Writing cohesive and dynamic mission, vision, and values for your brand messaging is crucial for your brand identity’s effectiveness. Plus, in the long run, it saves a ton of time. If you have the main messaging clearly and concisely written, you can copy and paste on multiple company assets from web content to press releases, blog posts, and more.
Question: What is the difference between mission, vision, and values?
Answer: Great question. Like a body’s healthy heart and lungs, your brand identity’s mission, vision, and values are crucial components of the larger whole. Each element is different yet keeps the brand functioning and thriving. Let’s go through the mission, vision, and values from what each one is to how each one is used.
Your Mission, If You Choose to Accept It
Think of your brand’s mission as how your business shows up. It tells your audience and your staff how you behave and the expectations you have. It’s your lighthouse. If you’re unsure about a business decision—an acquisition, hiring decision, a new product, and pretty much anything else—look back at your mission. Does it align? Then maybe it’s worth going forward. Does it not align? Huge red flag.
- Incorporate Taglines/Slogans: Craft taglines or slogans that succinctly communicate your mission to your audience. This helps memorably encapsulate your purpose.
- Highlight in About Us Sections: Use your mission statement prominently on your website’s About Us page to provide visitors with a clear understanding of your organization’s objectives.
- Reinforce in Content: Infuse your brand’s content with references to your mission, reinforcing the message and ensuring consistency across platforms.
Question: How do I write a mission statement?
Answer: Again, great question.
Keep it short—one or two sentences max (and not run-on sentences).
Pick exactly the right words—time to dust off the thesaurus. Don’t stop until it’s exactly right.
Mean it—these are standards you’re defining for your business. Be honest. Authenticity attracts customers. Consistency of that voice keeps them.
To get started, it might be helpful to use a formula. Like Mad Libs, this method might not be perfect, but at least it might be fun and get you to a foundation. You can build from there.
The mission of (company name) is (adjective describing a company value) to our customers, (adjective describing a company value) to our environment, and (adjective describing a company value) to the future.
Example: Southwest Airlines’s Mission—The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit.
Question: What are my company values? I can’t write this mission without them.
Answer: Again with the excellent questions. Let’s identify company values.
Values Should Light Your Way
“Companies that align their strategies with guiding principles achieve long-term success because they aren’t making snap decisions.”JB Clark, Content Workshop
If your mission is your lighthouse, your values serve as the light. They guide your company’s behavior 100% of the time. Think of them as a list of promises, both internally and externally, that you will always keep. Current research shows that 83% of customers want to spend money where their values align. Three-quarters of shoppers will even permanently ditch their most coveted brands if they don’t have the same values.
But don’t hide your values—let them shine! Here are some ways to incorporate values into your brand:
Brand Messaging: Whether front-and-center on your website or woven into text-based assets like pamphlets or blogs, incorporate your values into your branding messaging. When you display a commitment to your principles, you gain the trust of your audience, make real connections, and encourage company loyalty. If your brand values are integrity, transparency, and innovation, publicly publish reports and design your website to be cutting-edge. Show your audience you mean it.
Brand Storytelling: Showcase your values by telling personal stories about how your values guide your actions and decisions as an organization. Share anecdotes or examples that illustrate your values in action in blogs, social media posts, or on your website content.
Engage Employees: It’s not just what’s on the outside that counts, but also what’s on the inside. Your expectations internally should be the same as your expectations externally. Values inside and out. Ensure that your employees understand and embody your brand’s values, as they are often the face of your organization. Encourage behaviors that align with your values in all interactions.
Example: Southwest Airlines uses three sets of values, but for the sake of simplicity, we’ll focus on one: pride, integrity, and humility. Their messaging focuses on these three promises and lights the way for every action they take.
Vision: Small Yet Mighty
A company’s vision is an enormous idea encapsulated in a small, punchy thought. It’s your company’s biggest dream. Your vision should:
- Inspire with Aspirational Language: Use language that evokes emotion and inspires action when communicating your vision. Paint a vivid picture of the future you’re striving to create.
- Align Goals with Vision: Ensure that your brand’s goals and objectives are aligned with your vision statement. This helps create a roadmap for achieving your long-term aspirations.
- Share Success Stories: Share stories and examples that illustrate progress toward your vision, demonstrating to your audience that you’re actively working to realize your goals.
- Measure Outcomes: Main brand messaging, vision included, can be used to track measurements and outcomes to produce metrics for your company. If your vision is your ultimate pie in the sky, use that opportunity to track daily progress.
When writing your vision, go big, but stay small. Huge ideas in a wee package.
Let’s look at Southwest Airlines again.
Vision: To become the world’s most loved, most flown, and most profitable airline.
Now, do that for your own organization.
To be the world’s most (verb), most (verb), and most (adjective) (company type).
This exercise is just to get you started. If this isn’t quite right for your company, it’s probably because it was created for Southwest Airlines, so change it to make it 100% yours.
All Together Now: Mission, Vision, and Values Are Your Dream Team
By incorporating mission, vision, and values into your brand messaging, you create a strong foundation that resonates with your audience, differentiates your brand, and fosters trust and loyalty over time.
Together, your mission, vision, and values should tell the story of your brand. They should be well-written, concise, and emotive, but above all else, they should be authentically you. Often, your company’s biggest differentiator – what makes you stand out from the crowd – is your personality, which can be shown through a strong mission, vision, and values. Throughout this process, stay true to yourself.
Brand Messaging Made Easier
If writing isn’t your greatest strength, you’re not alone. Based on a recent survey, over half of US adults struggle with reading and writing. Building your brand content, including mission, vision, and values might be better delegated to a professional. To get some help might be a way you can work smarter and not harder.
If you need to reserve your time to do what you do best, use Content Workshop as a partner. Curious about what we do? Check out our web design services.
