Messaging Framework Debrief

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>> Okay, so I'm wondering how your messaging architecture went. Who is willing to share? I need somebody willing to share. There's a free donut in it for you, anybody? Well, okay, let's start with this, what product or service did you work with? I'm gonna go, everybody needs to tell me, yes.

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>> I worked with my own travel website.
>> With your own travel website. Tell me about that a little bit.
>> It's just a silly blog that I do for fun.
>> I was noticing all of the stickers on your laptop from all the different national parks you've been to.

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>> Yeah, that's just over the years, yeah.
>> Yeah, that's great. Good, would you mind walking us through your framework?
>> Yeah.
>> Great.
>> I'm not sure if I have this correct but-
>> I'm sure it's off to a great start, regardless.
>> So the first impression is from my users, is that I want them to say I'm entertained by this.

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I would like to know more. My value statement is, I want them to say to themselves, this will continue to be interesting, I would like to continue to visit this site. And then my proof is that there will be just improved site traffic overall.
>> Okay, so what you've described is a little bit more of a blog.

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I'd say, potentially even a little bit of a tactical approach, where I'm gonna put up a blog, and the primary goal of this is to entertain people, right, not to teach necessarily but it sounds like it's more storytelling.
>> That and also saying, hey, I went to this restaurant, whatever, this place, and it was great while I was there.

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And then for the person to say, I should also maybe go there [INAUDIBLE] this place.
>> Okay, yep, great, okay. So it's also to inform, to, Teach, right? And then to go and to say, your proof points would be, what you were describing your proof points that it was working.

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So you're actually more talking about your plan for your blog versus messaging. So what we can do is we can walk through messaging for you, because this is actually a great example that we can use. So first impression of somebody, so you do travel and food?
>> Just travel, I happen to eat sometimes.

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>> [LAUGH]
>> Eating is delicious. Okay, great. So but the primary is, it's your travel blog. Okay, great. Sometimes I eat. Okay, so when people hit that blog, so I'll put myself, I'll be the user. If I hit a travel blog, my first impression is typically, what would make me wanna return to that blog is if I immediately am like, I wanna go there.

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Whatever place is featured that I think, I wanna know more about that place cuz I wanna go there. So it may be that the first impression that you're looking for is, let's say this is an example, I want to go where she's been. Okay, that that's the first impression.

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Because if that's my first impression, then I'm gonna wanna come back to the blog. Okay, so that matches up kind of with your tactical plan. The value statement could be anything from, she has similar priorities when it comes to travel or for your target audience. Or she seems to understand how different types of travelers prioritize different things.

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Or she, I follow a blog called thrifty traveller, she is always looking for the best deal. And I know that I can trust her, because of all the affiliations or whatever, okay? So then proof points. What will we demonstrate that we want them to know or believe is true?

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So under those circumstances, what might be a proof point? A proof point might be, here's an amazing in depth review for restaurants in, here's an amazing in depth review for restaurants where she has traveled. Or she has her trips categorized by different priorities, like family travel or traveling as a single person or good for groups, right.

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She is speaking in an authoritative first person, authentic manner, which means that I feel like I'm getting to know her and can trust her. So those would be some proof points to consider within a messaging architecture, within a content strategy. Does that make sense, the difference between those two things?

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Great. Who else, one other example. What product or service did you go with?
>> I can share if you want, but I wrote mine in analogy.
>> That's okay.
>> All right, I saw audience and first impression, so I kinda put it in a-
>> Sorry, what's your product or service?

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>> Like I said, I wrote the whole thing in an analogy,
>> Okay, in an analogy.
>> Which makes sense for me.
>> Okay, great.
>> So it's kind of like the play, say you're watching a play. The opening scene that captures the audience before the slow reveal is, well, you don't maybe, nevermind.

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>> That's why I this.
>> You go for it.
>> I'm always interested to hear different takes on stuff, so you go ahead.
>> First impression is the opening scene that captures the audience's attention, something dramatic or something entertaining, that initial spark. And then our value [INAUDIBLE] is now, I want them to be engaged and entertained as they browse throughout the entirety of my website.

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So yes, that's what I'm talking about. And the proof will be finally finishing the whole slow reveal. Because I want them to ultimately think, okay, this seems very sleek and calm on the surface, but it's actually extremely engaging and complex, as you go through the whole of it at the end.

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So that's kind of the-
>> That's really interesting. Yeah, that seems like it's a good kind of almost a design philosophy or content philosophy for how you want people to enter and experience your content. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, right on. What was difficult about this exercise?
>> The proof was most difficult for me.

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>> Why?
>> Because in a way, I kinda kept thinking more with time, what would be the proof? So for example, with her site, I would almost think that the proof would be I went to this place that she talked about, and I agreed with her based on her recommendation.

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But that's not by visiting the site, and it feels more like what we're striving for is what the proof is when I land on the site.
>> It's the proof in the content.
>> That's right. What content are we delivering to demonstrate? That's right.
>> And so that was challenging for me to kinda put it in that context, cuz I kinda wanted to look more results as opposed to-

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>> Yep, so to differentiate in your head, maybe it's proof that it's working versus proof that the product or service is right for me.
>> Wow, that's interesting. That's a good way to put it.
>> Okay, and that doesn't necessarily mean product benefits. Cuz it can also be proof that this is a company I wanna work with.

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So we're not talking necessarily about proof in the results, we're talking about proof points within the content. Make sense?
>> Yes, yeah, that helps a lot, actually.
>> Great. That's actually very useful feedback and I will make sure to articulate that next time I do this exercise, okay?