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If your ads, emails or landing pages are not getting the results you hoped for, the problem is often not your funnel or your offer. It is your messaging.
When I say messaging, I mean your words. How you describe your offer. The way you talk about the problems you solve. The language you use to explain the transformation you are providing. When this part is even slightly off, everything that follows feels harder. Costs go up. Opt in rates drop. Sales become unpredictable.
In this post, we will look at why messaging is the first ingredient of a high converting funnel and how you can improve it using the exact words your ideal clients are already thinking and saying.
Why messaging matters more than the offer
Most business owners spend a lot of time adjusting their strategy. They tweak colours on the landing page, switch up lead magnets and test new audiences in Ads Manager.
Very often, the real issue is not what they are offering. It is how they are talking about it.
Your audience is not waking up thinking, “I would love a free checklist” or “I really want to watch a new webinar today.” They are waking up with real life problems on their mind. They might be thinking things like:
- I need a marketing plan I can do in 30 minutes a day to bring in more clients.
- I need a way to get organised at dinner time that does not take hours of planning.
- I want to lose weight without counting calories or feeling deprived.
Your job is to speak directly to those thoughts.
Messaging is not about sounding clever. It is not about adding more adjectives or trying to write like a copywriter. It is about reflecting back the exact language your ideal clients already use, so when they see your ad or email they feel like you are inside their head. That feeling is what gets clicks, signups and sales.
Where to find the words that convert
If the magic is in the words your audience is already using, how do you find them?
You do not guess. You do not sit in a blank document trying to invent the perfect phrase. You listen.
Here are practical places to look.
Sales calls
If you speak directly with potential clients, you are already sitting on a goldmine of language. Go back to call notes and recordings. Notice how they describe their problems. Pay attention to the phrases that keep appearing. Those repeated lines are often your best headlines and hooks.
Social media conversations
Your direct messages are another rich source of insight. Start genuine conversations with people who engage with your posts. Ask what caught their eye and what they are working on at the moment. Do not pitch. Be curious. When you ask open questions, people give you honest, specific language.
Facebook groups and forums
Look in groups or threads where your ideal clients are asking for help. Read the questions, not just the answers. How do they describe what feels hard? What do they say they are tired of trying? What do they wish existed?
Book reviews
Think about books your ideal clients would read. In the reviews you will often see comments like, “I wish this book had talked more about…” or “This really helped me because…”. Those are clues about what people are still searching for and how they describe it.
Surveys and opt in questions
A simple question on your opt in form can give you a constant stream of language. You can ask, “What is the biggest challenge you are facing with X” or “What is one result you would love to achieve in the next 30 days”. Keep the question short and easy to answer.
As you collect this language, save it in a swipe file. You can use those exact words in your headlines, ads, emails and sales pages. Then test them. Use different hooks on your social content. Try new subject lines in your emails and watch what gets the strongest response.
Your messaging is never “finished”
A common mistake is to treat messaging as a one time task. You do a bit of audience research, update your website and then move on.
In reality, your ideal clients are always evolving. Their problems shift. New trends appear in your industry. The way people talk about their challenges changes over time.
This is why messaging is not a set and forget piece of your funnel. It is an ongoing process of listening and refining. Keep asking yourself:
- Are my ads still resonating in the way they used to
- Are my landing pages still converting at a healthy rate
- Do my emails still sound like the real conversations my clients are having
If you see a drop in performance, one of the first places to look is your messaging. A small change in language can make a big difference to your results.
Simple action steps to improve your messaging
To bring this together, here is what I want you to remember.
You do not need to “sound fancy”. You do not need to become a professional copywriter. You need to listen more closely to your ideal clients. Gather language from real humans. Then mirror it back to them clearly and honestly.
Your goal is to make your audience feel seen and understood. You want them to feel like you are describing their exact situation and their exact desires. When your ads, landing pages and emails create that feeling, your funnel becomes much more attractive to the right clients.
Messaging is the foundation of your marketing. When you get it right, your ads get cheaper, your opt in rates rise and your sales conversations feel far more natural. When you get it wrong, everything feels harder than it needs to.
If you take one step this week, let it be this. Choose one place to listen more carefully. That might be your inbox, your DMs or a community your ideal clients hang out in. Capture the phrases that stand out. Then update one headline or one piece of copy with those real words.
Small shifts in language can create meaningful shifts in results.
I would love to hear your thoughts...