What does your business stand for?

What does your business stand for?

Part of the marketing communications food chain that we don’t hear so much about is the discipline of message definition. But for me, it’s the essential preparation that needs to happen before you really get stuck into communicating with the outside world. I do a lot of work for corporates in helping them define, distil and articulate key messages to their clients and target audiences, and although the process demands a certain amount of rigour, it’s not just for the big boys.

Every business, no matter what the size, needs to be absolutely clear about their messages from the outset. At any moment in time, you need to be able to clearly articulate what your business stands for, what you believe in, what marks you out as different and what kind of value you provide to your customers. This is more than an elevator pitch – this is describing the very soul of your company.

So think about it now. How would you answer the following questions?

• Who are you? Who or what is your brand?
• What is the ‘it’ that you provide, in the simplest of terms (imagine explaining it to a child, or a non-native English speaker)?
• What value do your customers derive from ‘it’ and the service you provide?
• How do you make clients’ lives easier / better / more efficient or profitable?
• What do you believe in? What are your guiding principles of doing business?
• What is your viewpoint on the industry you’re in? Where is it going? How will you move with it over time?

Set aside time and space to think about these questions and really refine your answers. Write it down. Talk about it with colleagues, clients, and – best of all – those who are completely unrelated to your business. Do they understand what you have to say? 

I advise clients to undertake this exercise every six months at least. Because as the world changes around us, it’s important to revisit who you are, how you do what you do and what is critical to you and those you serve. 

Once you’ve established your messages, you’ll not only look at your business differently, but you’ll find that your communications will flow so much more fluently, through all the channels you choose to employ.

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