Welcome Patrons

Last week, I was on vacation with friends in Scottsdale, Arizona. We spent the week watching spring training baseball games and checked out some breweries and eateries.

One of the places we visited was a trendy new spot in Old Town Scottsdale; it had exposed brick and Edison bulbs and looked like a SpeakEasy in the prohibition era. I was diggin’ it. The look of the place was amazing, but we immediately hit a brick wall when looking at the drink menu.

So many options. To decide, we needed to interrogate our server about several drinks because some had unpronounceable and new-to-us ingredients. Anyway, after what felt like hours, we placed our drink orders and quietly hoped we’d ordered wisely.

The “branding” for the building and the drinks was top shelf. Each of our drinks looked like something from an Instagram influencer’s feed; one had smoke curling off the rim and a garnish fit for a five-star restaurant. We felt like we were drinking above our belt.

Unfortunately, for two of us, we knew we’d made a bad choice the instant we took a sip. Our faces scrunched up like we’d taken a hit of concentrated lemon juice.

The drink was too much; too many flavors were fighting for attention, too much going on, and nothing was working together. We immediately asked for a different drink.

As I sipped my new drink, an old, reliable one, I realized this is what happens when businesses invest heavily in branding and marketing but neglect their messaging.

They pour time, money, and effort into looking polished but fail to communicate who they are and what they do or, in this case, what the drinks should taste like.

Like a brand, a cocktail only works when the ingredients are balanced. Too much going on? It’s a mess. Too little? It’s forgettable. The best ones, just like the best messages, are distilled down to precisely what’s needed: no extra fluff. No confusion.

From your overall message to your individual products/services (drinks, in this case), your audience will either check out or make a default choice, usually not yours.

While branding shapes perception and marketing strategies drive awareness and engagement, neither can do their job effectively without clear messaging.

Messaging is the foundation upon which everything else is built. When it cracks, the whole structure becomes unstable.

The Harsh Truth About Confusing Messaging

Prospects don’t swirl your brand around like a fine wine, analyzing every note. Instead, they take a quick sip and decide if it’s worth another. They ask questions like:

• “Is this for me?”
• “Will this solve my problem?”
• “Do I understand what they’re offering?”

If your messaging fails to answer these questions, they’re out. This failure isn’t usually caused by a lack of strategy or effort but by language that tries too hard to impress.

Thinking back on my drink-ordering experience, I wasn’t sure if the drink was for me or if I even understood what I was ordering, hence the interrogation.

When your messaging isn’t clear:

• Potential clients don’t grasp what you offer
• Your marketing campaigns generate interest but not conversions
• You waste money driving traffic to messaging that doesn’t convert
• Your brand feels disconnected from the problems your audience needs solved

As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, people don’t buy what they don’t understand. Think about your previous sales calls. Did the prospect ask a lot of questions? Did it feel like you needed to convince them your service was for them?

If so, they were thinking too hard to figure out what you do, which makes it easy for them to move on to someone who makes it easy.

Start With Your Message, Then Build Everything Else

Most brands do marketing backward. They start with branding and marketing strategy but fail to realize that:

Messaging is an upstream process.

Your branding or strategic marketing plan are downstream processes; the strength of your messaging determines their effectiveness.

If your marketing efforts aren’t delivering the results you want, it’s probably not your tactics. Instead, take a hard look at your messaging.

Ask yourself:

• Can a stranger understand what I do in seconds?
• Would my ideal client feel like this message is for them?
• Am I saying too much, making it harder for my audience to grasp the core message?

Try this quick exercise:

• Ask someone unfamiliar with your business to look at your website homepage for 5 seconds.
• Close the page and ask them to explain what you do and who you help.

If they can’t articulate it clearly, your message needs work; it’s time to distill out the impurities and refine it into something simple and clear.

After distilling your message to its clearest form, your branding and marketing efforts will have the foundation they need to succeed.

Clarity isn’t easy, but it’s the difference between a brand that gets noticed and one that gets ignored.

Would you buy a cloudy premium vodka? Or are you picking the crystal clear version?

Last Call: How to Fix Your Messaging and Save Your Marketing

Clear messaging isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s the difference between a marketing strategy that gets noticed and one that gets ignored.

✔ If your audience is confused, they’re gone. Clarity beats cleverness every time. Don’t try to sound impressive—just be clear.
✔ Your brand’s message should be simple, specific, and instantly understandable. If you can’t explain what you do in one clear sentence, it’s too complicated.
✔ Great design and marketing won’t save bad messaging. You can have the best-looking website and the most polished ads, but if the message isn’t clear, they won’t convert.
✔ Test your messaging. Say it out loud to someone who doesn’t know your business. If they can’t immediately repeat it back, keep refining.

Before you spend another dollar on branding or marketing strategies, take the time to refine and simplify your message.

If you’re ready to distill your message to its clearest, most compelling form, let’s talk. Schedule a call, and we’ll discuss what’s holding your marketing back.