How to Develop Brand Messaging That Connects
In the last post, we explored brand pillars. As a reminder, brand pillars are the core truths that ground your business. They're the foundation you return to when the algorithms change, the trends pass, and the noise quiets. They are who you are and who you aim to be when the performance ends and only the essence remains. At their best, brand pillars clarify the how and why behind what you offer.
Once you’ve defined those truths, your next step is brand messaging.
Brand messaging takes your internal clarity and turns it outward. It transforms those deep, foundational truths into words, phrases, and tone that connect with real people. Messaging is how your audience begins to recognize your brand, trust it, and eventually invest in what you offer.
The Elements of Brand Messaging
To build a strong, aligned brand presence, you need to craft a few core elements. Each plays a different role, but together they ensure your brand sounds and feels like you.
Voice: Your brand voice is your perspective. It’s the lens through which you speak about your work, your audience, and your industry. Think of it as your angle or point of view on the world and the problem you solve.
Tone: While your voice remains consistent, your tone shifts depending on the context. Tone is how you express your message. Are you reassuring or passionate? Encouraging or matter-of-fact? Tone shapes how your words land.
Tagline: A tagline is a quick, memorable phrase that encapsulates your identity. It might express your approach, your audience, or your transformation. Crafting the right tagline can be one of the hardest parts of brand messaging. But when it’s right, it sticks.
Key Messages: These are the core takeaways you want your audience to remember. They flow directly from your brand pillars and communicate the heart of your business: what you do, why it matters, and how you do it differently.
Building the Messaging Framework
Once you understand the elements that make up your brand’s messaging, it’s time to organize them into a cohesive framework. This structure helps you apply your messaging consistently across platforms, whether you’re writing a bio, building a website, or pitching your services. A solid messaging framework makes it easier to show up with clarity, confidence, and alignment. Here’s what to include:
Vision: This is your “where.” Vision statements articulate the future you’re working toward—the impact, legacy, or transformation you hope to see in the world because of your work.
Mission: Your “what” and “why.” A mission statement outlines what you do, who you do it for, and why it matters. This is your day-to-day driver, the heartbeat behind your services or offerings.
Tagline or Brand Promise: Think of this as your brand in one line. It communicates your identity, values, and value in a clear, concise phrase.
Elevator Pitch: This is the friendly, informative snippet you share when someone asks what you do. It’s concise but compelling, rooted in authenticity and tailored to spark interest.
Key Messages by Pillar: Take each of your brand pillars and write 1–2 statements that express them in your natural voice. These messages should sound like you, not like ChatGPT, a template, or another brand. They're the points you’ll return to in every caption, campaign, or client call.
Bringing It to Life
Your messaging influences everything, from your website copy to your Instagram captions. It determines the words you choose, the sentence structures you favor, and the way you close an email or write a blog post. It shapes whether you use bullet points or storytelling, emojis or elegant simplicity.
The messaging decisions you make help set the mood and expectation for your audience. Are you warm and encouraging, or bold and strategic? Are you athletic and motivational, or minimal and refined? When done well, your messaging creates a seamless, trustworthy experience across every touchpoint.
Let’s See It in Action
To make this even clearer, here’s an example using a fictional fitness trainer named Jordan, who specializes in helping busy parents build strength and stamina through 30-minute home workouts.
Jordan’s Brand Pillars:
Empowerment through consistency
Fitness that fits real life
Mental health as part of physical health
Education over aesthetics
Discipline as self-respect
Messaging Framework Example
Vision: A world where everyday parents feel strong, grounded, and capable—inside and out.
Mission: To make strength training accessible for busy parents by offering simple, effective, and sustainable fitness programs that build discipline, confidence, and long-term health.
Tagline or Brand Promise: Strong at home. Steady for life.
Elevator Pitch: I help busy parents get strong at home with 30-minute workouts that fit into real life. My programs are designed for people who want to feel better, not just look different.
Key Messages by Pillar:
Empowerment through consistency: Strength isn’t built in a day. It’s built in the quiet decision to keep showing up.
Fitness that fits real life: No gym? No problem. My workouts are designed to work with your schedule, not against it.
Mental health as part of physical health: Your mind and body are connected. Every workout supports both.
Education over aesthetics: I’ll teach you how to train smart so you understand your body and build lifelong habits.
Discipline as self-respect: Showing up for yourself isn’t selfish, it’s foundational.
This kind of messaging framework becomes a compass. Whether Jordan is writing a caption, creating a sales page, or introducing herself at a community event, she knows exactly what to say and how to say it.
Why Authentic Messaging Matters
In a world flooded with content, it’s tempting to copy what seems to be working for others or to rely on AI-generated phrases to fill in the blanks. But the truth is, people can sense when something isn’t real. If your brand doesn’t sound like you, you won’t connect with the people you’re meant to serve.
Authenticity builds trust. It fosters connection. And it’s one of the few things that can’t be faked. That’s why doing the work of clarifying your brand messaging matters so much, especially if you're building your brand from the ground up without a big budget or a full team. You don’t need to do it perfectly. You just need to do it honestly.
Keep Going
If this resonates with you and you're building a brand rooted in real impact and individuality, follow us on Instagram @NewVisionCreativeCo or subscribe to our newsletter for more free guidance, tips, and insights. You don’t have to build alone.
