How to create sustainable, meaningful change for your business or brand.
Start the unstarted; change the unchanged.
With a new year comes the (yawn) list of new year’s resolutions. Maybe you like them. Maybe you don’t. Whatever your thoughts, if you want to create some form of change in your brand or marketing this year—and turn a goal (or resolution) into reality—it’s helpful to understand why.
So you probably know what your business or brand goal is; you’ve already defined the ‘what’* i.e. what you want to achieve. The next step is to understand the motivation behind your goal; to drill down into the why. Why you want or need that goal to become a reality.
*Your ‘what’ could be:
Growing your business;
Reaching a new or bigger audience;
Creating better alignment with your existing customers;
Updating your brand identity;
Re-positioning your brand for a change to your service or product offering; or even
Launching a new business, product or service.
Why the why?
Change can happen overnight. But usually sustainable, meaningful change for a business or brand takes a little longer. It takes a little more thought and a little more planning.
By applying a little more thought and getting a deeper understanding of the goals that you or your marketing team have – and why you need to reach them – you’ll be able to create a more effective plan or road map to get to where you want to be. And in turn, that means your designer, creative team or digital marketers can provide better, more strategic solutions that get you there faster, and more cost-efficiently.
Defining why you want a goal to happen can help you get the right strategy and marketing in place, and set you on the right track from the off. And, as well as being a part of most goal setting processes, asking ‘why’ it’s a natural part of both brand thinking and marketing too.
After the what and the why.
Once you’ve defined your what and why, the next step is to think; how? How are you going to achieve your goal? What steps do you need to follow or what do you need to put in place in order for it to happen? The answer lies not only in your what and why, but also in another place, in your: who?
At the core of any how (i.e. what you’re actually going to do; the plan or deliverable you need in place), should always be your who. Who are your audience or customers? We’re talking the real people you need to engage or connect with for your goal to happen.
Sound confusing? It doesn’t need to be. Follow the simple 4-step ‘What, Why, Who and How’ process below.
4-steps to scoring your brand and marketing goals.
Step 1: Get started
WHAT?
Outline your business, brand or marketing goal(s). Ask yourself, what am I trying to do? What do I want or need to achieve? What does success look like? Think big picture. Think logically. Think strategically.
Step 2: Get clarity
WHY?
Clarify the motivation or driver behind each goal. Why you want or need it to happen. What the purpose behind your goal is and the benefit of achieving it. Ask yourself: why do I/we want or need to meet this particular goal? Again, think strategically.
Step 3: Get profiling
WHO?
Define your audience. Who needs to know about your business, brand or product in order for you to reach your goal? Who are you talking to? Define your clients, customers or users. Build a picture of who they are; what they think; what their wants and needs are; how you help solve their problems. Put yourself in their shoes. Immerse yourself in their world.
Step 4: Get creative
HOW?
Look at all the information you’ve gathered. Think about how you can use these strategic insights to brainstorm ideas and create a plan to reach your goals. Think about your bigger business or brand picture and keep your end goal insight. Think creatively about what you’re trying to achieve, but maintain a strategic focus. Use the resources you have in-house or bring in some experts if you need them (e.g. strategists, designers, copywriters, creative brains or digital specialists). Think about how you can cut through competitor noise and be heard. Keep things targeted. Keep things simple.
Kick your new year business, brand or marketing goals.
If you need help defining or refining the Why, Who and How of your goals, we’re here to help. We can walk you through the process from start to finish and help map out a creative or strategic plan.
Or, we can help you execute your brand communication or marketing if you already have an operational plan in place.
