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What is brand messaging? When you think of branding, you probably go straight to the visual identity or something cosmetic, like your logo. But this is only one small part of the branding puzzle and ecosystem that is your brand.

When it comes to establishing a strong and successful brand, visual identity and your messaging strategy are the inseparable dream team. Copywriting truly brings your unique brand to life.

Here are the 5 key brand messaging essentials.

Contents

The 5 brand messaging essentials at a glance

Here’s a quick reference for the five elements, what each one is, why it matters, and where you actually use it.

Type Reason (what it is) Importance (why it matters) Usage (where you use it)
Brand story Your origin, values and purpose turned into an emotive narrative about who you are and why you help people. Humanises your brand, builds genuine connection and trust, and sets the tone for every other message. About page, capability statements, pitch decks. The foundation all other messaging is built on.
Brand positioning statement A short description of what you offer and how it meets your ideal customer’s needs. Helps people understand your business quickly and guides your value proposition and marketing. Mostly an internal strategy anchor that steers messaging and marketing decisions.
Brand promise The value or experience customers can expect every single time they interact with you. Builds trust and brand value the more consistently you deliver on it. A north star for your service standards and customer experience, sometimes expressed in marketing.
Unique selling point What you do and why customers choose you, in a clear, direct message competitors can’t copy. The holy grail of positioning and one of the most underused messages. It sets you apart. Front and centre above the fold on your homepage, in sales conversations and in ads.
Tagline A short, clever line that captures your brand’s value and connects emotionally. Often the first message people meet, and it distils all the above into a memorable phrase. Alongside your logo, on your website, signage, campaigns and collateral.

1. Brand story

Nothing conveys a message better than a story which is why every brand should start by developing a brand story. Creating a compelling narrative that evokes an emotional response can help you to shape the perception of your brand in the marketplace. It can also help you to develop the other messaging essentials by setting the tone and personality of your brand.

The largest of all of your messaging outputs, a brand story is a combination of many things. It combines who you are, your values, what you do, how and why you want to help people. It’s basically a summary that explains why people should choose you turned into an emotive story that people can connect to.

Sharing your brand story openly creates a level of transparency that develops a deeper connection between the business and the customers. Done right, your brand story will demonstrate confidence and vulnerability, both of which influence people to connect and engage with you.

  • A brand story humanises your brand
  • It helps you stand out from your competitors
  • It helps attract the right customers
  • It helps you communicate your value
  • It sets the tone and underpins the entire messaging system of your brand

Example brand story: Adelaide RV

There is a feeling when, after hours of packing, everyone settles into the car and you know adventure is only moments away.

The click of each seatbelt thrills through you; the ignition turning over sets your heart racing. You know that, in mere minutes, it will be just you, your family and your caravan on the open road. It’s before one of the kids vomits in the back, or you take that wrong turn, or you spring a flattie.

It’s a moment that’s ripe for the picking. It feels like pure possibility. Like absolute freedom. This is the feeling we live for. And it’s moments like this that are the very reason we exist.

Adelaide RV was born from a love of adventure, a passion for travel and whole lotta blood, sweat and tears. We might sell caravans but we’re in the business of creating memorable experiences. We believe that exploring our phenomenal country is more than a privilege, it’s a requirement. That caravanning is more than just an adventure, it’s a lifestyle. And that there is nothing more freeing than winding down the windows and singing your heart out to your fav road trip playlist.

We value:

  • Family: the strength of the connections forged from hours spent adventuring on the open road.
  • Freedom: with the clothes on your back and RV in tow, anything is possible.
  • Flexibility: being beholden to no itinerary besides the one you set yourself with the ability to change your mind if you wish.

We handpick our fleet of caravans for what they offer our customers: comfort, bang for buck and value retention. We know you just want to get on the road as soon as possible in exactly the right caravan for you. That’s why we only stock high quality RVs while streamlining our processes for the most efficient handover possible.

But when you buy an RV from us, you don’t just get your caravan. You join a community of like-minded people who understand exactly how life is meant to be lived and know how to laugh at the inevitable unexpected challenges (like vomit and flat tyres). It is, after all, those moments that turn into the best travel stories in the end.

You’re adventure ready, and we are too. And that’s what makes us the perfect match.

2. Brand positioning statement

A brand positioning statement is a description of your product or service and an explanation of how this fulfils the needs of your ideal customer. The goal of a brand positioning statement is to assist with marketing efforts and help guide your value proposition. Having a clear brand positioning statement is vital as it gives new and potential customers the ability to understand your business quickly and easily.

  • Who you serve
  • What value you offer
  • How you position your offer
  • Why you’re in business
  • What makes you different from the competition

Example brand positioning statement: Adelaide RV

We inspire Australians to travel through our beautiful country, helping them to embark on family adventures that create everlasting memories.

3. Brand promise

This is an easy one. Your brand promise is the value or experience your customers can expect to receive every single time they interact with you. If you want to create a really strong brand this is essential. The more your business can deliver on your promise the more value your brand gains in the mind of your customers.

  • A brand promise needs to be succinct and powerful
  • A brand promise needs to be achievable and realistic
  • It needs to be unique and memorable
  • A brand promise is emotional and inspiring

Example brand promise: Adelaide RV

We will give you the freedom to connect with your family while travelling Australia anywhere, anytime and at your own pace.

4. Unique selling point (or proposition)

This is the holy grail of brand positioning and also one of the most underutilised messages a brand can use. This is what you do and why your customers choose you in a direct, clear and powerful message. It should be front and centre on the homepage of your website. This is a marketing statement that differentiates your product or service from your competitors and can be thought of as what you have that competitors don’t. This deserves a lot of thought and is your opportunity to put your stake in the ground that your competitors can’t copy.

  • Think about what your customer wants and what you do well
  • Now think about what the competition does well and find your niche
  • It helps to think about what the competition lacks

Example unique selling point (or proposition): Adelaide RV

We are your one stop shop for modern style Australian caravans. We take a fresh approach to an old industry, guaranteeing the right solution for you with value for money and exceptionally fast delivery.

5. Tagline

Your tagline is a simple, quick and clever way of communicating your brand’s value beyond the transaction while connecting your audience emotionally to your brand. Your tagline needs to make sense and should focus on the value you provide your customers. It is usually distilled down from all of the above work. Your tagline is quite often the first message people interact with when they first engage with your brand and it is incredibly important to get right.

  • Make it original
  • It must tie into your brand story and the value you bring your customers
  • Make it clever, not obvious
  • Keep it positive

Example tagline: Adelaide RV

Adventure Ready

And here you were thinking your brand was just a logo! Taking the time to get each of these brand messaging elements right can make a huge difference to the success of your business. A brand strategy with workshops is a great way to extract this information from you, and crafting these messages with a copywriter will deliver amazing results for your business. After all, your business grows in direct proportion to how quickly and easily your customers say yes to your offering. Don’t make them think.

If you’d like a hand pulling your brand messaging together, a free brand audit is a good place to start.

Leave your mark.

Brand messaging FAQs

What is brand messaging?

Brand messaging is the words and language your brand uses to communicate who you are, what you do and why it matters. It’s the verbal half of your brand, working hand in hand with your visual identity. Where your logo and design make people feel something, your messaging tells them what to think and why they should choose you. It covers everything from your brand story down to the tagline on your website, and it’s what truly brings a brand to life.

What are the 5 brand messaging essentials?

The five essentials are your brand story, your brand positioning statement, your brand promise, your unique selling point, and your tagline. Together they form a complete messaging system, the story sets the tone and personality, the positioning statement and promise anchor what you stand for, the unique selling point sets you apart, and the tagline distils it all into a memorable line. Get these right and the rest of your marketing has a solid foundation to build on.

What’s the difference between a brand story and a brand positioning statement?

A brand story is your largest messaging output, an emotive narrative that humanises your business and helps people connect with who you are and why you exist. A brand positioning statement is far shorter and more functional: a clear description of what you offer and how it meets your ideal customer’s needs. The story is mostly customer-facing and built to create an emotional connection; the positioning statement is often an internal anchor that keeps your marketing on track.

What’s the difference between a brand promise and a unique selling point?

Your brand promise is the value or experience customers can expect every single time they deal with you, it’s about consistency and trust. Your unique selling point is what sets you apart from competitors, the thing you have that they don’t. The promise is about what people can count on; the unique selling point is about why they should choose you over someone else. You need both, and they should reinforce each other.

Where do I start with brand messaging?

Start with your brand story, because it sets the tone and personality that everything else flows from. Once you’re clear on who you are, your values and why you help people, the positioning statement, promise, unique selling point and tagline become much easier to write. The most effective way to extract all of this is through a brand strategy process with workshops, which pulls the raw material out of your head and shapes it into messaging you can actually use.

Do I need a copywriter for my brand messaging?

You can draft your messaging yourself, but a good copywriter is often worth their weight in gold. Crafting these messages well is a skill, and the difference between rough and refined can be the difference between a customer saying yes or clicking away. Your business grows in direct proportion to how quickly and easily customers say yes to your offering, so the clarity and polish a professional brings to your brand story, unique selling point and tagline tends to pay for itself.