Insights from a marketing intern on the importance of defining your values and basing your corporate communication around them
“Values are like fingerprints. No one has the same but you leave them on everything you do.” – Elvis Presley
Our values steer the course for our future. Is it any wonder that values are so important in businesses, too?
Regardless of the industry in which you market, established values are a necessity. Clear, deliberate values will always resonate with your target audience. That makes them indispensable. These values should not only be communicated internally among employees, and externally with customers – they should reflect the pulse of the entire corporate communication.
Values can attract the right people to your company. When your company is consistent with its values, it creates a culture that employees and consumers want to be a part of, and should thus be an integral part of any employer branding efforts.
Marketing your Real Values
What you need is a clear, steady cadence of information that underscores your company’s core principles. When your core values are compact, easy to understand and meaningful, they provide the guidelines for your content marketing strategy.
Ask yourself: How often do you consider your core values when creating content? The more you can integrate them into your workflow and creation process, the more likely you are to create content that has a consistent voice and point of view. Values guide an organization when creating a campaign. They help ensure that every decision is made based on the question: Is this in line with our values that shape our identity?
Simply put, your values serve as a compass for all internal and external communication.
When you perfectly align your marketing strategy with your core principles, the result is a harmonious, consistent and authentic story. Marketing efforts then come into their own and pay tribute to your brand. Content is shaped with an identity, a clear tale people will relate to, and audiences will find a sense of attraction towards it. Give your audiences a story they want to listen to.
The Benefits
Marketing is an appeal to customers’ emotions. If you want to win your customers over the long term, appealing to their emotions is a great way to go. Consumers want to support businesses that share their values. In fact, 87% of consumers want a relationship with a brand. If the user likes what you stand for, it makes them feel good about who they support, resulting not only in an increase in your revenue but a long standing, committed relationship with your consumers.