Messaging is (Almost) Everything

You work in manufacturing. Or medical technology. Or law. Or accounting. Or high tech / computer software in Silicon Valley. Or advertising. Or banking. Or politics. Or the non profit world. Whichever it is, your messaging is an essential part of your business. Messaging enables you to speak to customers' needs. Messaging enables you to draw business collaborators and partners. Messaging enables you to attract, keep and cultivate the best employees who, in turn, enable you to be a winning business or organization. But what constitutes great messaging?

You understand the facts of your business- the nuts and bolts, what you offer and what makes it run. But are you an expert when it comes to communicating in a way that wins people over to you and your product- regardless of the specifics of your product? As well as you are doing now, imagine you and your business attached to a completely winning, unstoppable message?

Ever meet someone, in a store, a cafe, on the sidewalk, in a park, at a party, and say “What a great guy/gal? They're fun to be around, and they make me feel lighter and just better about everything being around them.” Is it always because they have technical expertise or valuable products or investible capital? No, often none of the above. It's because they just relate well in human terms. They make all things seem possible, they put the world in perspective and they are entertaining. And that usually involves the use of humor. You see, humor brings together intelligence with surprise and a defiant sense of optimism- all very attractive traits to humans.

You have to create marketing and advertising materials. You have to do a lot of product copy writing, whether it's for the website description, the paper & ink catalog or the physical label on the product. Look at the companies that have integrated humor, or at least personality- into their business plan: Vitamin Water, Dollar Shave Club, Trader Joe's, Groupon, State Farm- the list goes on and on. Think of how the simple addition of a little bit of levity, a self-effacing comment, a surprisingly “honest” product description makes a company seem more human, more trustworthy, more caring for you, the potential or actual customer.

Using humor in copy writing and marketing makes a company seem a lot less desperate for your money and a lot more confident and principled. Now there's a big word- principles!

Just as your external messaging to your customer base can be radically improved by incorporating a lighter, more human touch – humor- so can your internal messaging- be it company speeches, industry-wide presentations, the entertainment at social gatherings, in-house newsletter, etc- be drastically improved to noticeable affect by using some well-placed levity.

Just as the layperson out on the street would be penny wise and pound foolish to try to build their own medical device or program their own software application, you need to utilize the strongest, most experienced and specialized messaging specialists, in order to harness the power of humor and entertaining language. Top professionals wield a laser-like way with words and imagery, and are able to have a crowd feeling warm with recognition one moment, lightly amused the next, and falling down laughing in hysterics after that. Every dollar that goes toward charismatic, winning messaging- whether it's in-house or for external consumption- comes back to you many times over in increased success- be it good word-of-mouth, higher quality product or bottom line revenues.

When speaking to a professional messaging specialist, especially those with an emphasis on humor, always ask to see samples of written work, for a variety of past clients. Many can claim to offer such a level of professional humor writing, to understand comedy, to have have created superior messaging products which have yielded outstanding results, but a precious few can show you the actual proof you can hold in your hand. And the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Make sure your pudding is the sweetest- and funniest- it can be.