Purpose
This SOP defines KM's standard process for developing client messaging. The goal is to create a repeatable system that helps the team clarify a client's positioning, define how they should be understood in the market, and turn that strategy into usable deliverables for websites, presentations, campaigns, and sales materials.
The process is built around research, one-on-one interviews, Brand Essence, AI-assisted drafting, human refinement, and structured rollout into execution.
Core Principle
Do not start with website copy.
Start by defining and approving the strategic message first. Once the messaging foundation is approved, website copy and other collateral become much easier to produce. KM's messaging work is meant to create clarity before copywriting.
When to Use This SOP
Use this SOP when a client needs any of the following:
- A new messaging platform
- A messaging refresh
- Repositioning
- Clearer differentiation
- Audience or value proposition clarification
- A foundation for a website rewrite
- Strategic language for sales, marketing, or presentations
- Clarification between sister brands, offers, or business lines
This process also applies when updating existing messaging, not just starting from scratch. In some engagements, the challenge is not inventing a new brand story, but clarifying relationships between audiences, products, or sub-brands.
Process Overview
Discovery & Research
Objective
Understand the client's current position, how the market sees them, what competitors are saying, and where KM believes the brand should go.
Tasks
- Review the current website
- Review any existing brand docs or messaging platforms
- Conduct a light messaging and site audit
- Review 2–3 relevant competitors
- Identify messaging gaps, weak points, or confusion areas
- Gather examples of where the brand could move strategically
This step exists to create an initial hypothesis before interviews begin. The purpose is not to lock the message early, but to build enough context to ask better questions and identify likely opportunities.
AI Use in Research
AI should be used throughout the research phase to accelerate and deepen the work. Approved uses include:
- Summarizing and extracting key claims from competitor websites
- Identifying patterns across messaging from multiple competitors at once
- Flagging gaps or overused language in a client's current messaging
- Generating an initial competitive messaging comparison
- Drafting a preliminary positioning hypothesis based on research inputs
- Organizing research notes into a structured summary format
AI accelerates research. The strategist still interprets what it means.
Deliverables
Interview Strategy & Question Development
Objective
Prepare interview questions that uncover the real positioning, not just surface-level wording.
Tasks
- Draft tailored questions for leadership and key stakeholders
- Decide whether questions should be shared in advance
- Identify who needs to be interviewed
- Coordinate interview schedule with project lead
- Determine whether additional perspectives are needed from clients, employees, or other stakeholders
Interview Standards
Format
- One-on-one interviews only
- No group interviews unless there is a rare strategic reason
- Use Google Meet when possible so the meeting can be recorded
- Phone is acceptable when needed
Scheduling
- Most engagements involve up to 3 interviews
- More complex organizations may require more
- Interviews are positioned as 30–45 minutes
- Block up to 1 hr 15 min internally in case a participant goes long
Group meetings tend to dilute honesty and can weaken the final message. One-on-one interviews are preferred because people are more likely to speak openly.
Deliverables
Stakeholder Interviews
Objective
Gather raw language, context, insights, and differing points of view.
Focus Areas
- What the company actually does
- Why it matters
- What makes them different
- Where people misunderstand them
- What their best clients value
- What they want to be known for
- What message is true versus what leadership assumes is true
- What has changed in the business or market
- Where audiences may be confused
The purpose here is not just to gather quotes. It is to surface the real positioning and the real tensions. Interviews should produce both alignment and disagreement, because both are useful.
Deliverables
Brand Essence
Brand Essence is a required step in the KM process.
Objective
Create an early alignment document that captures the core truth of the brand before building the full messaging platform.
Positioning
"This is what we heard you say."
Purpose
Brand Essence serves as the first strategic checkpoint. It is a simpler document that confirms KM understands the brand before moving into the deeper messaging platform. This makes the larger deliverable easier to build and easier to refine.
Standard Contents
- Brand essence / core truth
- Purpose
- Belief
- Mission
- Vision
- Values
- High-level positioning direction
Deliverables
Synthesis & Strategic Direction
Objective
Weigh research and interviews together, then define the most strategic and authentic direction.
Tasks
- Review transcripts and summaries
- Compare interview input against research
- Identify recurring phrases and themes
- Identify contradictions or confusion
- Clarify audience distinctions
- Determine the strongest positioning direction
- Use Brand Essence approval as a checkpoint before moving forward
This is where the strategist determines what is true, useful, differentiated, and market-relevant. The goal is not to repeat interview language blindly — it is to synthesize what was heard and shape a message that is both authentic and strategically stronger.
Deliverables
AI-Assisted Drafting
Objective
AI is used throughout the KM process — from research and competitive analysis in Phase 1 through synthesis, question development, and drafting here. Phase 6 is where AI shifts from supporting research into driving structured first drafts, while the strategist retains full ownership of the final thinking.
Approved Use
Use Claude, ChatGPT, or other current top-tier AI models to help with:
- Summarizing transcripts
- Organizing research
- Refining interview questions
- Generating first-pass messaging frameworks
- Drafting Brand Essence
- Drafting messaging platform sections
- Creating structured outputs from inputs
Standard Inputs
- Transcripts and interview questions
- Research and competitor notes
- Relevant existing brand guidelines
- Previous messaging platforms
- Brand Essence and client context
AI is used for speed and structure, not for final thinking.
The strategist or writer must review, refine, and rewrite as needed so the output sounds authentic, avoids generic AI phrasing, reflects real reasoning, sounds like the client — not a bot — and holds together strategically.
Deliverables
Full Messaging Platform
Objective
Turn the approved strategic direction into a complete messaging system that the client and KM team can use.
Standard Sections
- Brand purpose
- Brand belief
- Mission
- Vision
- Values
- Differentiators
- Core message
- Supporting messages
- Value propositions
- Audience understanding and segments
- Competitor or messaging comparison
- Example headlines
- Recommendations for website direction
- Sitemap recommendations, when needed
Optional Additions
- Brand traits and personality
- Tone guidance
- Words to use / avoid
- Proof points
- Hierarchy between sub-brands
- Audience-specific messaging tracks
- Presentation and homepage messaging recommendations
Deliverables
Internal Review
Objective
Pressure-test the work before it is shared with the client.
Review Questions
- Is the positioning clear?
- Is the differentiation believable?
- Does the language sound human?
- Does it align with the Brand Essence?
- Are the audiences defined correctly?
- Is the message strategically useful?
- Is it strong enough to guide website copy and marketing?
- Does anything feel vague, inflated, or AI-written?
Internal review should improve clarity, not create a bottleneck. Reviewers should focus on strategic fit, not subjective rewriting for its own sake.
Deliverables
Client Review & Revisions
Objective
Get alignment on the message without getting stuck in endless polishing.
Standards
- Expect 1–2 rounds of revisions in most cases
- Keep review conversations centered on strategic clarity first
- Avoid line-by-line polishing too early
- Confirm alignment before moving into website copy or campaign assets
The messaging platform should be approved before downstream copywriting begins. Once approved, website copy, marketing materials, and related deliverables become much easier to produce because they are built from the same foundation.
Deliverables
Rollout Into Execution
Objective
Use the approved messaging platform as the foundation for downstream deliverables.
Common Next-Step Deliverables
- Website copy
- Homepage messaging
- Service page messaging
- Sitemap revisions
- Presentations
- Campaign messaging
- Ad messaging
- Video scripts
- Sales collateral
- Internal messaging guidance
The messaging platform is not the end product by itself. It is the strategic source document that makes later deliverables faster, more consistent, and easier to write.
Deliverables
Tools Stack
Research
- Client website
- Competitor websites
- Existing messaging platforms
- Existing brand guidelines
- Prior KM deliverables and reference examples
- Claude / ChatGPT for competitive analysis and research synthesis
Meetings & Recording
- Google Meet for stakeholder interviews
- Phone when needed
- Voice Memos as backup recording
- Otter for transcription, summaries, and notes
AI — Used Throughout
- Claude
- ChatGPT
- Other current top-tier AI models approved by the team
- Active from research through platform drafting — not just in Phase 6
- Google Docs or equivalent for working drafts
Delivery & Collaboration
- Google Drive for organizing, sharing, and delivering docs
- Shared docs for comments and revisions
- Internal project tools for scheduling and approvals
Standard Deliverables
Required
Common Add-Ons
Time & Complexity Guidelines
- Messaging refresh
- Simple offer structure
- 2–3 interviews
- Limited audience complexity
- Discovery and research
- Up to 3 interviews
- Brand Essence
- Full messaging platform
- 1–2 revision rounds
- Website implications included
- Multiple leaders or business lines
- Several distinct audiences
- Larger competitive landscape
- More than 3 interviews
- Layered differentiation and architecture
Quality Standards
Every messaging deliverable should be:
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Ownership Model
Owns
- Research
- Question development
- Interviews
- Synthesis
- Brand Essence
- AI-assisted drafting
- Messaging platform drafting
- Revision management
Supports
- Scheduling
- Context gathering
- Stakeholder coordination
- Review logistics
- Document routing
Provide
- Strategic feedback at key checkpoints
- Pressure-testing on positioning and clarity
- Approval guidance before client presentation
The Process in Brief
KM's messaging process is designed to move from raw information to approved clarity in a structured way.