Most businesses aren’t ignored because their product is bad, but because their words are bad.
The marketing message used by most businesses is often confusing, clever, or heavy with jargon that the customer’s brain instantly rejects. We give you an actionable explanation of how to fix that with a three-phase messaging strategy—curiosity, enlightenment, and commitment—built on five simple, zero-cognitive-load soundbites that any business can use to say the right thing consistently across all marketing channels.
The brain only notices what feels tied to survival or solving a painful problem. If your words don’t clearly connect to a problem, the brain tunes them out.
Cognitive Load: The Hidden Killer
- Every phrase the customer reads has a weight:
- Light, simple words = easy to understand = people keep reading.
- Heavy, abstract words = too much thinking = people scroll past.
- Your goal: “Zero cognitive load” in your key messages.
- No vague slogans.
- No mission-statement fluff.
- No cute lines your agency loves, but your customer doesn’t understand.
- Rule of thumb: If a stranger can’t tell within a few seconds what you do and why it matters, your copy is too heavy.
The Soundbite Strategy: 5 Core Talking Points (PEACE)
Inspired by Donal Miller’s StoryBrand strategy: https://storybrand.com/
At the heart of the strategy are five short, repeatable soundbites that tell a simple story about your customer and your product.
PEACE Framework:
- Problem Soundbite
- Define one clear problem you “own” in the customer’s life.
- Purpose: Grab attention by naming the “hole” they’re in.
- Empathy Soundbite
- Show that you understand how that problem feels.
- Purpose: Create an emotional bond and position yourself as the caring guide.
- Answer Soundbite
- Present your product as a simple solution.
- Purpose: Show how you get them out of the hole.
- Change Soundbite
- Describe who they become after using your solution (a more capable version of themselves).
- Purpose: Increase the perceived value of your offer via personal transformation.
- End Result Soundbite
- Paint the “happily ever after” – life once the problem is solved.
- Purpose: Cast a motivating, vivid vision that pushes them to act.
These five soundbites need to be:
- Short enough to memorise.
- Simple enough for a 12-year-old to understand.
- Repeated word-for-word everywhere.
The 3-Phase Marketing Message Campaign
You need to develop a relationship with your audience, covering all of the following three phases and goals:
Phase 1: Curiosity
Goal: Get them to stop and notice you.
- Use your Problem, Empathy, Answer, Change, End Result soundbites as hooks.
- Format: headlines, ad hooks, social posts, video openers, email subject lines.
- The job is not to explain everything; it’s simply to make them think: “Wait, that’s me. Tell me more.”
Phase 2: Enlightenment
Goal: Help them understand and feel confident.
- Now you’ve earned attention, you explain:
- How it works
- What it costs
- How risky (or safe) it is
- Why it’s a good fit for them
- Formats:
- Landing pages
- Case studies
- Webinars, YouTube videos
- Blog posts, lead magnets, nurture emails
- Your five soundbites become the spine of all this content.
Phase 3: Commitment
Goal: Get them to decide and act.
- Provide clear, low-friction reasons to act now:
- Free trial, limited bonus, discount, guarantee, challenge/program, community.
- Formats:
- Checkout pages
- Sales decks
- Proposal docs
- Offer emails, retargeting ads
- You still repeat your five soundbites, but now you link them to a specific offer + CTA.
If you skip any of these phases, you will struggle to get people to enter your world, trust your products, and become part of your customer community.
Create an Actionable Plan
Here’s how to implement this in practical steps.
Step 1: Choose the One Problem You Want to Own
- Ask: “What is the single painful problem our best customer has that we solve better than anyone?”
- Make it concrete:
- NOT: “We optimise digital transformation.”
- INSTEAD: “You’re wasting money on software your team doesn’t use.”
Write it as a short sentence. That’s the core of your Problem Soundbite.
Step 2: Draft Your 5 PEACE Soundbites
Use this fill-in template:
- Problem
- “You know how [type of customer] often struggle with [particular problem]?”
- Empathy
- “We know how frustrating it is when [emotional experience of that problem].”
- Answer
- “That’s why we created [product/service] that [simple explanation of what it does].”
- Change
- “So you can become [new, stronger version of them].”
- End Result
- “And finally enjoy [clear, desirable outcome / ‘happily ever after’].”
Now refine each one until:
- All jargon is gone.
- Cognitive load feels like 0.
- A stranger can repeat it back after hearing it once.
Step 3: Lock the Exact Wording
- Choose one final version for each soundbite.
- Don’t tweak it every week; consistency beats creativity.
- Save them in a central place (Notion, brand guide, etc.) labelled as: “Official Soundbites – Do Not Freestyle”
Step 4: Deploy the Soundbites Across All Channels (Curiosity Phase)
Use your five soundbites as hooks wherever you need attention:
- Website hero headline & subheadline
- Social media bios and top-pinned posts
- Paid ad headlines and primary text
- Video hooks (first 5–10 seconds)
- Event banners, booths, and slide titles
- Podcast intros, profile descriptions
Rule: Every “first touch” piece of content should contain at least one soundbite.
Step 5: Build Your Enlightenment Assets Around PEACE
Create content that explains your solution, but is built on the same five soundbites.
Examples:
- Landing pages
- Section 1: Problem + Empathy
- Section 2: Answer (how it works)
- Section 3: Change (who they become)
- Section 4: End Result (vision + testimonials)
- Case studies
- Start with the problem.
- Show how your product answered it.
- Highlight the change in the person/team.
- End with the “happily ever after” result.
- Lead magnets/webinars
- Promise to help with the Problem.
- Teach toward the Answer.
- Show examples of Change and End Result.
Rule: Every long-form asset must echo at least 3–5 of your soundbites.
Step 6: Design Commitment Collateral That Makes Saying “Yes” Easy
Use the same language to wrap the offer in urgency and safety:
- Sales page/proposal:
- Restate the Problem and the End Result very clearly at the top.
- Summarise the Answer in 3 bullets.
- Show proof of Change (testimonials, before/after).
- Add incentives:
- Free trial, discount deadline, bonus module, challenge program, guarantee.
- Emails / retargeting ads:
- “If you’re still dealing with [problem], this is your chance to [end result] with [answer].”
Rule: Your CTA copy should feel like the natural next step after the soundbites.
Step 7: Standardise for Every Form of Communication
Create a “use the right words” checklist for your team:
For every new piece of communication (ad, post, email, script, page), ask:
- Does it clearly name the customer’s problem?
- Does it use the exact PEACE soundbite language (no ad-libbing)?
- Is the cognitive load low enough that a distracted person could get it?
- Is it clear which phase it serves?
- Curiosity (hook)
- Enlightenment (explaining)
- Commitment (closing)
If “no” to any → rewrite.
Step 8: Test, Measure, and Refine (Without Changing the Core Words Too Fast)
- A/B test high- and low-cognitive-load versions – track clicks, signups, sales.
- You’ll usually see:
- Simple, “obvious” lines outperform clever ones by huge margins.
- Only adjust the soundbites if:
- You discover a clearer problem to own, or
- Customers echo back a better, simpler phrase.
Create an Actionable Plan
Let’s get your business and products noticed.
Create a better Messaging System that lets you manage campaigns that span multiple phases of the customer experience journey: Curiosity, Enlightenment, Commitment. We can take a one-off, fast-track, performance-linked or consulting project approach that allows you to embed the Messaging System:
- Discovery Workshop (½ day)
- Channel Rollout (2–3 days)
- Content Build (ongoing)
- Team Enablement (1 day)
Make your Messaging System effective and repeatable!
