Messaging Magic → Values-Aligned Systems 🪄
I've got a guest writer for this week's post... and this is a huge GET for me!
The only and only Ashlee Sang is taking over my blog.
Ashlee specializes in Conscious Marketing for purpose-driven brands. The kind of stuff we LOVE.
Read on...
I’m Ashlee Sang, values-aligned brand messaging strategist, mama, thrifter, bright colors enthusiast (just like our friend Devin), and today’s email swap/soapbox author.
Devin and I know each other through a mutual online business friend. (Which is the BEST way to meet people…it’s a built-in conversation starter and the likelihood that they’re the good kind of weird—but not an internet weirdo—is high. 🙃) Hopefully after today, you and I will be in each other’s orbits too.
I’d like to preface this email with the fact that I’m NOT super system-minded. Or at least that’s the story I tell myself. (And maybe that’s the story you tell yourself too if you’re looking to Devin for all the tips and tricks and nudges you need.)
Instead, I prefer to think of myself as a super organized, semi-neurotic consultant who relies on an open mind, lots of experience and empathy, and a dash of magic as I work with clients. (Can you relate?)
But when Devin and I started talking, it made me realize I do have lots of systems and frameworks in place. Not only in delivering brand messaging strategy, but also in leveraging the messaging guide I co-create with clients, and in guiding clients through how to apply their values.
Let’s dig into some easy-peasy systems examples, shall we?
Delivering brand messaging strategy
1️⃣ I use Dubsado* to manage my client workflows—from inquiry to invoicing to scheduling VIP Days with automatic reminders to testimonial-gathering questionnaires. And everything in between. The tool itself isn’t a system, but it gives me the space to intentionally capture what I need to do and guide my clients through working with me.
(Go to Devin for all the *real* Dubsado tips. I know I’ve barely cracked the surface of what this tool can do for me.)
2️⃣ In terms of actually co-creating a values-aligned brand messaging strategy, yes, it’s unique to each client’s vision and voice. Yes, there’s a little bit of spark and magic that’s part of the process. But the framework I’ve created to include 6 essential elements of an impactful brand is part of a system.
I have these 6 elements—along with use case prompts—mapped out in each guide. That way, I’m not starting COMPLETELY from scratch as I distill down everything from my client’s head and heart into “marketing speak” and messages that will resonate with their ideal audience. I’ve also curated a values word bank, in case I ever want some inspiration as I encapsulate the concepts my clients share with me.
Leveraging a brand messaging guide
The goal of a brand messaging strategy is to actually be implemented. (Not to just let it die on your hard drive or buried in an email.) And the longest part of any brand messaging guide I co-create is the “Core Messages” section. These are the little snippets that can be smushed together, torn apart, and copy/pasted as email subject lines, website headlines, social captions or content ideas, etc.
I suggest a few different methods for managing these blurbs:
1️⃣ Consider a “stoplight” system, where you highlight the messages you lovelovelove in green, the messages you’ll get to eventually in yellow, and the messages that can stay on the back burner in red.
2️⃣ Once you use a tagline or message out in the wild, you can make the text gray in the doc. That way, it’s still archived for future use, but your eyes will skim right past it to the next black text as you search for blurbs to use in your future pieces of content.
3️⃣ Start a Notion database or a spreadsheet or whatever tool works for you to track which blurbs you’ve used and where.
Applying your values
When it comes to values, it can feel really abstract. My approach to brand values brings them down to earth and into the fiber of your business—both in your marketing and your operations.
I focus on 3 steps to make sure you’re living out your brand values:
1️⃣ Establish the most important values you want to be known for. (You can care about lots of things as a multi-passionate human. But choose 3-5 core values that feel like all-encompassing umbrella concepts.)
2️⃣ Define what those values mean specifically to you, your brand, and the way you show up in the world.
3️⃣ Actively apply those values across your entire brand experience—from your email signature and your website copy to your offer suite and partnerships.
While values will look and feel different for each business, this 3-pronged approach is universally useful in making values-aligned decisions so that your business can feel AND do good.
The gist?
Systems make all the magical, nebulous elements of your process shine. From working with clients to building a brand you’re proud of to leading a sustainable business, think of all the ways you can capture your essence and systematize the day-to-day.
Then, start sharing messages that matter to you and your dream clients.
Thanks for reading friend, I’d love to have you in my corner of the internet.
I’m going to break copywriting rule #1 and leave you with 2 CTAs. But I’m only kind of cheating because either way, you’ll be added to my newsletter list…you just get some bonus emails and tools if you sign up for the guided template first!
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