If you’ve started to show up online as a way to promote your services you’ll probably know that you need a smart way to talk about what you do, who you serve and even what you stand for. And OH BOY, is this hard to create.

So many people I meet find it hard to communicate their “message” well. And it is a tough one. You have to cram important info about expertise, experience, personality and values into a few short lines.

Not to mention the niching. Ooh la la, the niching!

Committing to a single statement can start to feel suffocating. It needs to make sense. It needs to speak to a specific audience. You have to be able to say it aloud without cringing. It needs to be bold enough to work in text format. But not so bold you look like a dick. It needs to speak to a specific pain point, avoid jargon, inspire action. Pffff, yikes. That’s a lot to ask for.

But let’s take the pressure off a minute…

When you present your services, you 100% need a clear consistent way to describe things. But it’s not all in one 280 character catchy blurb. There’s a hierarchy here that is pretty helpful.

A central statement that you can rhyme off at the drop of a hat is important, but there are several other types of copy you need to create. These are all part of your brand and play different roles in how you communicate. There are lots of different statements that support each other. There’s a bunch of them with similarities and a fair amount of overlap. But they support each other and have slightly different jobs.

A jargon-busting list of brand copy that will help you communicate about your services.

1. Positioning statement: This is a statement that communicates the unique value of your service in a way that differentiates it from its competitors. Think about where your services sit in the minds of your customers compared to other options/brands.
   Positioning statement examples
   • Nike: “Authentic athletic performance”
   • Coca-Cola: “The real thing”
   • Mercedes-Benz: “The best or nothing”
2. Tagline: A tagline is a short phrase or sentence that encapsulates the brand’s key message or promise. It is often used in advertising and marketing to create a memorable and emotional connection with the target audience. Quick and to the point.
   Tagline examples:
   • Apple: “Think Different”
   • McDonald’s: “I’m lovin’ it”
   • De Beers: “A diamond is forever”
3. Brand promise: A brand promise is similar to a tagline, but it is more specific and actionable. It is a statement that communicates the specific benefits that clients can expect from your services. Brand promise examples:
   • FedEx: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight”
   • Amazon: “Work hard. Have fun. Make history.”
   • IKEA: “To create a better everyday life for the many people”
4. Brand story: A brand story is a narrative that communicates the brand’s history, values, and personality. It helps to create an emotional connection with the target audience and can be used across various marketing channels, including social media, website, and video.
5. Website copy: Website copy is essential for communicating the brand’s message and value proposition to online customers. It should be written in a clear, concise, and engaging way. And it should flow in a way that keeps people paying attention.

(There’s also the copy for your services and social media, but I reckon you’ve enough to be getting on with already).

That’s quite the to-do list isn’t it? But it’s a reassuring list. It takes the pressure off you to nail it in one tiny piece of text.

It’s worth noting that these statements are created to be memorable and resonate with the target audience, BUT they’re not set in stone. They get reviewed and updated regularly to adapt to changing market conditions, audience preferences and company’s strategy.

Do you have these for your business? Have you tried to do them yourself?

Even the world’s best copy-writers and marketers struggle to do this work for themselves. It’s hard to have perspective on something so close to you. Even though I do this work with my clients, I usually work with a copy-writer or another marketer if I’m working on updates to my own brand messaging.

Brainstorm: Get a head start on this work

• Who is your service for and what do those people actually care about?
• What makes your service special? Avoid using technical terms and buzzwords, and focus on being specific about the benefits! Not just the features and the process, but the benefits. The important ones. Us service-providers waffle on about our precious processes, but that comes way later within product descriptions.
• What do you do differently than your competitors?
• Is your service unique? Disruptive? Innovative? It doesn’t always have to be, but can be a useful way to differentiate.
• Or is there some unique aspect to it? There should be at least some part of it that is unique. AKA the “Unique Selling point or “USP”. There’s always something. Keep digging into it if it doesn’t pop up right away.

If your head is currently exploding, that’s OK. This is a huge project that is notoriously difficult to navigate alone. But it is a massive part of your brand and strategy for getting ideal clients for your services.

Need a hand with this work? Get in touch with me here.