8 Signs Your Brand Messaging Needs A Refresh
Having a strong brand purpose is one thing. Translating it into brand messaging is another.
Many purpose-driven organizations approach brand messaging with genuine passion and clarity about their mission. They know who they serve and what they stand for. Still, their messaging falls short of connecting in a way that feels authentic and impactful.
As communications partners, we’ve seen how intentional brand messaging shapes the way organizations are perceived. Drawing on our experience, we have identified eight key indicators that suggest it's time to revisit and refresh your brand messaging.
Here’s what’s worth looking out for:
01Messages that don’t connect with your audience.
Have you ever read a message and wondered why it should matter to you? This happens to your audience when you share a message that doesn’t match the reason they initially connected with you.
If your messages aren’t connecting with your audience, you’re likely committing one of these cardinal mistakes:
- You haven’t identified what your audience needs or what motivates them
- Your audience can’t picture themselves in the story
- Your message doesn’t inspire trust
When it comes to brand messaging, all roads lead back to audience connection. Regardless of the message you share or the channel you choose, the true aim goes beyond simply delivering information. At its core, effective communication is an invitation to connect your audience to your purpose and values while fostering understanding and trust.
02Communication that doesn’t reflect your mission.
Brand missions are the backbone of your organization. They help outline what your organization is there to accomplish and set the tone for your vision and future.
It is one of the most important organizational priorities and must be clearly communicated. Without messaging that connects back to your mission, you may lose sight of your goals.
Part of your brand's recognition comes from using language that distinguishes you from others and aligns with who you say you are. When your communication does not align with the values, ideas, or beliefs you claim to uphold, it can create a disconnect with your audience. This disconnect can erode trust and make it harder for people to understand or believe in your mission.
As you’re crafting your brand messaging, take a moment to ask how it relates to your mission. If the answer isn’t clear or requires a lengthy explanation, it may be worth reconsidering what you're sharing with your audience.
03Messages that aren’t aligned with your brand voice or tone, or show you haven’t defined them.
Take a second to think about the brands you know and love. You can probably recognize them immediately by how they speak, sound, or feel, no matter where you are. This shows how strong brand messaging can be. It also highlights the impact of your brand’s voice and tone.
Brand voice is the language used to communicate with your audience. Tone, its emotion-based counterpart, is the feeling behind the words.
When created intentionally, brand voice and tone can serve as a powerful foundation for:
- Bringing your brand to life in an authentic, recognizable way
- Building trust, strengthening your mission, and amplifying your impact
- Inspiring audience support through purpose-driven communication
These two elements form the basis of brand messaging. They help make your brand more recognizable in what could otherwise be a crowded or confusing arena. Together, they create a sense of familiarity and trust.
When considering whether your brand needs a refresh, we recommend starting with the basics: evaluating your brand and voice, and defining how they should look and sound to best reflect your organization's current needs.
04Inconsistency across your communications channels.
Playing guessing games with a social impact organization’s mission is never fun. This is what you’re asking your audience to do when the messages being shared say one thing on one platform and something else on another.
While you don’t want your communications to be so drastically different across your platforms that your audiences don’t recognize you, you do want to be consistent enough that they recognize you.
If your brand is focused on an important goal or meeting a key need, you likely want to be seen as a confident, resourceful brand. To build this image, you must adopt a brand voice that inspires this sort of engagement. It should be consistent across all channels, including social media platforms, which are often seen as more casual. A good messaging strategy helps you use your brand voice across all channels and speak to each audience in a way they appreciate, while still keeping the trust and authority you’ve built.
05Messages that are difficult for your audience to understand.
While social good has taken the world by storm in the past few years, many of the concepts being shared are already well-established.
But what you share with your audience doesn’t have to be antiquated or hard to understand. The power of brand messaging is that it lets you communicate in ways they might not otherwise access and provide critical information they can understand.
As you’re reading your messages across your marketing and communications channels, ask yourself whether someone unfamiliar with your organization would easily understand it. If the message requires additional background or explanation, it’s likely missing important context.
Using an editing technique to assess how easily your audience understands your messages can help you provide better resources and connect with them more effectively. Taking steps such as eliminating complex terms or focusing on one key message can help simplify your content and make it easier for your audience to understand.
06Stories that focus more on what you do than why you do it.
There’s no denying that the causes you support, the services you provide, and the work you do are important. But it’s the reasoning behind the work that will make an impact.
With so many organizations out there, your audience has its fair share of causes to lend their support. Your brand messaging is designed to amplify your mission and ultimately increase your impact. To do this well, your messages must be rooted in a clear sense of why your work matters to both your organization and the people you serve.
Returning to your 'why' is not just constant reinforcement. It is a way to remind your audience of the mission that first inspired their support, and to build lasting trust in what’s to come.
07Every audience is communicated to in the same way.
Your organization is not like every other brand out there. Your audience isn’t either. And they shouldn’t be communicated to as if every person in your audience is the same.
While your audience may share an appreciation for your work, it is important to recognize that each person connects with your organization differently. Stakeholders, consumers and social media followers all engage with your mission for different reasons. The way you communicate with each group should reflect their unique relationship with your organization and the experience they seek.
As with many of the foundational aspects of brand messaging we’ve discussed, speaking to your audience in a way that fits who they are connects to key ideas such as consistency, connection, and brand alignment. Every message you share shapes not only your brand perception but also the deeper connection people feel to your mission.
08Communications that no longer reflect where your organization is today.
Whether your organization is still in its infancy or has been around for centuries, it’s safe to say it has evolved since its founding. That growth deserves to be honored with brand messaging that truly communicates where it is today.
Looking at how your organization has changed can give you insight into which elements of your brand messaging need revision. Here are some simple questions to help you see if your messages match your current brand:
- Which parts of your brand mission truly show your values and purpose? How does your current messaging help highlight these or shift focus away from them?
- Does your brand strategy call for a new approach to how you communicate your purpose and priorities?
- Do your current communications help clarify your brand positioning, or do they confuse or send mixed messages to your audience?
To best fulfill your brand mission, serve the people who rely on your organization, and inspire action, draw a clear connection between your organization’s current priorities and how you communicate them to your audience.
Brand messaging is a tool that shapes how others see you and how deeply your mission resonates. By taking time to review and refine your content, you help ensure that your audience understands who you are and what you stand for, building trust and clarity along the way.