When is the Best Time to Review and Refine Our Key Messages?

Do you find yourself wondering when the best time to formally review and refine your organization’s key messages? 

I’m not talking about talking points - those that get created for specific instances and may get updated throughout the year for a specific moment (i.e. talking points on the signing of a new player, on the roster this year, on theme nights, on arriving early)

I’m talking about your overarching messaging document that is used internally from top to bottom to become evergreen messages about who you are, what you do, who you serve, why you’re unique, why people should care and what you have to back that up (proof points). Those critical questions became a part of my routine courtesy of friend and communications pro Jennifer Hudson.

So, why would we be needing to update that if it’s evergreen?

I’m willing to bet, that if you indeed have one of these documents, your messaging alignment is much stronger than it was before it was created, but if this is truly meant to be a document that can live over the course of a year-beyond, it can be hard to squeeze in the time for reviewing and updating overarching messaging when that’s the least likely thing “on fire” that you might be dealing with.

And, when we finally can sneak in an hour here or there, it can make you feel deflated because, you recall the full process it took to get these original messages approved and the landscape of your org, the industry, your City may have changed and thinking about tweaking it feels perhaps one of those “if it aint broke…” 

Don't worry! You’re not alone. 

One of the biggest challenges communications professionals in sports face is finding the balance of alignment in messaging across all stakeholders while also feeling like you’re constantly creating new “talking points” on one-off items rather than analyzing/refining a messaging document that can be a North Star for your organization.

It can be hard to stay motivated to seek the behind-the-scenes messaging alignment and then watch as the “mic is on” answers you’re hearing deviate from the North Star when questions become super-specific.

Speaking from experience, using moments of big change in your company (business or sporting side), times of best practices of other teams that get talked about (good or bad), or large changes that hyper-locally affect your City are opportunities to revisit your overarching messages - or finally pull the trigger on actually developing a comprehensive messaging document.

So what are some of the examples of the moments outlined above of when – and how – can you find time to update your overarching messaging strategy? Who is involved? Why is it sometimes good to simply have prepared the thought and not formally changed it? How do we know if what we want to maybe update this to be is going to resonate with our audiences?

Keep reading for the pros and cons of each... 

Best Time for Message Updating: Big changes in your business or sporting leadership structure

You know you are likely going to be doing some sort of initial media availability when a major staffing change occurs relative to your business or sporting side. So where are you pulling from when updating the ‘care package’ you are sending to the new exec on how we talk about the org? A previous announcement prep doc? 

If a new executive comes aboard, tidying up the messaging document about the organization in advance of the first internal meeting will be key, but I’d argue that presenting it as a ‘this is how we have been discussing the org to date and when the dust settles, I’d love to sit down with you to make sure big picture this aligns with your vision in XYZ area. 

Scheduling time with your new business or sporting executive to run through the messaging document before the availability has 3 big benefits:

• Benefit #1 – Trust.
  
  You’ll be able to speak with authority on a document that has served the company well for alignment and they can trust that these messages have been vetted. They can also get a quick rundown of what something means, get a back-story and know what key pillars are critical to ownership/leadership. Providing the document in advance allows for different learning styles. Some folks want to read in great detail and come prepared to discuss. Others have 10,000 things going on and may simply want you to reinforce what’s most important in that moment.

• Benefit #2 – Simplicity.
  
  Ahead of a big introductory press conference, the new executive has a lot on their mind and of course nailing the media availability is their number one priority (wink, wink- wishful thinking). If the hire is an external hire, the simplicity of being able to tangibly hold a core message, or to have a great understanding of what the organization does/why they’re unique allows the exec to tie their own journey/story/ambitions back to an already established course of messaging about the team. This consistency resonates when you start looking at key message pull through in your media analysis.

• Benefit #3 - Opportunity.
  
  By having something that you can then provide with the idea that we plan to update this document - even though it is evergreen - means it is adaptable to the flexibility of the business as it it navigates new chapters under new leadership. A way you could use this messaging document: if you see the new exec regularly living/breathing different ways of talking about the company, it could be a natural, emotionless entrypoint to seeing where the misalignment might be happening. It could also be a preview of their vision and taking the initiative to say that the document can be adjusted in time tells the new exec that message alignment is everyone’s job but that you’re there to keep the range of spokespeople on task.

If you’re simply pulling from previous different documents and recreating new items, remember this: other execs may likely also be wanting to assist and/or are talking to the new hire about the company: if the document isn’t easily accessible, updated, and re-distributed across stakeholders ahead of big hires, then they may be using an older document.

Best Time for Message Updating: When other teams have a best/worst practice that is discussed internally

When other teams nail some sort of tactic and their core messaging shines through, people talk.

When other teams have a PR mishap, it’s usually not related to their core messaging document unless it was a clear miss for the person to refer back to something. Odds are it’s more of a operational issue that then was handled poorly both in actions and/or situation-specific talking points (rather than core messaging).

But if we are talking about an overall core messaging and that shone through by a player, executive or owner, it likely was shared as a best practice across your league/conference/etc. And it’s bound to get shared in your leadership team’s circles or on social.

So why not get a jump?

Take a look at your core messaging document and see what it is about the actual messages (whether it be the delivery, medium, etc might not be the best use of your time here). When you analyze those messages you saw another team do well about who they are/who they serve/what they do: is it because they had helpful proof points? Was it natural, concise, authentic? Did it truly stand out as something unique to them that made you nod in agreement?

What are people potentially nodding in agreement to when your athletes/coaches/execs talk about when discussing your org? Is this a desired perception of the org or is this how they are actually.

One way to quantitatively take a look at this would be go back to your last time a PR messaging effort was widely praised internally around the use of key messages by your org. Ideally, you’ll have multiple media clips to review. Take a look at the percentage of key messages that made the final cut of the article, video, etc and review by outlet. Is there consistency there? Do the proof points still stand? 

Best Time for Message Updating: hyper-local news and changes are impacting your City

When we start with our core messages about who you serve, what you do, why you’re unique, why people should care - we allow ourselves to be prepared to discuss trending topics as needed (proactively or reactively).

When hyper-local situations create newsworthiness, you can get a jump on reviewing your overarching company messaging and begin to see if the current topic could potentially align, conflict or is beyond scope of what you’ve addressed before.

An example: a heated election race is on the horizon and one of the candidates in the mix is making a big push for fundraising efforts. Another team in town’s owner is among a key doner, which prompts an internal discussion in your group about the importance of participation in the democratic process and separating views of ownership from views of the company. But you can’t start there if you don’t already have a strong message throughout the year (i.e. we care deeply about the city we live in, etc)

Or picture this: your local government is making a big push about a certain challenge they are facing: perhaps hiring challenges in the education system. If your core messaging involves specifically serving the community + importance of education, then you now have a chance to update your proof points and discuss with your leadership team about how the club can be a value-add to the local government (potentially) in offering support in the PR space (hosting a job fair with the City at your venue, etc.)

Building brand equity and partnerships throughout the year requires your team to be aligned on who we are, who we serve and when opportunities are there for the ideating and each person can connect something back to what matters to the company, then organic ideas can make for authentic moments. In turn, when you may need additional support or make a community ‘withdrawal’ for a set-back, having created opportunities from simply having deeper messaging alignment and awareness becomes even more valuable when you need in-front of camera or behind-the-scenes support.

Best Time for Message Updating: When you read this article and realize you don’t have a core document

If you’re reading through this piece and know you have been delaying having a messaging document be formalized, you’re in the right place.

It can be challenging during the busy year to have a document ready to go at a moment’s notice about the company if you have never had one before. I know when I was first in the head of comms seat, I felt like I had to create the messaging from scratch, come up with what I felt was likely most important, and then sought edits.

How silly I was, my friend!

Messaging documents require a true buy-in from leadership across several departments and input into making sure opinions are heard and consensus is secured.

Securing this consensus without research or a structured discussion is extremely challenging and may lead to simply the loudest comments in the room becoming prevalent.

That you’ve arrived at the need for the document and that it needs to get done soon (but how?), is a natural place to be. Let’s talk.

There’s no wrong time!

Ultimately, the best time for updating your overall messaging is whenever you as a PR pro can best serve your organization by proactively driving alignment. And by that I mean: taking initiative to update/discuss updating your messaging document doesn’t mean your messaging document was poor, it means that you’re preparing others to best represent the past/present/future versions of your organization.

If you’re interested in securing alignment, driving impactful objectives with core messages that are rooted in fact and aren’t diluted with 500 other messages, let’s talk. I run a Sports Overarching Messaging Workshop for teams, leagues and organizations that need to get the right people in the room to decide on key audiences and nail down who the team they work for really wants to be known as in the next several years.

Done over two half days,  message alignment workshops are also a great way to have an outside voice validate the opportunities to educate internal and external stakeholders.

If you’re investing in your product but the messages aren’t sticking, the ROI isn’t a product-related  problem.  It’s marketing and messaging. Let’s fix that.

Reach out to set-up a call to get a messaging workshop on the books.