I was asked to speak at a local networking event this week. If you know me you know I just love to get the mic in my hand:)
One of the questions was ‘what’s one thing you wish people knew about your industry that would blow their mind?’
I’d been chatting with a couple of people before the panel discussion and those chats had made it really obvious what I wanted to say. Both the people I’d spoken to wanted to hear about the latest AI tools, or hacks to make a video go viral.
They were stressed because they couldn’t keep up with all the things they ‘had to do’ to make their online marketing work. The more they looked at the posts in their feeds talking about how to ‘instantly make millions while sipping lates and shopping for your next Lambo’ the more stressed they became about not understanding all the latest tricks and tools.
And so what I needed to talk about became crystal clear.
Here’s the thing most marketers don’t want you to know. If you’re stressing about keeping up with trends, chasing the latest AI tools, or trying to master every new feature on social media, relax. Your business isn’t going to fall apart because you didn’t post the perfect reel. You won’t have to lay off half your team because your latest post didn’t ‘go viral’ You’re not about to end up on the street because you’re using a version of some AI tool that went out of date 4 hours and thirty seven minutes ago.
Can those shiny objects help? Absolutely.
But they’re not, and never have been, the most important part of your marketing. Not since evolution, (or God, or whatever else you believe in) created human beings and human behaviours eons ago.
Let me explain.
No amount of clever editing, viral hooks, or eye-catching visuals can save your marketing if you’re saying the wrong things to the wrong people.
You can’t out-design or hack your way out of a weak message.
It just doesn’t work that way. You have to give people a genuine reason to care.
The fear and fantasy they're selling you.
Right now, business owners everywhere are being told:
"Post more content." "Jump on trends." "Use this hook." "Follow this format." And sure, those things can help. I'm not saying they don't matter.
But here's the reality: they're not the foundation. They're the uniform and the fancy footwork. If you don't have a solid game plan underneath it all, you're going to lose.
They're just the wrapping paper. If what's inside the box isn't valuable, no one's buying it. End of story.
You’re being told that by people who sell those services, people who know you can’t possibly keep up with it all. People who want you to pay them to do it for you so the world doesn’t come to an end.
And before the pitch forks and drums of war come out, yes, I’m selling something too. But it’s something grounded in way more stable, proven, sustainable marketing fundamentals. And if you buy from me, you won’t be doing it because you’re afraid of what might happen if you don’t. It will be because you’re excited to have someone take the marketing workload off your plate, and give you some breathing space to get on with looking after your business. You know, the reason you actually started it in the first place.
What even is "Messaging"?
Let me be clear about what I mean here.
Messaging is not your logo. It's not your colours. It's not your font. It's not what you do or all the fancy features of your product or your service. As much as you love all that, no else really cares.
Messaging is What you say, how you say it, and how clearly it articulates how you help people get exactly what they want.
At its core, messaging answers the one question every potential client is asking themselves: "Why should I care about what you do?"
If your marketing doesn't answer that instantly, you've already lost. Game over. When you do answer that question, you could write it on the back of a beer coaster in plain blue pen, and people would still find you and buy what you’re selling. Well, maybe not literally, I mean you still need to reach enough people, but you get the point, right?
What you say, and how you frame it, is way more compelling than what sparkly format you publish it in. What’s the old saying? ‘You can’t polish a turd’. That’s never been more true than in the context of marketing.
Why this is everything
Now I get why we’re all so focused on what’s new and exciting. I mean, it’s new and exciting for a start. Plus we’re all looking for a shortcut to get what we want. And honestly, we’re sucked in by that compelling messaging of ‘I feel your pain, and here’s a shortcut to fix it’
See where this is going? That’s the messaging you need to create for your clients.
A key thing to remember here is to be honest. Don’t be making stuff up!
You can have average design and still win. You can have basic content and still convert like crazy if you’re saying the right thing to the right people.
But if your messaging is off? You're in trouble.
You will burn money. You will waste time. You will blame the wrong things. ‘Oh, Facebook ads don’t work’ or ‘We need more viral videos’ and ‘It’s because we used the wrong audio’
Bzzzzzz. Wrong!
People don't buy content. They buy outcomes. They buy the transformation you're offering them. They're buying what they see to be a better version of themselves.
They don't care about your fancy features, how many steps your process has or how long it took you to perfect your system. They care about what your offer helps them achieve. That's it. And if you help them achieve something they deeply desire, you’re about to start printing cash!
Good messaging vs. bad messaging
Let me show you what I mean.
❌ Bad Messaging:
"High-quality digital marketing services for local businesses. We run Facebook and Google ads, and do email marketing SMS marketing so you don’t have to. Get a free marketing audit today’
Yawn. No emotion. No clarity. No reason to actually do anything about it.
✅ Good Messaging:
“Fed up waiting for referrals that never come? Tired of posting on Facebook and hoping someone magically appears in your inbox? Forget watching money go out of your account faster than it comes in. Over the last 8 years we’ve helped dozens of businesses, just like yours build a reliable flow of high quality leads, allowing them to have more consistent sales and take back control of their business. Click here to see step by step how we can do the exact same things for you. Imagine never having to worry again about where the next sale is coming from."
Now we're talking.
It's specific. It solves a real problem. It removes the friction. It makes you want to lean in and find out more.
What great messaging really does
When your messaging is dialled in, everything shifts. Everything.
1. It stops people scrolling and gets their attention
Yes, visuals help here. But messaging is what keeps attention.
If someone reads your headline and thinks:
"That's exactly what I need…" or “That’s exactly how I feel”
You've won the first quarter. You're in the game.
2. It builds trust in an instant
When you reflect someone's problems back to them in their own words, they feel seen heard and understood.
And trust? That's everything.
That's why we push our clients to develop real problem statements. Imagine you’re a kitchen renovator. Your clients might have problem statements like... “I hate how outdated my kitchen is… I feel embarrassed when friends come over, like we can’t even afford a decent kitchen.”
Or “I’m so over trying to cook in this kitchen. It’s cramped, there’s no storage, and with the kids and everything else going on, I just don’t have time to deal with a kitchen that makes life harder.”
And
“I know we need to do the kitchen, but I don’t even know how we’d manage it… and I’m worried we’ll either choose the wrong company or end up blowing the budget.”
When your messaging leads with the story people are telling themselves in their heads, you’ve instantly got rapport and trust.
3. It doesn’t just get attention, it creates desire
Interest is cheap. Anyone can get interest.
Desire is what drives action.
Great messaging paints a picture of the after state, the way people will feel after they do business with you. And this is where it gets real:
“Walk into a kitchen you’re proud to show off, where everything looks modern, stylish, and finally reflects the life you’ve worked so hard to build. The neighbours will be green with envy”
Or
“What if you had a kitchen that actually works for your life, with smart storage, more space, and a layout that makes cooking, cleaning, and family time effortless. Imagine never losing another container lid again!
And
“Want a stress-free kitchen reno, knowing everything is handled properly, on time, and on budget, so you can feel confident every step of the way. It’s a not a dream, it’s the reality when you work with...’
See how it’s not about the product, it’s about the transformation the product creates. It's about how it feels. That's the win.
4. It drives people to take action.
At the end of the day, marketing has one job:
Get people to take the next step
Download a free offer. Click to learn more on your website. Message for more info. Book a quote. Buy whatever you’re selling.
And that only happens when your message is:
- Clear
- Relevant
- Compelling
Why so many businesses get it wrong
Because messaging isn't sexy. Or easy.
It takes time. It takes actual thinking. It takes an understanding of your customer on a deeper level than they even realise themselves.
But that's the work you need to do. That's the heavy lifting.
Before you even think about content or ads, you need a crystal clear picture of your audience, their goals, their fears, their frustrations. Their desires. The stuff that keeps them up at night. The anxiety they feel when the family is coming for Christmas and kitchen is a train smash. The frustration of wasting time looking for things, cleaning stained benches instead of helping the kids with their homework. The stress of worrying they need a new kitchen but are terrified they’ll run out of money half way through.
Skip this step and you don’t understand their fears, frustrations, goals and desires. Without this, everything else falls apart. This is the absolute cornerstone of good marketing, the ultimate hack. Get it right, and you better hang on tou your hat, because life is about to get busy!
The honest truth about "marketing tricks"
Hooks. Templates. Trends. Viral formats.
They're all tools.
And tools only work if the foundation is solid.
You can't "hack" your way around bad messaging. You can't out-edit a weak offer. You can't out-post a lack of clarity.
It's like trying to win the championship without understanding the playbook. It's not happening.
How to fix your messaging (For real)
If your marketing isn't working the way you want it to, start here:
1. Get clear on the problem your customer is facing
What's the real issue your customer is dealing with?
Not the surface-level stuff. The real, frustrating, keeps-them-up-at-night problem.
The one that makes them feel stuck. Like they're not growing the way they should be, or showing up for their family the way they want to. The one they won’t tell anyone about. It’s usually rooted in fear and anxiety. You don’t need to exploit that, but you need to understand it. You’ll need to scratch below the surface to understand this.
2. Define the outcome
What do they actually want? Not need: WANT. Again, it may be something they don’t talk about. A deep desire often rooted in greed or ego. Not flattering emotions, but powerful drivers of behaviour. If your messaging doesn’t address what people want, they’ll ignore you. You can help them understand what they NEED later on. Start with what they want.
Do they want more time? More money? More success? More praise?
Be specific. Get detailed and emotional about it. How will they feel when their mother in law tells them their kitchen could be in a magazine! Or how he will feel when he gets dinner done, and cleaned up in record time and can fully show up for his family. Life goals as a dad!
3. Use their words
Stop trying to sound "professional" or "corporate" if that’s not how your customers sound.
Speak like your customer speaks.
If they say “I hate mucking around looking for stuff” say that. If they say “God I hate cleaning this kitchen’” say that.
Your language should feel like a conversation with a friend, not a press release.
4. Make it about them (not you)
No one cares about your process. Seriously.
They care about their result. They care about how it's going to change their day-to-day life.
Shift from: "We offer..."
To: "You get..."
Better yet: "Imagine having..."
That's the difference between losing and winning.
5. Build an offer people actually want
This is where most campaigns die.
If the offer doesn't solve a real problem, if it doesn't deliver on what people are actually looking for, nothing else matters.
Not your design. Not your content. Nothing.
The bottom line
You don't need more content.
You don't need better editing.
You don't need to chase every new trend that pops up.
You need better messaging.
Because when your message is right:
Everything works better. Ads convert. Content lands. Sales increase. You feel like you're actually playing the game instead of just going through the motions.
You get to experience that relief. That confidence. That momentum.
You wake up excited about your business again instead of anxious about where the next lead is coming from.
And when it's wrong?
Nothing saves you.
Ready to level up your messaging, get inquiries that actually book jobs, and stop worrying about the next sale?
At Orbit, we don't just run ads.
We help you dial in your message so your marketing actually works. Because once you get that right, once your messaging is crystal clear and aligned with what your customers actually want?
Growth becomes predictable.
You get to feel what it's like when the system works.
Let's talk about what that could look like for your business.