Messaging ≠ Marketing

Messaging is not marketing. Messaging is about telling someone something. A message assumes the recipient wants or needs to hear the information. Messages are great for instructions and orders.

Marketing is not messaging. Marketing is about gaining enrollment. Marketing assumes the recipient gets to make a choice. Marketing works by inviting the recipient to buy-in, if they choose to.

If it’s information that needs to be conveyed and the recipient doesn’t have a choice, send a message. If it’s a cause, a product, a service, a campaign – think first about the choice the recipient faces and what would gain their enrollment.

Good communication starts with knowing our audience. The outcome we want to achieve should guide us in what we say and how.