Where does your unique message live?

by Jason Ogden | May 10, 2022

Where does your unique message live? I’m not asking if you have one, how good it is, or even how consistent you are with it. I’m asking if you’ve thought about how broad the application of your message is.  

For our purposes, your unique message is a combination of things that can only be said about your business. You may share some with other companies, but the combination of your uniques is what makes your business, well…..unique.  

The most obvious place for your unique message to live is in sales and marketing. The measure of that unique message is pretty straight forward: Is your marketing getting you enough of the right conversations and is sales converting them? When you read the opening question of this post, this is probably where your mind went – and rightly so. 

Typically, when a company invests time, energy and capital into their message, the goal is to help enable growth; to increase the potency of your sales and marketing. But that is just the beginning.  

Operations

Consider your operations – the delivery of your product or service. How your customers experience your message at this stage is the most potent opportunity you have for your message to be received.  

If sales and marketing is the promise of your unique message, then delivery of products or services is the manifestation of that promise.  

• Have you reviewed your products/services through the lens of your unique message?
• Have you evaluated your delivery systems in light of your unique message? 
• Have you identified the gaps between your unique message and what & how you deliver it? 
• How does customer service manifest your unique message?

Recruiting

How does your message affect your recruiting and employee satisfaction and retention? First off, it’s best to think about talent who would work at your company as its own audience in terms of marketing. It needs to be accounted for and cultivated accordingly – the same way you would any other target audience.  

As far as recruiting in today’s world, you have to stand out to even get applicants. Furthermore, you have to show that you live up to, or are aspiring to, your own unique message and how you’re doing it. Employees have an abundance of choices right now (and most people whose opinion I respect, think this will be true for the foreseeable future). They have to believe in what you’re about and you need them to if they’re going to make your promise a reality.  

• How is your message helping you stand out when seeking talent? 
• How is your interviewing supporting that your message is true, valued and lived? 
• How is your unique message a rallying cry for your team in good times and bad? 

These are only two examples – operations and recruiting – of where your unique message lives.  Where are the other opportunities to manifest your message in your business?