Brand messaging framework: Components + 6-step guide

Talking about your business is important, but speaking as your business is what brand messaging is all about. Brand messaging is how your company presents itself. In this guide, you'll find out what brand messaging means, learn about its main parts, and get six practical steps to create a framework that keeps your team on the same page and your audience interested.

What is brand messaging?

Brand messaging is the language, tone, and core ideas your company uses to communicate its unique value proposition to a target audience. It defines how your brand speaks across every channel, from your website and social media to sales conversations and press releases. When your brand messaging is clear and consistent, it shapes how people feel about your business and encourages them to share your story with others.

Your brand is your business’s personality, and brand messaging is how you express it. As you plan your brand strategy, decide how you want your brand to be seen, then make sure your messaging fits that personality:

• Expert: Use technical writing, data, and statistics to build credibility.

• Friendly and quirky: Dial back the statistics and lean into humor, puns, and a conversational tone.

• Sophisticated: Choose polished language and a refined visual style.

• Authentic: Prioritize transparency, real stories, and a genuine voice.

Internal vs. external brand messaging

There are two different strategies to brand messaging: internal and external. Your internal brand messaging shapes team communication by determining how individuals, teams, and executives talk about your company to one another. External brand messaging dictates how you communicate to customers and the general public.

For example, you might run two different social media accounts: one internal for employees and one public-facing. The internal account will feel more familiar and informative, while the external one will be highly curated and customized. Even if your brand aims to sound approachable externally, its tone will always be a bit more reserved than when communicating internally.

Why is a brand messaging framework important?

Your messaging communicates your brand story. This develops trust between your brand and your customers. But there are several intrinsic benefits to developing your core brand messaging, including:

• Natural word-of-mouth marketing. Even in today's digital age, word-of-mouth marketing is the best way to secure endorsements for your brand. Brand messaging connects with customers more deeply and shows them how to talk about your brand to others.

• Consistent marketing materials. When you have an established core message, you know that your messaging, design, product, and content marketing will all speak to the same core values.

• Unique brand identity. For customers to engage with your brand, they need to know who you are as an organization. Brand messaging tells them exactly what to expect from your business.

• Organized branding. When you write a creative brief, create your elevator pitch, or want to revamp your homepage, having an established brand messaging strategy informs the creator and helps them stay on brand.

• Using a brand strategy template gives teams a central way to keep those decisions consistent and actionable across every campaign.

Key components of a brand messaging framework

Before you start building your brand messaging framework, it helps to understand the building blocks that hold it together. At the very least, your framework should include your value proposition, target audience, and a statement about what differentiates you from the competition. Here are the core components to keep in mind:

• Brand positioning statement. This is your internal compass. It defines who you are, who you serve, and why you're different from competitors. A clear positioning statement keeps your team aligned on the story you're telling.

• Value proposition. Your value proposition highlights what sets your brand apart and the benefits you offer. It's the reason your audience should choose you over anyone else, distilled into a clear and compelling promise.

• Target audience. Understanding your audience's needs, challenges, and goals helps you craft personalized messaging. The more specific you are about who you're talking to, the more your messaging will resonate.

• Brand voice and tone. Your voice is the personality behind your words, and your tone is how that personality shifts depending on context. Together, they ensure your brand sounds consistent whether you're writing a blog post or responding to a customer on social media.

• Brand pillars. These are the three to five core themes that support your positioning and value proposition, the foundational topics your messaging always comes back to. They give structure and focus to everything you communicate.

• Proof points. These are the specific facts, features, testimonials, and evidence that validate your messaging pillars. They give your audience concrete reasons to believe what you're saying.

These components work together as a system. When each part is clear and shared with your whole organization, every team can speak with a single, unified voice.

6 steps to create a successful brand messaging framework

The best brand messaging looks effortless. In reality, it's anything but. Your brand messaging takes thought and work on the back end so it can appear flawless when presented to others.

1. Create a brand positioning statement

Your mission statement explains the purpose of your company, and your vision statement says where you're going. Before you launch into any brand messaging, use either or both of these statements to define who you are, what you stand for, and where you're headed.

Next, create your brand positioning statement. This is an internal summary of the value you offer your target audience. While mission and vision statements are broad, your positioning statement is a clear summary of how your product or service helps your customers.

Your brand positioning statement should include your company’s mission, how you achieve it, why it matters, who your audience is, and their main challenges. For example, if you’re a financial technology company aiming to improve credit card payment processing, your positioning statement might look like this:

Our company was created to simplify payment processing for the next generation of small businesses. We're disrupting the industry through innovative technology that reduces the processing time by three seconds so our customers can make more money, faster. We're a growing startup, generating $12 million in revenue last quarter alone. Unlike other fintech startups, we're focused on sustainable long-term growth for our employees, investors, and the companies we serve.

2. Competitor analysis

Before you can start talking to your customers, it's helpful to learn how they're already being spoken to. A competitive analysis of how your competitors market themselves will help you differentiate key messages if you're competing for the same target customers.

For example, if your main competitor uses a playful, snarky voice, you might choose to position your brand as an expert instead. There’s no single right way—what matters most is that your approach connects with your audience.

3. Develop a unique brand voice

Your brand voice is what speaks to your brand's marketing messages. In today's crowded marketplace, brands are often screaming to get attention. But while a clickbait piece of content might be effective in the short term, it's not a helpful way to convert and engage potential customers for the long term.

That’s why it’s important to create a unique brand voice. Good brand messaging speaks directly to your audience’s needs and shows how you can help. For example, some companies selling direct-to-consumer products for women now use a more inclusive and relatable voice that connects with women of all backgrounds.

4. Create a tone and style guide

Once you've developed your tone of voice, share it with your team. Develop a tone and style guide to share internally with everyone who will speak on behalf of your brand. Usually, this is for marketing and advertising teams, but you can also develop them for customer-facing roles, such as your sales teams.

In doing so, you're establishing branding benchmarks that define the norm at your company. Establish these rules first, then you'll have a foundation to properly measure success and adjust as you go. A cohesive tone and style guide supports effective communication, so employees speak about your brand in the same impactful way, while giving you the groundwork to track and report on your messaging.

5. Talk to your customers

Your customers are not just listening; they’re part of the conversation. If you only focus on selling points, you might push away the people you want to reach. Customers want to feel heard, so it’s important to listen as well as talk.

Instead, invite your customers to join the conversation. This is where community management helps; a social community manager connects your company with your social media audience. Whether someone gives feedback or asks a question, always respond in a way that matches your brand’s voice.

6. Evaluate and change

Nothing lasts forever in the digital marketing world. Your customers will eventually change, and your messaging should change with them as part of continuous improvement. Rebranding is a normal part of any ongoing marketing strategy; it simply means you're acknowledging a shift in your audience or environment and evolving accordingly.

For example, you may need to update your brand messaging if your ideal customer changes. Sometimes, as your business grows, you discover a new group of customers you can serve better. When that happens, your messaging should change too.

Where to use brand messaging (with examples)

Once you've created your brand messaging, use it in all your marketing campaigns. This keeps your messaging, and ultimately your brand, more memorable and consistent.

Here’s how each channel looks in action:

Slogans and taglines: Snippets of a few words, a sentence, or a phrase that are meant to instantly connect with the reader.

• Example: Nike championed their use of brand messaging early on with an inspiring voice. When you read Nike's marketing, it feels like they're coaching you. This is intentional and strategic, and is maybe best shown through their well-known tagline, "Just do it."

Social media listening: Engaging with audiences who share, post, or comment about your brand from your brand's social media accounts.

• Example: Taco Bell went from being just a fast-food chain to having a wildly successful, viral social media presence. They tapped into a snarky, humorous voice to engage their followers in conversation. The result is shareable, engaging content that renews their audience's love for the brand.

Content marketing: Any creative content pushed out by your brand, including blog posts, newsletters, and thought leadership articles.

• Example: Buffer is a social media management platform. Their podcast, The Science of Social Media, discusses topics and research related to marketing and communications. The approach positions their brand as an expert in their field, making it more likely that customers will trust and remember them.

Advertising: Your company purchases the use of a specific space to showcase its brand.

• Example: Apple products might have some of the most recognizable TV commercials. Their iPhone commercials often show people using their phones while going about their day, in a happy, relatable way. From a customer standpoint, Apple's advertising shows that its products aren't just desired commodities; they also make you feel good.

Press releases: A story that publicly releases new information about your company, including product launches, earnings reports, and organizational changes.

• Example: Airbnb's 2022 announcement that it would adopt a fully remote work model became a viral news story that remains a standout example of brand-aligned communication. The press release was shared across social media platforms and news outlets, and the company reported that its careers page was viewed 800,000 times after the announcement. The lasting impact of this announcement demonstrates how a well-crafted press release can reinforce your employer brand and generate sustained attention.

Community building: Bringing people together over a topic that aligns with your brand. The topic could be directly related (i.e., technology regulations for tech companies) or unrelated to your brand but important to your customers.

• Example: Glossier is a beauty company that has put its community at the forefront as it built its brand. They're always tuned into what their customers are saying about them. Because of their constant engagement and interaction with customers, they've turned customers who buy their products into raving fans.

It's time for your brand to speak up

You know why your company is right for your customers. Sharing that clearly is key to growing your business. Good brand messaging helps you show your values and benefits, and encourages customers to stay engaged.

Coordinating brand messaging means communicating across marketing, sales, and leadership teams, among others. A project management tool can help you keep your messaging organized and accessible to everyone, while also reducing busywork. Get started with Asana to bring your teams together around a unified message.

Frequently asked questions about brand messaging frameworks