A strong, clear brand purpose is at the heart of a successful business. Yet, many brands struggle to define their purpose. They don’t know how to answer the question: why do we exist? A brand purpose statement is your business’s internal compass and helps to guide your actions and decisions, as well as to differentiate you from the competition. It serves as a reference point for all team members, in all aspects of the business, including what you choose to offer and who you serve.
The key to a good brand purpose statement is identifying the problem you solve for your customers, your audience, or your community. Once you know what problem you solve, it will be easier to identify exactly who needs you to solve it. For example, if you run a gourmet chocolate shop in Atlanta, your brand purpose statement might be “to inspire people to buy more chocolate and show them how to use it to bring more romance into their lives” or “to help people discover new ways to eat chocolate every day.” However, you may be wondering: why is a brand purpose statement important?
A great brand purpose statement inspires anyone who reads it. When someone comes across your brand's website, they immediately understand why they should care about what you have to offer. They will know why they want to keep reading and learn more about your business' offerings and services. A strong brand purpose statement also enables you to focus on continuously solving the problem that your business exists for in order for your company to grow and thrive. By grounding everything you do in your brand’s big purpose, you will be able to bring forth a stronger, more unified message that taps into the hearts and minds of your target audience and shows them how you can make their lives better or easier in some way. With this in mind, here is what you need to do in order to develop your brand purpose statement:
Let your audience know your brand values.
If you're looking to improve your brand, you have to keep an eye on your beliefs and values. You must be consistent in expressing these or you'll confuse or even lose your customers. If you believe that your brand is a person, then it's important to have a clear picture of that person in your mind. If you're having trouble with this, sit down with some of your employees and ask them what they see when they think of your brand. This can help you get a complete picture.
Once you have that picture, think about the values this person has. Values are long-term beliefs plus the qualities that make a person who they are. For example, trustworthiness is a value that differentiates one brand from another. If your brand is a trustworthy person, then it must consistently behave in ways that demonstrate its trustworthiness. The easiest way to check if your brand is behaving consistently is to look at how it behaves online and offline. If there are inconsistencies between online and offline behavior, it may be time for an employee training session or perhaps even a rebranding!
Be clear on what impact you want your brand to make.
When you're building a brand, it's easy to get hung up on all the pieces that go into making your company look great. You want to have a logo, a mission statement, and a unique color palette. But how do all those parts work together? What are you trying to do with your brand? What's the impact you want to make on the world? How do you want to change people's lives? When you know what kind of difference you want your brand to make, everything else falls into place. Your branding materials will be geared toward the right audience and your website will draw people in and make them feel like they belong there.
For example, let's say you sell organic makeup. You might want people to buy your products because they're better for their skin or for the environment or because it's better for their pocketbook not to be buying makeup made with potentially harmful chemicals. Or maybe you want people to buy from you because they admire the work that goes into your products, such as when a customer sees pictures of all the ingredients in a product and can read about how it was made and packaged by hand in small batches. Your vision might be bigger than just makeup — it could be about helping women find a happier, healthier lifestyle by using natural products that nourish their skin instead of clogging it with artificial chemicals. Or maybe it will inspire young women to embrace their creativity by learning how to create makeup or skincare products at home. No matter the impact you have in mind, how you market your products also helps build your brand story and engage customers.
- Keep refining your brand purpose statement until it feels right.
Your brand purpose statement is the guiding light for all other marketing efforts. It's the reason your company exists, and it's what helps your customers connect with you on a deep emotional level. Words have power and every word in your brand statement matters. Each word should represent something important to your business and help convey the value you provide to customers. It must be simple enough to understand immediately, but it must also be flexible enough to adapt to different circumstances. It must be inspiring, yet also down-to-earth and realistic. It should inspire people to take action, whether that's sharing their positive experience with friends or colleagues or simply buying more products.
Tailor your brand purpose statement to fit your business goals and customer needs, but avoid having too many different versions of this statement floating around. The more consistent you are about the message you share, the easier it is for people to remember you. Keep refining your brand purpose statement until it feels right — like the truest expression of your business's core values that you can make at this time. Don't overdo it with buzzwords or complex jargon, but don't be afraid to use strong language as long as it's relevant. It's not just a description of how you do business; it's a powerful tool for inspiring employees and customers alike.