MISSION STATEMENT
Before diving into colors and images, writing a mission statement and defining your brand’s core values is fundamental. They are like the heartbeat and soul of your business. They will set the tone and guide every decision you will make.
Did you ever write an “elevator pitch”?
Elevator Pitch
Once upon a time (I know, I am dating myself) people worked in tall office buildings. Elevator rides were a daily routine, and a chance to meet new people and network.
Imagine that in those days, by lucky chance, you found yourself in an elevator with your potential dream boss or a perfect future customer. The elevator starts, there are a few floors to go, and the hoped-for prospect of yours suddenly asks:
“So, what is it that you do?”
Could you promote yourself for the next 60 seconds? Or would your mind go blank and the whole encounter would not be so lucky? Back then, if you were serious about networking, you had an “elevator pitch”.
A statement that had a memorable introduction, highlighted your best qualities, visions, and goals, smoothly transitioned into skills and experience, and ended with a clear indication of what kind of business interaction you are open to.
What does it have to do with the mission statement?
A lot. The elevator incident may be a story from the past but the need for such a promotional declaration remains. The elevator pitch was often to market yourself rather than a brand, but the promo ideas remained the same. With one difference, since more people work from home, that statement needs to move where they interact. It is usually online.
Nowadays a brand must have a LinkedIn profile, exist on a few social media platforms, and often maintain a website. They all include the “about” or “bio” section, and this is where your mission statement should go.
It needs to be sweet, short, and in writing.
Without a mission statement, you may get to the top of the ladder and then realize it was leaning against the wrong building! ~ Dave Ramsey
Mission Statement Writing Steps
Writing objectively and accurately about your brand, or yourself is not easy. People are often shy about it. Working on websites I was hired a few times to do it as a part of my design. First, this is not part of the creative aesthetics I promise to deliver, it is copywriting. But most importantly: your brand statement needs to come from you. You may hire a copywriter or an editor to proof it, but nobody will share your passion better than yourself.
QUICK TIP: From the beginning, decide on your “tone of voice”. It can be friendly or informative, casual or formal, and so on. It should appear in this first statement and stay consistent throughout all your future presentations. This tone of voice will become an element of your strategic branding.
When writing follow these steps:
- Introduce your brand. State your brand name and name its activity.
- Explain what motivates you. (When connecting with people the heart often comes before the head.)
- Specify the audience you’d like to address.
- Describe your offer. Clarify how in your vision it could improve the life of your audience. Highlight any unique traits that make your brand stand out.
Writing Content for the Web
- Avoid too wordy sentences. Run-on sentences are often confusing, and English will not always be the first language of your reader.
- Use keywords that will improve your SEO (search engine optimization).
A simple explanation of a “keyword”: is a word or a phrase, that your potential customer would type in the search field to find you. Note: it is not always the name of your profession. For example, someone looking for a plumber may be typing “leaking faucet” instead.
When it comes to online positioning and visibility the keyword used to be king. Algorithms change. Armed with AI they watch not only the direct searches but also our preferences and behaviors. The keywording rules are not as straightforward as they used to be.
My advice/defense in this matter is: to be clear about your intention and stay on topic. While using AI to optimize content writing becomes more and more common I also suspect it generates a multitude of content that is very much alike.
Be a human, tell your story, remain relevant, and therefore unique.
If you’d like to learn more about writing content for the web, let me recommend a book “Don’t Make Me Think“ by Steve Krug, pictured here and linked to the Amazon Store below. Since its first edition in 2000, this book has been my “go-to” source and helpful guide.
DISCLAIMER: The links to the Amazon Store, are my affiliate links. This means that at no cost to you, I may be earning a little commission if you use them to place an order. NOTE: I never recommend what don’t use myself.
Mission Statement Revisions
Test your statement on a few friends or potential customers.
- Ensure that the lingo you use in your mission statement is familiar to the people you plan to address. Representing a specific industry or activity, you may not realize how often you speak jargon that may sound vague or intimidating to an outsider.
- Check if everything is clear to readers who have never met you. You may have forgotten to mention some key details that are obvious to your family and friends, but a stranger wouldn’t know.
- Check the length of your statement. You are no longer timed by the elevator speed. However, although your website page can be, in theory, indefinitely long, to be reused on other platforms your statement must stay within the character limits required by them. LinkedIn is generous and allows you … up to 2,000 characters. From other social media, you may expect less.
Your website page can be long, but as a web designer who occasionally checks sites’ analytics, I can tell you that people who scroll through them are very “clicker happy”. Unless you deliver something VERY special – they will click away from your page in a second. Or less.
Therefore, consider preparing a couple of different versions of your statement.
QUICK TIP: While working on the statement you may come up with a catchy tagline or two. Seize them! Record them! They will come in handy later.
Is your mission statement ready?
Congratulations! You created the first element of your Creative Assets Library! Record all its versions, keywords, taglines, and other attributes. You will not believe how useful and time-saving will be in the future to have them always at ready.