Half the year is gone and your goals are still valid, but is your brand message keeping up?
Your audience may have shifted. The market might’ve moved. What worked in January could feel a little off in July. That’s why now is the perfect time to hit pause and run a one-hour brand messaging audit. No rebrands. No full-day workshops. Just a focused, fast check-in to make sure your brand is still saying the right thing to the right people.
Here’s how to do it:
- Revisit Your Brand Positioning (10 mins)
Start with the big picture. In one sentence, what does your brand help people do?
Now ask:
- Is this still accurate?
- Is it still relevant to your audience’s current reality?
- Can someone outside your business understand it immediately?
Your messaging should position your brand in a way that’s clear, valuable, and specific. If it sounds like it could belong to any of your competitors, it’s time to tighten it up.
- Check Your Core Messaging Pillars (15 mins)
Your messaging pillars are the key truths or themes your brand repeats across content, campaigns, and conversations.
Examples:
- “We make things simpler for [X]”
- “We believe [Y] should be more accessible”
- “We help [Z] get better results, faster”
Look through your recent marketing material—social posts, emails, website copy. Are these pillars still visible? Are they consistent? Or have things gone off-message?
Highlight 2–3 core ideas that need to stay front and center for the rest of the year.
- Do the 5-Second Clarity Test (15 mins)
Visit your website homepage, your Instagram bio, or your latest newsletter.
Set a timer. Can someone understand:
- What you offer
- Who it’s for
- And why it matters — in 5 seconds or less?
If not, your messaging needs trimming. Get ruthless with jargon, generic phrases, and fluffy mission statements. You want instant recognition, not decoding.
- Ask: Are You Saying Too Much? (10 mins)
Over-explaining can be just as confusing as saying nothing.
Look at your most recent copy-heavy page or post. Are you layering multiple messages at once? Are there 5 different CTAs pulling the reader in 5 directions?
Good brand messaging knows when to pause. Pick one message per piece of content and give it space to land.
- Make a Keep–Cut–Clarify List (10 mins)
Now that you’ve done a sweep, wrap it up with three simple lists:
- Keep: Messages that are still relevant and resonant
- Cut: Language, phrases, or positioning that no longer fits
- Clarify: Areas where you’re not quite sure what you’re saying — yet
This becomes your cheat sheet for the second half of the year.
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You don’t need to overhaul your brand to stay aligned. A quick messaging audit can reveal the gaps, sharpen your story, and make sure every word is working harder.
Need an outside eye? At CO Copy Marketing, we specialize in brand messaging that grows with your business. Let’s make your brand sound as good as it actually is.
Send us a DM or email contact@cocopy.pro
