Branding, Marketing & Community 102–Crafting a Mission Statement

Sharpen your message and focus your brand

So you’re following your passion to grow your art, business, project, or personal brand — LFG — Now’s the time to lay the groundwork for an effective marketing and branding operation…

The tools to create an online identity (website, social media account, blog, podcast, etc.) are widely accessible, but it’s challenging to stand out amongst an overwhelming crowd. High effort is not best effort, putting energy into marketing with no solid plan is a common mistake. To get ahead you need a path to follow, a destination to drive to, a target to aim at. To reach out you must first draw from within. Let’s get more eyes on your project, build a memorable online presence, and lay a strong foundation for the future.

Start With a Mission Statement

The mission statement is the seed your brand will grow from, a dynamic declaration of purpose and the direction you intend to go.

Some examples-

Amazon — To be Earth’s most customer-centric company

Coca-Cola — Refresh the world. Make a difference.

Google — Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

IKEA — To offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them

Nike — Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world

The best mission statements are concise, multifaceted, define what the business does, and serve as a mirror for all future branding/marketing decisions. When crafting your statement be genuine to your values and beliefs, create something you can commit to 100 percent, because you will be surrounded by it everyday.

All current and future products, services, and messaging, should be aligned with your mission statement whenever possible. This gives you a clear identity and establishes trust and credibility with your audience. A strong message = strong bonds, it’s important to clearly communicate what you stand for.

TLDR: Your mission statement should -

• Describe your goal
• Say how you going to do it
• Get to the point

Easy, right? In lieu of divine inspiration — (which does happen), a kick-ass mission statement will take time and some brainstorming; days, perhaps weeks, to really dial it down and define a potent purpose. Here’s a simplified outline to get your started.

ASK YOURSELF

Get the answers to these questions out of your head, doesn’t matter if it’s written, typed, recorded, whatever. Your thoughts look different outside of your head versus in it.

1. What are 3 to 5 individual words that you want people to associate with you? resource 1 resource 2 resource 3
2. Who is your competition now? Who will be your future competition?
3. What brands would you like to eventually partner with? Why?
4. What 3 notable people/celebrities would you want to use and like your product? Why?
5. What do you want people to tell their friends and family about your product?

DO RESEARCH

The internet is vast and informative, due to short attention spans and a distaste for research, many people don’t take full advantage of it. A little digging can reveal amazing insights to connect your brand with your audience.

1. How is your competition succeeding?
2. Who is your target audience?
3. Where/when is your target audience?
4. How does the competition differentiate between each other? Is there an angle not currently leveraged?

FIND YOUR “SIZZLE”

Tell a story and paint a picture with your mission statement. Think about feelings and explain not just the product, but the outcome as well.

1. What gets you excited about your brand/product?
2. Why should anyone care about your brand/product?
3. What is unique mix of traits your personality and life path bring to your work?
4. What kind of value will your audience get from your work?

QUICK HITS

1. There is a magical balance between being descriptive and being concise, seek it out.
2. The thesaurus is your friend, one word change can make a huge difference and unlock mind treasure.
3. Share your ideas with people that will give you HONEST feedback. Constructive criticism is good and will only make your mission statement stronger.
4. Take a break from your research and ideas, put it down for a day, clear your mind and come back with fresh eyes.
5. Don’t rush it, you will likely do 3, 4, 5, or more drafts that will improve each time. Quickly created mission statements are generally weak.

A mission statement is the first-step-foundation of your brand/marketing operation. It’s a declaration of purpose, but with your unique angle and flair. It explains the direction you intend to grow. I hope this write up helps you get started in the right direction! Let me know if you have any questions or need further guidance. Next time we’ll build off the mission statement and talk about the purpose and nature of brand values

Note: This is the 2nd article in the series, links to the rest can be found here 👇

101–19% of success is showing up

102 — This article

103–Brand Values

104–Build Awareness

or take a look at — Marketing Case Study — Women’s Razors

BanAnakin [Champ] brings real world experience to Web3 with branding, marketing, and community management. His work with 10k PFP and 1/1 art has contributed to 1000+ Eth in sales volume