Are You Creating Content with Your Mission in Mind?
By Stanley Meytin
Where should you start if you want to create powerful visual stories of your brand that inspire customers and employees alike? Today’s consumers look beyond what you create. They want to know the reason you create it. To tell this story, you need to share your mission. You need to share your “why.”
At its core, a mission statement is essentially a brief summary of your business and what you aim to accomplish. Your mission isn’t what you do. It’s why you do it – which determines how you set about doing it.
It’s why Coca-Cola’s mission statement is not: “To make money from selling sugary drinks” – which is arguably what the company does. Coca-Cola’s mission statement is: “To refresh the world in mind, body and spirit. To inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions.”
Read that mission statement again. Now think for a moment about how easy it is to envision video marketing to promote the Coca-Cola mission statement. The company’s mission statement is the device that shapes all of its refreshing, colorful, cheerful video marketing.
You can’t tell a story unless you know your mission. Well, you can. But the story won’t resonate with prospects or customers – because it doesn’t resonate with you.
Mission statements aren’t for your customers
Many brands feature their mission statements somewhere – on posters at the corporate headquarters, or tucked away on a sub-page in the “About Us” section of their website. You always hear or see a company’s slogan or tagline. You seldom hear or read their mission statement.
It’s because mission statements are for the people who make up an organization, not their customers. Mission statements reflect what a brand stands for. Mission statements inform how decisions are made. They guide everything that is customer-facing.
Because frankly, customers don’t really care about what your mission statement says. They care about how you act as a company because of your mission. So, you’ve got a mission statement, right?
Missions and visions
It’s a chicken-or-the-egg kind of thing. Which comes first? Your vision or your mission? The easiest way to look at it is that your vision is a future state – it’s what you aspire to be but are not yet. Your mission statement describes your present state.
“Why do we exist?”
That’s the question your mission statement must answer. Mission statements express action. They describe what you do, who you do it for, and why you do it. Most importantly, they define the present state of your organization.
When you look at it from this vantage point, you can see why a mission statement doesn’t provide the “big idea” of your vision. A statement defining the present state of your organization offers no insight on where you wish to go.
Mission statements evolve as your customers interact with you, or by economic conditions. That’s the main reason why a mission statement should focus on what you do right now. Then what?
“This is where we want to go.”
That’s what your vision statement communicates. Mission statements tend to be short. That’s not the case with a vision statement. It should take as long as necessary, and your vision statement probably isn’t going to fit on a t-shirt or a poster.
Vision statements define your optimal desired future state. It’s aptly named. While a mission statement expresses what you do, a vision statement expresses what you see. Its objective is to inspire both your employees, and your customers. It captures your aspirations.
Your organization anchors action to the present when they understand the company’s mission. From this solid foundation of operation, they now know which way to face. They know where the company wants to go. If your company as a whole doesn’t understand why it exists, and where it plans to go, how do you know what you need to successfully get there? You can use a mission statement to anchor the strategy of your visual storytelling and video marketing.
Many companies function with only a mission statement. The focus is mostly on their current state. Knowing where the organization wants to go isn’t a distraction. It engages employees and generates productivity because they’re inspired. They might not have the professional expertise to create it, but it means that every person in your organization can tell your story.
Making a mission statement
Mission statements are actionable. You can add all sorts of ingredients to it, but it must contain two core elements:
- Identification of your target audience
- The problem you’re solving for them
Effective mission statements contain lots of verbs because they answer what you do, how you do it, and who will benefit. Once created, a mission statement helps stay focused on specific present actions that will move you closer to vision. It defines the purpose of your video marketing. It determines your strategy.
- It determines your video direction by helping you focus on your intentions.
- It outlines a template to help you make creative decisions..
- It facilitates alignment. There’s agreement on what behavior your visual storytelling should facilitate.
- It gives you a framework for evaluation and improvement. A clear mission statement allows you to know exactly what to measure — as well as how to measure it — to know you’ve undertaken the right actions that are moving you closer to your vision.
Starbucks decided their mission is, “To inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” Could you get more specific about measurements?
The doomsday approach
Understanding your mission shapes the stories you tell using video marketing. It takes you beyond the bells and whistles, or the features and benefits. It has to because your competitor can match those, anyway. So, if you’re struggling to determine your mission statement because you have a wide field of competitors – give this approach some consideration.
What would happen if today was your last day of business?
Who would this impact? What would happen to them? What would they care about the most? What problem do you fix for them right now that they would have to find someone else to fix? Would these other companies be able to help your customers?
There’s a unifying theme at work here. Each question forces you to think about right now.
Your mission in mind
Yes, it’s about what you make – your product or service. But it’s also about what you believe. That’s the connection today’s consumers want to make with you, and they seek it out in your video marketing. We all want to find our tribes. Consumers make brand choices based on whether the brand shares their beliefs.
You create scripts for your videos, but you also need a script for your beliefs. Having a mission statement creates the strategy for the stories you’ll share. Mission-driven video marketing shapes what type of content to make, exactly who it’s for, and what behavior you want to see as a result of viewership.
Reading Time: 4 minutes
By Stanley Meytin
Where should you start if you want to create powerful visual stories of your brand that inspire customers and employees alike? Today’s consumers look beyond what you create. They want to know the reason you create it. To tell this story, you need to share your mission. You need to share your “why.”
At its core, a mission statement is essentially a brief summary of your business and what you aim to accomplish. Your mission isn’t what you do. It’s why you do it – which determines how you set about doing it.
It’s why Coca-Cola’s mission statement is not: “To make money from selling sugary drinks” – which is arguably what the company does. Coca-Cola’s mission statement is: “To refresh the world in mind, body and spirit. To inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions.”
Read that mission statement again. Now think for a moment about how easy it is to envision video marketing to promote the Coca-Cola mission statement. The company’s mission statement is the device that shapes all of its refreshing, colorful, cheerful video marketing.
You can’t tell a story unless you know your mission. Well, you can. But the story won’t resonate with prospects or customers – because it doesn’t resonate with you.
Mission statements aren’t for your customers
Many brands feature their mission statements somewhere – on posters at the corporate headquarters, or tucked away on a sub-page in the “About Us” section of their website. You always hear or see a company’s slogan or tagline. You seldom hear or read their mission statement.
It’s because mission statements are for the people who make up an organization, not their customers. Mission statements reflect what a brand stands for. Mission statements inform how decisions are made. They guide everything that is customer-facing.
Because frankly, customers don’t really care about what your mission statement says. They care about how you act as a company because of your mission. So, you’ve got a mission statement, right?
Missions and visions
It’s a chicken-or-the-egg kind of thing. Which comes first? Your vision or your mission? The easiest way to look at it is that your vision is a future state – it’s what you aspire to be but are not yet. Your mission statement describes your present state.
“Why do we exist?”
That’s the question your mission statement must answer. Mission statements express action. They describe what you do, who you do it for, and why you do it. Most importantly, they define the present state of your organization.
When you look at it from this vantage point, you can see why a mission statement doesn’t provide the “big idea” of your vision. A statement defining the present state of your organization offers no insight on where you wish to go.
Mission statements evolve as your customers interact with you, or by economic conditions. That’s the main reason why a mission statement should focus on what you do right now. Then what?
“This is where we want to go.”
That’s what your vision statement communicates. Mission statements tend to be short. That’s not the case with a vision statement. It should take as long as necessary, and your vision statement probably isn’t going to fit on a t-shirt or a poster.
Vision statements define your optimal desired future state. It’s aptly named. While a mission statement expresses what you do, a vision statement expresses what you see. Its objective is to inspire both your employees, and your customers. It captures your aspirations.
Your organization anchors action to the present when they understand the company’s mission. From this solid foundation of operation, they now know which way to face. They know where the company wants to go. If your company as a whole doesn’t understand why it exists, and where it plans to go, how do you know what you need to successfully get there? You can use a mission statement to anchor the strategy of your visual storytelling and video marketing.
Many companies function with only a mission statement. The focus is mostly on their current state. Knowing where the organization wants to go isn’t a distraction. It engages employees and generates productivity because they’re inspired. They might not have the professional expertise to create it, but it means that every person in your organization can tell your story.
Making a mission statement
Mission statements are actionable. You can add all sorts of ingredients to it, but it must contain two core elements:
- Identification of your target audience
- The problem you’re solving for them
Effective mission statements contain lots of verbs because they answer what you do, how you do it, and who will benefit. Once created, a mission statement helps stay focused on specific present actions that will move you closer to vision. It defines the purpose of your video marketing. It determines your strategy.
- It determines your video direction by helping you focus on your intentions.
- It outlines a template to help you make creative decisions..
- It facilitates alignment. There’s agreement on what behavior your visual storytelling should facilitate.
- It gives you a framework for evaluation and improvement. A clear mission statement allows you to know exactly what to measure — as well as how to measure it — to know you’ve undertaken the right actions that are moving you closer to your vision.
Starbucks decided their mission is, “To inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” Could you get more specific about measurements?
The doomsday approach
Understanding your mission shapes the stories you tell using video marketing. It takes you beyond the bells and whistles, or the features and benefits. It has to because your competitor can match those, anyway. So, if you’re struggling to determine your mission statement because you have a wide field of competitors – give this approach some consideration.
What would happen if today was your last day of business?
Who would this impact? What would happen to them? What would they care about the most? What problem do you fix for them right now that they would have to find someone else to fix? Would these other companies be able to help your customers?
There’s a unifying theme at work here. Each question forces you to think about right now.
Your mission in mind
Yes, it’s about what you make – your product or service. But it’s also about what you believe. That’s the connection today’s consumers want to make with you, and they seek it out in your video marketing. We all want to find our tribes. Consumers make brand choices based on whether the brand shares their beliefs.
You create scripts for your videos, but you also need a script for your beliefs. Having a mission statement creates the strategy for the stories you’ll share. Mission-driven video marketing shapes what type of content to make, exactly who it’s for, and what behavior you want to see as a result of viewership.
What story would you like to share?
Whether you want to launch an idea, spark a movement or simply get people talking about what you do, you have one shot
at delivering your message in a way that matters. Let’s make sure you do it right.
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