3 Reasons Your Messaging Falls Flat (& How to Fix it)

CONTRIBUTED BY MELISSA BARKER, FOUNDER & CEO, WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS INC.

As a woman business owner, getting your messaging right is the difference between a 1-star Netflix series and a 5-star one. You can have the right cast and cutting-edge special effects, but if the story doesn’t capture the hearts and minds of your audience, you won’t get a green light after the pilot, and you can forget about a sequel.

Nailing your messaging is the holy grail for a company’s success, and it’s one of the hardest things to “DIY.” Getting it wrong can be costly, cause constant churn, and leave you feeling ill-equipped when communicating about your company and its benefits.

After working with dozens of companies on their messaging, we summed up the 3 most common messaging mistakes and how to fix them:

01 It’s All About You

The #1 problem plaguing most business owners is that your content is all about you.

Think about your website… is it:

All about your background
All about your experience
All about your awards, press features, and certifications
Covered in pictures of… YOU!?

There’s no doubt sharing who you are and why you’re an expert is important. But, when someone views your website, reads your email, or scrolls your Instagram feed, they aren’t actually evaluating YOU. They’re evaluating for themself:

Do you understand my pain?
Can you help me?
Have you helped someone like me before?
What does working with you look and feel like?
What can you do for me? How will I benefit?

Messaging that highlights your abilities and accomplishments might cause someone to develop some admiration towards you, but not necessarily buy from you.

Our best advice? Flip the script! The next time you post on social media, don’t ask yourself, “What does my ideal client need to know about me"?” Instead, ask yourself, “What does my ideal client want me to know about them?”

you-focused

client-focused

Whether you’re self-obsessed or client-obsessed will not only come across in your words but in your visuals as well. Is your Instagram or website an all-about-you showcase? Or does it tell a story about who you help, how you help, and that you care?

We love to see pictures of ourselves. Instead, put yourself in your client’s shoes and show them what their life could look like if they work with you. This can include photos of you, but also a look inside your process (resources and tools), things that inspire or motivate you, evidence of what it looks like to work with you (case studies, reviews, and quotes), and outcomes (happy clients, celebrations, and progress photos).

Remember, your goal is not to sell people on you. It’s to make your viewers feel seen and heard.

SELF-OBSESSED

CLIENT-OBSESSED

A curated collection highlighting the benefits of working with you

02 You Don’t Look Or Sound Like an Expert

The fastest way to lose a sale in today’s highly competitive landscape is to appear less-than-worthy of someone’s hard-earned cash. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but EVERY woman entrepreneur is evaluated by the content she chooses to share.

No one is asking for perfection, but a true thought leader values her audience’s time and is thoughtful (not hasty) in her messaging.

Top 5 Ways to Lose Credibility with Your Audience

Typos & bad grammar (hello Grammarly! It’s free and a total no-brainer if you’re not sure where that comma should go.)
Videos that are shaky, poor resolution, or poor audio
Overuse of stock photography that we’ve all seen hundreds of times and isn’t specific to you or your brand
Websites that don’t look good or function seamlessly on a phone (it’s possible that 1 in 2 visitors to your site may be using their mobile device)
Marketing collateral that’s poorly designed and doesn’t clearly communicate your unique value

The fastest way to look the part? Schedule a photoshoot with a professional photographer. Your headshot is one of the most valuable assets you’ll ever own.

Ask yourself: Who would you spend money on?

Shared with permission from Donna Ashton, Profitable Online Course Creator

03 I Don’t Know What I’m Getting

There’s a difference between knowing what you’re selling (e.g., an online course) and knowing what I’m getting (e.g., a website that converts viewers into buyers). Not sure if you're communicating that? Ask a friend to describe what you do in one sentence. If you don’t like the answer, you have some work to do!

Strive for 100% clarity on the following areas:

What is the pain that you solve?

❌ We build beautiful websites.

✅ We enable you to reach your customers anytime, from anywhere, with a website you can update yourself.

How do you solve it?

❌ We’re fun and easy to work with.

✅ We put your business back in the driver’s seat through three 90-minute, interactive, recorded training sessions for your entire team.

Why are you the best choice?

❌ We’re experts with over a decade of experience building websites.

✅ Our clients see a 35% increase in online sales and spend 60% less on website maintenance year-over-year on average.

What is the next step to work with you?

❌ Schedule a chat with us today!