Level 2: Unsystematic Engagement

We’re continuing with our CatalystU Blog series about Engagement. We started off by discussing Level 1. If you missed that post, you can find it here. We started at this level discussing attraction, your customers and why they both matter to your business. When it comes to attracting customers, the first step is knowing who your customers are and where they are located in their journey with your brand. 

We also need to consider who YOU are as an organization. CatalystU provides you the tools to understand identifying your purpose, values and beliefs. We work to help you formulate your “why”. All of this internal messaging and customer identification is the key to understanding level 1. Remember we call that level ‘Disengaged’ for a reason. Before you can work on bringing customers to the table, we have to fundamentally understand who they are and who you are as a business. Most importantly, you want to find customers and articulate how your business is unique.

So, you’ve done this work, used the Catalyst Roadmap to identify your customers, and you’re confident in the direction of your business. It's a great start. 

Now what? How do we get our customers to progress to Level 2?

In Level 2, ‘Unsystematic Engagement’, we focus on the message. You're still in the ‘Attract’ phase of our course. This means your goals are trying to bring people in and build interest in your business. You want to make sure that your messaging is something that resonates and it's something that customers want to hear. Attention in our busy world is finite!

Think about all the messages that you are bombarded with every single day. Your social feeds, your television ads, the radio scripts... It's all just noise. You want to cut through that with clear and effective messaging that your audience members are receptive to. If they're tuning you out, your sales won't grow.

In order to progress in Level 2, we need to consider your business messaging itself. One key element is clarity. Are you using language that everyone can clearly understand? Is it catchy? Is it quirky? Those things are going to depend on your company, your messaging tone and your Catalyst Statement. But one thing that is universal for everyone is that the language that you use makes a difference. Confusing jargon or ‘insider language’ are immediate turn-offs. If your potential customers can’t understand who you are and what you offer quickly and easily, they are not going to be receptive to the message. 

CatalystU makes this easy. We often tell people to think about drafting business messaging that would be understandable to both someone who is 8 years old or 80 years old. Refining this clear message and targeting it to your specific audiences or personas allows people the opportunity to pause and consider what you have to say- and how it makes it relevant to them. Remember, you're not necessarily catering to the whole world with your messaging, but you need to hone in on your specific customers and provide them with something you know they will want to hear and take action on.

Your messaging needs to define who you are and what you offer. Within this message, you can feel free to express your personality and brand- while also expressing your business values, beliefs and your “why”. The goal of Level 2 is to make sure that you're doing that in the simplest terms possible. There should be no confusion about who you are or what you have to offer. Our goal is to express that to the audience so they can pause, reflect and consider that you are a brand who they can have a personal connection to- all of which leads to Level 3 and the final stage of the Attract phase: “Frustrated Engagement.”