Your Logo Is NOT Your Messaging

Let’s jump right in.

Your logo may be memorable but it is not all you need to communicate your message to your target audience. Your content has nothing to do with how good or bad your logo is (or even your tagline).

Speaking of taglines!

It is just a slogan that helps to better identify your brand, not to communicate everything you want to say. People get caught up in trying to convey an entire idea in just a few words to go with their logo but that’s the least of their worries.

▶️ Is it easily readable?

▶️ Will someone be able to remember it?

Those are what matter IF you are going to add a tagline.

Your messaging is a completely different beast.

This is where knowing your audience, offer, competitors, and mission is going to make or break your success.

You’ve probably had people ask about your “brand voice” when creating designs in order to understand and convey the feel of your brand to viewers.

While it can play a big part in your designs, it plays an even bigger role in your written and spoken words.

Using language similar to what your audience is used to and what they will connect with is important. A logo and tagline can’t expand on what they will get from your product or service but your words can.

Just putting your logo up and waiting for someone to come and purchase isn’t going to work well, especially if you aren’t an established brand.

Even then, those big companies need more than a logo to entice new buyers who are skeptical about whether or not that brand can fulfill their needs.

Your logo should not “say it for you”. You should be putting in the effort to tell your audience what they need to do to get the results they want with your product or service.

The job of your logo is to give your brand a unique visual identity based ON your brand voice and ideal customer. 

How many times can you say you’ve looked at a logo and have known exactly what their messaging is going to be like?

It probably gives you a good idea of what to expect if the designer knew what they were doing but there are nuances that their brand likely has outside of their imagery that you wouldn’t expect.

So, how do you get your message across?

Start with the basics.

People want to know what they will gain from what you have to offer. It’s not about what you want to tell them, it’s about what they want to hear.

You could tell them all the specs of your product or service but the main questions they will have for you are:

“Will this help me do X?” 

or

“Will this help me achieve Y?”

When purchasing something, people only care about themselves.

Mind-boggling, right?

You need to cater to that BEFORE they have to ask.

Talk like they do.

A great way to keep your audience focused on what you’re saying is to use the words that they use.

If you’re addressing an audience in a way that they don’t connect to in terms of word usage, that’s when you find people skimming or fast forwarding through your content (if they even stay to finish it at all). 

The way you convey your message to a Gen Z audience is very different from how you would craft it for Boomers.

This is why it’s so important to be clear on your ideal customer.

Your audience can reach different generations but then you’ll need to determine what words are most important and will reach a happy medium.

To do this, create a guide of words to use and words to avoid so that you and your team have a visual representation of how you communicate. This will make it easier as your business grows.

Use visuals, sound, and text.

People take in information in different ways and by combining those three modes of communication you can impact as many people as possible.

Platforms are making it easier to do this but it can be accomplished in a variety of ways.

For example, if you have a blog you could always include a link to a YouTube video, add pictures, or even guide them to your podcast for a more in-depth talk on the subject.

As you can see, it doesn’t all have to be done simultaneously (even though doing so is the best way with the least amount of steps).

Make it easy.

You want to make it as easy for them to understand your offer, what’s in it for them, and take the next steps.

We’ve talked about the first two already so let’s look at getting them to take the next steps.

Your call to action should be telling them what they should do next.

Yes, they could probably figure it out themselves but sometimes they need the extra push.

Don’t make it five-thousand steps either. It should be only a couple steps that they need to go through.

Some platforms make it easier than others but the main point is that people start to tune out if you have them going to your website then this button then that link, etc.

The key is simplicity.

All this is to say that creating messaging that sells is more than just having a good logo and/or tagline. It takes consideration for your audience and their likes/wants.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of expecting your visuals to do all the work for you but, while your imagery might draw them in, what you’re saying is what’s going to make them stay.

If you want more audience retention and engagement, take a look at your messaging first.

If you find yourself needing help with your marketing, you can reach out to us and get a FREE Growth Session where we will discuss your current social media, your goals, and what your next steps might look like to increase your growth.