You’ve landed here, which means you’re incredibly passionate about your business and want to make sure what you’re building is sustainable, efficient, and goal-driven. (That’s a BIG part of brand strategy, which you’ll hear about A LOT from me.)

So, you clearly understand the importance of marketing and having a sound strategy that not only moves the needle, but truly inspires people. And before you dive into all the aspects of creating an outward marketing strategy, you need a brand strategy.

Brand strategy is one of the most important aspects of your marketing — and your business as a whole! Brand strategy is the foundational step that comes before the logo, fonts, the fun visual assets, and all the external marketing.

But, if you don’t already have a brand strategy, where do you start? By defining a mission statement. I’ve gotta admit… I have a love-hate relationship with mission statements. Yes, I said it — and if you’re gasping in horror, let me explain. 

On one hand, mission statements are important for your business and your brand. I truly believe that if you don’t know where to start when defining your strategic documents, this is a great place to begin. On the other hand, mission statements alone won’t pay the bills (especially the fluffy ones laced with unnecessary jargon and dancing unicorns that don’t actually speak to the heart of who you are and what you do). 

Knowing your passion, your purpose, and your mission are all important. And having a mission statement that clearly articulates these things is important, too. In fact, defining your mission is a critical first step in uncovering your brand strategy (just not the only step) and putting it into action.

If you’re getting ready to cry into your guacamole because you have no idea where to get started, hang on! There’s enough salt in there already. Try these tips on for size first to create a strong mission statement and watch how everything comes together. (But also, please … for the love of all things holy … promise me that you won’t stop after you craft your mission statement. Keep it going and use your mission statement to fuel the creation of your brand strategy too!) 

Let’s dig in!

Start with Your Purpose

I know, I know. This sounds an awful lot like “Start with your why.” It’s a business owner rite of passage to both read and write a post like this! And before you dial up Simon Sinek and tell him I’m down on his concept, it is important and valuable for a business — we’re just going a bit deeper than simply what’s your why.

Define Your Mission

Your mission (or purpose or passion…the raison d’etre of your brand) is truly an integral part of creating brand identity, brand position, and differentiator… Basically, it’s the heart of your brand that really helps springboard the concepts you need as you define all the strategy elements for your brand!

Therefore, your mission statement is simply a summary of all that, AKA your brand’s purpose. It’s why you feel called to serve your audience and why you wake up every day ready to continue making a difference. 

It should clearly state what you do, why, your goals, and how you uniquely help your customers. It’s like an elevator pitch with a little more detail and thought behind the intention and reason of your brand. From there, you can turn your mission statement into an actionable brand strategy that inspires, motivates, and supports your business.

Related Reading: Brand Strategy: 8 Reasons Why It Matters Most to Your Brand

Questions to Help Define Your Mission Statement and Purpose

Writing a mission statement can feel daunting, but reflecting on your purpose and/or passion and knowing and owning your mission is the first step to getting clarity in your brand strategy. Here are a few questions to get you started:

• Why do you do what you do? 
• What are you passionate about? 
• What impact are you hoping to make? 
• What makes you energized to get to work every day?
• What core values influence this passion? 
• What mission do you want your team to embody? 

Then, once you know these details, you can pull them together in a statement that lights the path for your business and your team. It’ll serve as the anchor keeping everything together and be the emotional undertone of your brand.

Related Resource: Two-Minute Tip: What is Brand Strategy?

Dig Deeper Than Just Your Mission Statement: Put Action into Your Brand Strategy

I’ve seen many business owners throughout my career spend hours, and do 27 iterations of a mission statement because they feel like it’s the most important part of a brand strategy. Or they think it will fix all of their issues — “If only I had a clear mission statement … then my team would really understand, or my marketing would finally make sense, or my brand would feel more powerful” etc etc.

My heart goes out to these hours spent in angst. While the time spent creating a mission statement isn’t a waste, agonizing over it without ever digging deeper is. And at the end of the day, a mission statement without any strategy behind it is useless. 

And while having a mission statement is the first (and very important) step, it is not where your brand strategy stops. It’ll simply help you dig into the emotions that are associated with your brand and give you a guiding light to follow as you dig into the strategic work of defining your audience strategy, positioning statement, marketing strategy, and so on in alignment with your vision and your mission.

Use your purpose and mission statement as a jumping-off point to guide the emotions you’ll convey to your audience through your marketing and brand strategy.

Related Reading: Audience Strategy: The Most Important Part of Brand Strategy

While I won’t sit here and say that having a mission statement will solve all your problems, I do firmly believe that it’s an important first step to start unlocking the clarity that you, your business, and your brand really needs.

Think of your mission statement as the gas in your vehicle. Arguably a very important element to have if you want to go anywhere, but you still need the rest of the car! Gas without a spark (and tires and an engine, etc, etc) won’t get you very far. Similarly, a brand strategy without heart and soul won’t have the fuel it needs to help you create a sustainable, satisfying business.

As you can see, a mission statement and a brand strategy go hand in hand. A mission statement is an important first step, but isn’t the only step you’ll need to take. Use the anchor you’ve created here and keep touching back to it as you move on to create the actionable strategies that will drive your business forward!