Introduction
At IFC we have two driving principles:
- Do what you’re good at.
- Make work as easy as possible for the client.
Because of this, we’ve assembled a team of experts in messaging, design, media, and web, that can do nearly anything you might need for your specific project. And if, moving forward, you want to keep hiring us to expand your brand and update your website–we’ll be right there for you.
But you shouldn’t have to. Your creative team should make your life better–not act like a ball and chain. You can’t imagine the number of conversations we have with prospective clients that start with them saying, “We don’t have access to our website–we can’t even change the text.” It’s your business! You should be empowered to change your own website. You shouldn’t have to wait on your creative team to swap out copy, or post the details of an upcoming event. You should be able to do that on your own schedule, if you choose.
That’s why we’ve been working hard over the past few years to “democratize” our processes as much as possible. We use our expertise to set everything up beautifully and correctly for your goals–but we set it up in a way that it’s as easy for you to take over as possible.
Democratizing Messaging
The three main ways that we are working to democratize our messaging process are with the creation of our script library, our messaging templates*, and a series of blog posts that reveal every step of our messaging process.*
*Note that the messaging templates and blog posts are forthcoming.
Script Library
With the advent of social media, creating continuous content has been an uphill battle for businesses. You know you need to do it, but it takes a lot of time and effort with mixed results.
Since we left StoryBrand (yup, that’s a post coming up soon as well), we have been doing messaging a little differently. We’ve created our own step-by-step messaging system, and every client who has gone through that system with us also has access to a library of “scripts” that they can use in a variety of ways. Some of the script topics include:
- Developing trust with your prospective customers/clients/patrons
- Promoting a specific product or service
- Helping people understand who you are and why you do what you do
- Advertising a position
- Talking about an upcoming event
- Showing off your personality on social media
This script library is ever growing and evolving, and every one of our messaging clients has continuous access to it—for free.
Messaging Templates
We’ve kept our team purposefully compact so that we can be nimble and responsive to our clients’ needs. That means that we can’t take on as many clients as other larger agencies, and with so many cool new businesses needing websites–that sometimes bums us out! So we’ve been working hard for the past year to build out some website templates that will be designed and developed by us–but super-easy for you to spin up on your own.
What's more, we’ve also created a set of homepage messaging templates that can be used with each website. This will help you use website best practices to tell people exactly what they need to know about you in consistent, concise ways that encourage them to take the actions you’d like them to take on your site. (Because design and media get a person’s attention–but words sell products and services).
Obviously, going through our full messaging system with our messaging director is ideal. But if you’re not able to afford it, or just need to spin something up right away, this will be a great way to make sure you’re still talking to your clients in a way that they are likely to respond.
Blog Posts
That’s right. We’re going to write a set of blog posts that go over every single step that we go through when we’re working with clients on their messaging. You will literally be able to swipe the process from the posts. Sounds too good to be true? It isn’t. We really do want to empower you with as many tools to help yourselves as possible. However…
While we will try to be as clear as possible about the process, it still may be difficult to go through it on your own. This is often referred to as The Curse of Knowledge. (That doesn’t sound ominous at all! You can learn more about that here.) Suffice to say, you know so much about your own business/organization that it can be tough to get to the heart of some of the content. But having the “map” to clear, consistent messaging is better than sitting around wondering where to even begin. And we’re always here to help if you need us.
Conclusion
We want to be here for you if you need us. But we also want to empower you to do anything you feel comfortable doing on your own. Whether you need to adjust your messaging, create social media graphics, or take charge of your online event calendar–we’re working hard to make sure you can do just that.
But of COURSE we’ll always be here for you. If you’re looking to develop a message that is concise, memorable, and engages your ideal audience, contact us today.
Photo by Luca Onniboni on Unsplash
