Contents
Understand the Foundations of Marketing Messaging
In our recent blog "Identifying your massage business market positioning" we took a deep dive into the importance of positioning, so let's once again make the distinction between positioning and messaging.
Positioning is your strategy for how you want your business to be perceived. Audience perception is also known as your "brand." Messaging is how you communicate your value to your audience, ideally connecting with their needs on a deeper level.
The reason we say that messaging is more than words is because it's more dynamic than that. If it was just a matter of words, then messaging would essentially be the same regardless of the company or even industry. You'd simply need to find the best-performing set of words without tailoring it as needed.
Messaging, when done right, is decidedly more nuanced, especially if you want to set yourself apart. So, let's talk about a few principles behind tailoring your messaging to make it compelling to your ideal client base.
Client-Focused Over Service-Focused
Principle 1 is pretty straightforward but it's easier said than done. The idea is to create client-focused messaging, which is to say, make it more about them and less about you. Whatever services you offer, make sure that you frame them in such a way that it will sound compelling to your prospective clients.
For example, which of the following do you think would be more compelling? "We offer sports massage" or "We help athletes recover faster and prevent future injuries."
The message is essentially the same, but the latter option allows the client to think more about how they'll benefit rather than just thinking about the service you offer.
To do this, try and put yourself in your client's shoes. If you have trouble translating your services to how they'll benefit your client, simply ask, "What's in it for me?" from your client's perspective. This will help you adjust your messaging so that it truly resonates with your audience.
2. Speak to Solutions, Not Features
This idea carries from the last but with a focus on results and solutions rather than features.
Clients are more invested in outcomes than they are in the modality (we could link back to the "modality" piece here) by which you get them their results.
That's not to say there's no place for listing out the features you include in your package deals. Just be sure to tie each feature to a real-life benefit.
Rather than saying, "Hot stone therapy available," you could say, "Melt away tension and relieve muscle soreness with deeply soothing hot stone therapy."
Since every word you use in your messaging needs to earn its place, you can use the features space to convey specific benefits, thereby creating more meaningful engagement.
3. Emphasize Emotion
People buy with their emotions first, especially when it comes to wellness. They want to improve their lives and they make that decision emotionally before they start to justify it logically.
Effective messaging taps into this emotional decision-making process. Use your words to help them visualize a future where they feel relief from stress, freedom from pain, or the joy of being able to move around freely and confidently.
By focusing on the emotional side, you can create messaging that resonates more deeply. For example, if the feature is "Targeted deep-tissue massage" you could tie it to the emotional aspect like this: "Feel stronger, move better, and conquer your day with ease."
Step 2: Develop a Consistent Tone and Voice
Your tone and voice reflect your brand's personality. Remember, brand is how people perceive your practice. What we're trying to do with messaging is to help shape that perception, and tone plays a significant role in that.
For this section, we want you to take the time to define your voice and style. You've already developed your positioning in our last post, so you want to make sure to consult those notes as you decide how to align your voice.
This is going to depend on your own personality but also how you operate your practice, what outcomes you focus on, and whom you want to attract.
For example, a practice focused on relaxation might use warm, soothing, and nurturing language. A sports recovery specialist might have a more confident, motivational lean that focuses on getting results.
Consistency Matters
By coming up with a common voice, you can use it to set the tone for all of your messaging. Be sure to keep it consistent to ensure that clients understand your brand. They should never be in a position where they're wondering if they've visited the wrong website. This is also true on a visual level, so keep all of your branding consistent to the best of your ability.
As your clients interact with your brand across different media, your consistency will help strengthen your brand identity, making your brand more compelling.
If you want, you can test your messaging by trying different variations and measuring engagement. The best place to start with this is your social media accounts where it's usually pretty easy to track engagement and get a good pulse on what works and what doesn't for your brand (and your target audience).
Step 3: Speak to Your Audience's Pain Points and Goals
Now it's time to get a little bit more detailed on how to supercharge your messaging. We've covered a lot of the foundational pointers, but the next few steps are really going to level up your messaging.
To create super compelling messaging, take the time to understand your client's challenges and pain points. Think about the specific struggles they deal with and the frustrations that drive them to book an appointment with you.
If you can use your messaging to cut right into addressing these pain points, you can position your services as the ideal solution.
For desk workers, those pain points might be neck tension, poor posture, and difficulty focusing on their daily tasks. For athletes, it might be muscle fatigue, not recovering quickly enough, or reduced performance.
To do this right, bring up the pain point first and then show how your services help alleviate it. Like this, "Ease the tension caused by long hours at a desk and regain your focus with targeted treatments." This one statement brings up both the pain point and its solution.
However, not everybody is driven by pain points or frustration. Some are motivated by wanting to achieve specific goals. So, if you prefer to focus on more positive, goal-oriented messaging, you can say, "Feel energized and pain-free, so you can enjoy life without discomfort holding you back."
Here's a pro tip---pay close attention to how your clients speak. If you're attracting an audience with the same issues and similar incomes in a local area, chances are they have a similar way of speaking. Listen closely to see if you can meaningfully incorporate their language into your messaging. If you can keep it natural, using their language will help to make it more relatable and personal.
Step 4: Use Storytelling and Testimonials
Stories are powerful messaging tools because they create a memorable and emotionally engaging experience for the reader. This is one of the reasons that we always recommend that you pursue testimonials and case studies from your happy clients.
Don't worry---you don't have to write a novel or make it sound like literature. There's a simple structure you can follow to create highly compelling stories every time. Plus, stories are a great way to allow your clients to imagine themselves in the shoes of the person you helped. The ideal structure is the same you'd use for case studies, which is:
- The client's problem or challenge
- The solution you provided
- The results they experienced
That's it! One such story might look like this:
Sarah came in with chronic back pain that made it hard to work at her desk for long stretches of time, negatively affecting her focus and productivity. After just three sessions, Sarah felt a 70% improvement. As a result, she was able to comfortably sit at her desk while staying focused and getting her work done.
You can't always turn client interactions into a full story, but you can get great testimonials. Ask for them as part of your online survey process or during the after-visit evaluation process. Authentic testimonials are great for building trust with prospective clients and might be the difference between someone choosing to book their first appointment with you or not.
The key to good testimonials is specific pain points and outcomes rather than generic words of praise. Here's a decent example: "I thought I'd never find relief for my neck pain after years of working long hours. Thanks to the practice, I'm now pain-free and more productive than ever."
Another thing people love to see is before and after stories. Feel free to use these in your marketing, as well. They don't have to be photos, they can simply be stories or quotes that tangibly show the results and value of your services.
Step 5: Refine and Test Your Messaging
If you haven't already, now is a great time to do an audit of all of your existing messaging. Take stock of what you've already written and compare it to everything we've covered up until this point. Is it client-focused, does it touch on emotions, and does it speak to specific pain points?
See if there's room for improvement or revamping your messaging entirely. Remember to keep it consistent, on-brand, and aligned with your positioning strategy. Yes, it's a lot to keep in mind at once, but take your time and start by making small adjustments if you have to. A few changes here and there to start is certainly better than making no changes at all where they're needed.
We mentioned testing earlier and this is a great technique if you want to gauge what's resonating with people. Wherever you can track engagement, test your messaging to see what's effective at driving views and clicks. If the engagement is positive, you're probably on the right track. As you learn what resonates, you can adjust and refine your messaging accordingly.
Feel free to ask your clients what drew them to choose your practice. If it was any messaging in particular, you can take note of that and understand why it's effective. You can also run new messaging by clients if they're open to it. They can help provide some insight as to whether or not it suits your brand and if they find it more or less compelling.
Align Messaging with Your Services and Positioning
The final step is to ensure that all of your messaging stays consistent and aligned with your positioning, which is an ongoing process.
In fact, your messaging should drive and reinforce your positioning. Therefore, every message should communicate your expertise, value, and the results you deliver in a way that aligns with your overarching strategy.
Create Engaging Content
Take advantage of the opportunity to communicate through different avenues including your website, social media, and other marketing materials. Use everything you've learned in this post to create compelling and valuable content.
As a massage therapist, you probably have some unique insights, whether through your experience or knowledge on the topic. Turn your insights into engaging content like blog posts on chronic pain or social media tips on easy ways to stay active and pain-free.
Use testimonials on your website or turn them into photos to post on your social media with a brief caption that outlines your happy client's story in the simple case study format presented above (challenge, solution, results).
You can also use your messaging across various platforms to highlight your niche-specific offerings, such as "Specialized recovery sessions for runners training for marathons" that you tie into a similarly-themed social media post.
Connecting Positioning to Results
Messaging is the voice of your positioning. If you can get it right, you can use it to help clients understand your value and why they should choose you over your competition.
All you need to do is keep your messaging consistent with your positioning, focused on your clients, and tailored to specific pain points and outcomes.
Effective messaging demonstrates how you make your client's life better, so adjust as necessary to prioritize their needs and goals. In doing so, you're creating a win-win situation that drives your success and theirs.
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