An adventurer is often propelled into action by their quest. Whether it’s destroying a magic ring, slaying a timeless evil or relieving a besieged village, the quest is what gives the hero drive. Quests and missions are drivers of purpose and great acts of heroism. They are the call to adventure, and are surprisingly common for businesses.
I’ve looked at how values, qualities and beliefs help create feelings to associate with your brand, but without the mission these can lack direction.
What is the Mission Statement?
Your mission statement is an explanation of your brand purpose. Like a quest, it is action-oriented and ideally a simple to understand. It summarises what you do and why you do it. They often include a general idea of what you do to change customers lives.
Simple mission statements can help to show your contribution and impact to consumers. They are all about understanding what you are bringing to the table and directing your efforts.
How does it help your brand?
The mission statement is all about why the brand exists. It’s a deeper reason for being, beyond the function of making money. A mission statement helps to create an emotional connection with the audience and provides context. Defining a mission early will help you to narrow down your target market. Additionally, you can tie everything in your brand back to the mission. If the values are the compass, the mission is your destination.
As with any destination, it’s important to know you’re heading towards it. A mission statement helps keep you and your brand on track. Your decisions are more likely to stay on track if you make them with the statement in mind.
Ultimately, a mission statement helps direct your brand and keep it on track.
Tips for creating your Mission Statement
Great mission statements can be surprisingly tricky to create. There is a temptation to cater to a wide range of markets, but it can be better to be focussed. It’s your opportunity to define the company’s goals, values and even ethics, so should be honest and direct. To help you, here are a few tips to creating your mission statement.
1 – Tell your story
Your story is what makes your business unique, so you should start with this. Understanding why your company exists and why people should interact with it can help build ideas for your mission statement.
If you can understand how and why your clients interact with you, then it becomes easier to write a statement that draws them in. The story itself doesn’t need to be in the mission statement, but should be on your mind while writing it.
2 – Who are your customers
Being niche and targeting your mission statement can help make it easier to write. As with anything in your brand, understanding your target market is crucial, so make sure to write it with them in mind. Doing so will make it resonate more with the people you want to attract.
3 – What you do
This one is fairly straightforward, but often neglected. You need to show the impact you have on your clients lives. It’s not the time to undervalue the service you offer and should advertise how you change your client’s lives for the better.
If your business is also doing things for the wider world, put this in too! Consumers love it when a business has goals beyond their brand, especially when it comes to doing good. It’s incredibly important to be doing these things as well as saying them though – being disingenuous will do nothing more than anger and isolate people.
4 – Review it
Once you’ve written your statement, don’t forget to review as it will need cutting and polishing. Don’t be afraid to remove bits that aren’t working or make it too wordy. It’s also worth searching for buzzwords and removing them as these are often overused. You should also review it every so often to make sure it still matches everything you are doing in your business and keep it up to date.
Do you feel the call to adventure? We offer consultation and brand strategy services to help uncover your quest and create a bold mission statement. Book in for a free discussion here to see if we can help.
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