Before you build your brand or even begin to tell your story, you must start with the basics. For most companies, that means defining your mission, vision, and core values right at your inception, which will lead you to develop your brand. If you don’t have these three key elements at your company, it’s not too late to build them now and put them into practice.
Begin with the Basics
Mission statements concisely declare the fundamental purpose of your business. It should clearly communicate what you do, how you do it, why your company exists, who you serve and what value you offer.
Your vision statement is more inspirational or aspirational. It offers a broad view of how your company will make an impact. Think of it as the long-term dream of where you want to be in 10-15 years.
Core values are your fundamental beliefs and demonstrate how you will work toward your vision. When put into practice, these values can powerfully articulate what you stand for. They are important because everything — including your brand and especially how you engage in customer service — radiates from these values.
Know the Details
Developing a positioning statement, outlining your industry, defining buyer personas, knowing your customer pain points, creating value propositions and being able to articulate your solution are all important to your marketing strategy. You need to have a firm grasp on all these points to effectively build and manage your brand. We could write entire blogs posts on each of these topics, but here are the key points to understand as a company.
- Who — Know who you’re selling to. Build out the personas. If you’re a B2B business, this should include job title, responsibilities, decision-making authority, challenges, preferences and more.
- Where — Pinpoint where potential customers are by location (city, state, region, country and/or continent). If you’re B2B, define the industry and perhaps even specifics such as what departments they work in. If you’re B2C, focus more on demographics and/or social preferences.
- Why — Focus on your customers’ pain points and challenges. Define the problems customers are trying to fix and ways they are trying to improve.
- What — This is the solution provided through the products and services you offer.
- How — Show differentiation, your unique approach and your processes. This is where you show how you solve the problem. It may also include expertise, best practices, special tools or something that is unlike what your competitor offers.
Showcase Your Identity
Externally, a brand has two main aspects. Your visual identity includes your logo, brand colors and the typography you use. There’s also your brand voice, which encompasses your tagline, the overall tone you convey and a communication style that should be consistent in all aspects of your business, from your website to your sales staff presentations.
Do you come across as serious and professional or informal and quirky? Are you simple or extravagant… a necessity or a luxury? Show your company’s personality, but make sure your brand voice is aligned with your core values and everything else written above.
Finally, never forget about your customer. Your brand story is the narrative of your company, but your customer’s needs should always be at the forefront. Make your customer the hero because they implement your solution.
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