Are you using these six marketing terms correctly?
Photo by Kaboompics .com
Don’t know your mission from your values? Hazy about the difference between a goal and KPI? You are not alone my friend - I have often seen teams getting their wires crossed about how they define these terms and the outcome is usually confusion and wasted time. Frustratingly, there is no absolute right definition for most of these terms, though if you trawl the interweb, you’ll find plenty of people who strongly believe there are.
The most important thing is that however you define them you a) make sure that your whole business (or at very least team) understand and agree to what each term means and b) keep it as simple as possible. For me, that means the following:
Brand mission
I think of mission and vision as the same, so pick the one you best like the sound of. This is why your business exists and what it aspires to be – it should be bold and ambitious. A brand mission is not usually customer facing, instead it should be a rallying call for your workforce to get behind and work towards. The perfect brand mission is short, snappy and memorable (let’s face it, if it’s more than one line no one will remember it let alone live and breathe it).
Five examples of great brand missions
Nike: Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.*If you have a body, you are an athlete
ASOS: To become the number 1 fashion destination for 20-somethings globally
The NHS: To provide care and services that we and our families would want to use
Amazon: To be Earth's most customer centric company
Rapha: To make road cycling the most popular sport in the world
Brand Values
Consider your values as the filters or boundaries your company use to make key decisions. They are the behaviours that, when lived by everyone from C-suite execs to entry-level workers, ensure you are all pulling in the same direction – towards achieving your brand mission.
Three examples of brand values done well
Focus on the user and all else will follow.
It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
Fast is better than slow.
Democracy on the web works.
You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
You can make money without doing evil.
There’s always more information out there.
The need for information crosses all borders.
You can be serious without a suit.
Great just isn’t good enough.
Coca-Cola
Leadership: The courage to shape a better future.
Collaboration: Leverage collective genius.
Integrity: Be real.
Accountability: If it is to be, it's up to me.
Passion: Committed in heart and mind.
Diversity: As inclusive as our brands.
Quality: What we do, we do well.
IKEA
Togetherness: Togetherness is at the heart of the IKEA culture. We are strongest when we trust each other, pull in the same direction and have fun together.
Caring for people and planet: We want to be a force for positive change. We have the possibility to make a significant and lasting impact — today and for the generations to come.
Cost-consciousness: As many people as possible should be able to afford a beautiful and functional home. We constantly challenge ourselves and others to make more from less without compromising on quality.
Simplicity: A simple, straightforward and down-to-earth way of being is part of our Smålandic heritage. It is about being ourselves and staying close to reality. We are informal, pragmatic and see bureaucracy as our biggest enemy.
Renew and improve: We are constantly looking for new and better ways forward. Whatever we are doing today, we can do better tomorrow. Finding solutions to almost impossible challenges is part of our success and a source of inspiration to move on to the next challenge.
Different with a meaning: We are not like other companies and we don’t want to be. We like to question existing solutions, think in unconventional ways, experiment and dare to make mistakes - always for a good reason.
Give and take responsibility: We believe in empowering people. Giving and taking responsibility are ways to grow and develop as individuals. Trusting each other, being positive and forward-looking inspires everyone to contribute to development.
Lead by example: We see leadership as an action, not a position. We look for people’s values before competence and experience. People who ‘walk the talk’ and lead by example. It is about being our best self and bringing out the best in each other.
Goal/Objective
Again, some people separate out goals and objectives. That makes my head hurt, so I don’t and I call them goals. Think of goals as stepping-stones to reach your brand mission. Where the mission maybe lofty and ambitious, goals should be tangible. They should be used, along with KPIs (below), to assess performance . The best goals are SMART:
Specific – Clear and unambiguous
Measurable – To be used to evaluate progress
Achievable – Realistic
Relevant – Keep it to the point
Time-bound – When the goal should be achieved by
KPI
If the goal is the outcome you’d like to achieve, the KPI (or Key Performance Indicator) is the metric used to track its performance. Click through rate (CTR), sales, cost per click (CPC) are examples of marketing KPIs. They help you see how you are tracking against your goal.
Strategy
A strategy usually has a mid to long term outlook. It is the blueprint or plan for how you will achieve a goal or set of goals. Your strategy will help you decide not only what you should do to reach your goals but - just as importantly - what you shouldn’t do. In the brand and content marketing world, your strategy should answer these questions:
1. Who is our target audience?
2. What do they need/expect from us?
3. What channels will we find them on?
4. What do we want them to know about our business?
5. What resources (people and budget) do we need?
6. How will we measure success?
It is so easy to skip the strategy and get straight into tactics but believe me, you’ll end up putting too much effort into random initiatives that don’t help you move the needle on achieving your mission. The most often quoted pearl of wisdom on strategy is from Sun Tzu a Chinese military general who lived about 2500 years ago, who said “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Bottom line is you need a strategy, or it will all go to shit.
Tactics
Tactics (or initiatives) are the actions you take, that when joined together in a meaningful way, form a part of the strategy. They are the ‘work’ and the tangible outputs. Examples of content strategy tactics are social posts, podcast episodes, YouTube videos, a customer event. Brand strategy tactics could be a digital ad campaign, collaboration with a celebrity or the sponsorship of an event. It is often tempting to just ‘get on with it’ and dive into the tactics without considering why you are doing them, who your audience is or what you want to achieve. I know I am repeating myself here but really, just stop. You can thank me later.