The 3 M's of Marketing: Market, Message, Media

Most Business Owners Are Doing Marketing Backwards

I talk to entrepreneurs every single week who are frustrated with their marketing. They’re posting on social media, running ads, sending emails—and getting almost nothing back. And when I ask them why they chose those strategies, most of them say something like, “Well, that’s just what everyone else is doing.”

That right there is the problem.

Marketing isn’t about doing what everyone else is doing. It’s about doing the right things in the right order for your specific business, your specific customer, and your specific moment. And when you miss the order, you waste time, money, and energy that you can’t afford to lose.

That’s why I keep coming back to what I call the 3 M’s of Marketing: Market, Message, and Media. This framework has been around in one form or another for decades (thanks, Dan Kennedy!), but I want to break it down the way I wish someone had explained it to me early in my entrepreneurial journey—plain, practical, and in the right sequence.

M #1: Market — Who Are You Actually Talking To?

Before you write a single word of copy, before you decide on Instagram versus email, before you spend one dollar on ads—you have to know your Market. Not just a vague idea of your customer. I mean a crystal-clear picture of the specific person you are trying to reach.

I’m talking about:

Who are they? Not just demographics like age and income, but psychographics. What keeps them up at night? What do they dream about? What have they already tried that didn’t work? What do they believe about themselves and their situation?

What problem are they in right now? People don’t buy products. They buy solutions to problems they feel deeply. If you don’t know the problem your market is living in today, you’ll never write marketing that connects.

Here’s the truth: Most businesses try to market to everyone, and in doing so, they reach no one. The riches really are in the niches. When you get specific about your Market, everything downstream gets easier—your message becomes sharper, your media choices become obvious, and your conversion rates go up.

I always say, if you’re marketing to everyone, you’re marketing to no one. Get uncomfortable with specificity. That discomfort is where the growth is.

M #2: Message — What Do You Need to Say?

Once you know exactly who you’re talking to, now you can figure out what to say. Your Message is the bridge between where your customer is right now and where they want to be—and your business is the vehicle that gets them there.

A great marketing message does three things:

1. It meets people where they are. Your message has to enter the conversation already happening in your customer’s head. If you’re trying to start a new conversation, you’ve already lost them. Speak to what they’re already feeling.

2. It makes a clear and compelling promise. What will their life look like on the other side of working with you? Don’t be vague. Don’t use jargon. Say it plainly and say it boldly.

3. It calls them to a next step. A message without a call to action is just content. Every piece of marketing you create should invite your ideal customer to take one specific, simple next step.

I see so many business owners get this backwards. They spend hours crafting a clever tagline or a beautiful brand aesthetic before they’ve even figured out if their message resonates with their market. Clarity beats cleverness every single time.

Your message also has to be consistent. If what you say on your website sounds different from what you say on social media, which sounds different from what your salespeople say on calls—you’ve got a message problem that’s costing you trust, and trust is the currency of business.

M #3: Media — Where Does Your Message Need to Show Up?

This is the one everyone wants to start with. “Should I be on TikTok? Do I need a podcast? What about YouTube Shorts?” And I get it—media feels tangible and exciting. But if you haven’t nailed your Market and your Message first, none of it matters.

Media is simply the channel through which you deliver your message to your market. And the right channel isn’t the one that’s trending—it’s the one where your specific market actually hangs out and pays attention.

Ask yourself:

Where does my ideal customer spend time? Are they scrolling LinkedIn during lunch? Listening to podcasts on their commute? Searching Google when they have a problem? Reading email newsletters in the morning? You don’t have to be everywhere. You have to be where they are.

What format do they consume? Some markets respond to long-form video. Others want quick, punchy social posts. Some still respond best to direct mail or in-person events. Don’t assume—know.

What can you actually sustain? This one matters more than people admit. The best media strategy is one you can execute consistently over time. A sporadic presence on five platforms is far less effective than a consistent, valuable presence on one or two.

Media is the last decision because it should serve the first two. Once you know who you’re talking to and what you need to say, the media choices often become obvious.

Why the Order Matters So Much

Here’s the thing I want you to really take with you from this: these three M’s only work when you do them in order.

Market first. Message second. Media third.

When you reverse the order—choosing your media before knowing your market or crafting your message—you end up creating content that feels good to you but doesn’t convert. You spend money on ads that don’t land. You burn yourself out posting consistently but seeing no results.

I’ve watched good, hardworking business owners give up on marketing entirely because they were doing it out of order. That breaks my heart, because the problem wasn’t that marketing doesn’t work—it’s that the foundation wasn’t right.

God has given you a gift, a business, a mission. But stewardship of that mission includes marketing it well. You can’t serve the people you’re called to serve if they can never find you.

A Practical Next Step

So where do you start? Start with an honest audit of where you are right now with each of the three M’s.

Market: Can you describe your ideal customer in specific, vivid detail—beyond just age and job title? Do you know the exact problem they’re in right now?

Message: Is your core message clear, consistent, and compelling? Does it speak directly to the problem your market is experiencing?

Media: Are you showing up on the channels where your specific market is actually paying attention? Or are you just going where it feels comfortable?

If you answered “I’m not sure” to any of those, that’s your starting point. Not a new ad campaign. Not a rebrand. Not a new social platform. Go back to the foundation and build from there.

If you want help getting clarity on all three, I’d love for you to start here: Take the Marketing Clarity Kit assessment. It’ll help you identify exactly where your marketing is strong and where the gaps are—so you can stop guessing and start building with intention.

The 3 M’s aren’t complicated. But simple doesn’t mean easy. Do the work. Get the order right. And watch what happens when your marketing finally has a foundation it can stand on.

You’ve Got This

Marketing doesn’t have to feel like throwing things at the wall and hoping something sticks. When you lead with Market, follow with Message, and let those two things drive your Media decisions—you’re not just marketing smarter. You’re marketing with purpose.

And that’s the kind of marketing that builds something that lasts.