and engaging for the target audience.
You don’t want your message to get lost in a colorful design. A great design should help you highlight important words and even guide the readers. It can help shorten your message by using elements.
Good design allows you to communicate the message through materials and visual elements that convey durability and reliability. On the other hand, if your marketing message is focused on innovation and cutting-edge technology, good design can help communicate this message through modern, sleek visual elements. By aligning the design with the marketing message, businesses can create more effective campaigns that resonate with their target audience and drive conversions.
Message-Market Fit: Action
Once you’ve identified the message that resonates with your target audience, you must use it consistently across all your communication channels. This includes your website, pitch decks, social media marketing, email campaigns, and other channels you use to communicate with your audience. By using the same message consistently, you’ll help to strengthen your brand and make it more memorable for your audience.
Incorporating your message into your brand guidelines is also a good idea. This will help ensure that all your marketing materials and communications are consistent and aligned with your brand’s messaging.
Finally, it’s essential to regularly review and update your messaging to ensure that it remains relevant and practical. This can involve testing and optimizing your message to see which versions perform the best and making adjustments as needed. By regularly reviewing and updating your messaging, you can ensure that it continues to resonate with your audience and support the growth of your business.
Meet The Author Of This Article
Hi! I’m Elsa
I’m a Growth Marketer focusing on growing B2B tech companies with a background in content creation and brand awareness.
I progressively work on brand, business, and team growth to help companies achieve their goals. I’m currently using content writing to share my own personal growth path and experience.