Purpose of a business entity!
- A social purpose is one that not only makes the world and your communities a better place but also serves your business and brand objectives too.
- It is a magnet, a demonstrated value that shows your customers and potential customers that your brand shares values with them. A brand consistently showing demonstrated value to the community will build trust at a faster speed
- A purpose is highly likely to become a huge differentiator and a deciding factor for your customers.
Why to look for a purpose for your organisation beyond the obvious, profit and sustainability?
Because today’s highly aware and connected audience expects that your brand is serving a higher purpose.
And ‘purpose’ is equally crucial in building a successful brand.
- The World Economic Forum highlights the shift “The future of business? Purpose, not just profit”
- One has to just look at the growth of B Corps movement, to understand how the concept of using business as a force for good is building momentum at a rapid scale. Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
- Today, more than ever, consumers want to see what you are doing other than selling your brand or service. In the Deloitte Millennial Survey 2018, almost 40% of millennial consumers shared that they believe the goal of businesses should be to ‘improve society’
You may not have thought of this till now or maybe you are not sure about if and how you can create such a purpose as part of your business, but it is achievable and possible.
Strategy is the cornerstone of your purpose driven brand
It is time the founders go back to the drawing board and ask – why doing business with us is good for the community where our audience is – and how we can find creative, engaging and sustainable ways to demonstrate it.
Explore your business purpose
- What values are important to you?
- What values, purpose or cause is your – reason to do business – other than profitability?
- What is your role in the bigger picture of the society?
- What values you as the founder; aspire to be known for, long after you are gone?
- Think big – UN Sustainability Development Goals or think personal – closer home. Ask yourself what inspires you to start your company – what you feel most strongly about.
- Dig deeper in your life and find your true purpose and match this with your organisation. This could be a personal story of challenge, triumph or experience.
What next after finding the purpose? How does this might fit in my existing business?
Good news is that founders do not have to do it alone or waste their precious time wondering in the dark trying to find the purpose or to learn how to align their new found venture or existing business with a purpose.
Good Life Goals for business.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and Futerra have worked together to create a new guide. This resource will help companies understand how to use the Good Life Goals to make the UN Social Development Goals (SDGs) relevant and actionable to their employees and customers. It provides instructions on how to get started and offers a variety of inspirational examples for companies on the types of actions and initiatives they can advocate and support.
This new set of practical guidelines shows real and practical examples of how companies can start using the Good Life Goals,
Next: find what truly matters to your audience and communities
This is the time to invest in your social and community listening. Invest in Community – who is your audience, where they are and what are their biggest concerns.
E.g. you are a youth driven gaming or tech organisation.
Find what your community is wanting. Ask and not assume. Maybe it is worth speaking to 1000 students from few colleges and find what they are really passionate about or what is the change they want to see. Popular examples of what concerns today’s youth are environment, fair and equal opportunities and building tools for them to realise their dreams.
Next, if you are a tech company, you could consider supporting youth entrepreneurship or incubators where students can learn and develop their ideas and do test marketing or you may want to refine your purpose to focus only on girls and address the gender gap in tech.
Align your shared purpose with your objectives
Build a marketing strategy to integrate your purpose in to your marketing objectives and use it to your best advantage.
Your strategy will help you to achieve your business as well as purpose goals.Think long term even if there are 100s of people telling you to try instant solutions or ‘take it as you go’.
Your strategy is a roadmap of
- your marketing objectives, timelines and scale
- Your customer landscape – who they are, where they are, what they are listening to, what are their biggest concerns and most importantly how your product and service is solving their problem and giving them value.
- What is the most effective way to achieve the above objectives?
- Your marketing mix – online, off line, your media, channels and optimal tools and mix
Keep it Seamless and Integrated
With 24 7 connectivity, mobile penetration reaching almost 0% and access to internet; it is imperative to be – where your audience is – and give them a consistent, seamless messages at all points.
As an Integrated Marketing Communication strategist myself, I cannot stress enough of importance of building an umbrella strategy for all your marketing purposes.
What it means is: Think of your digital, online, social media and off line marketing as part of ONE big canvas. Unify your content writing style, ensure your core purpose and value proposition are reflected in EVERY piece of content produced by your teams.
Create content to show your purpose, and your commitment using your authentic messages and voice
Here is why your strategy will come to help. A purpose driven or social marketing is not just about which social media to use or where to advertise.
Your purpose is a perfect magnet to pull your communities, in, invite them to see and read your messages, engage with you, share their stories and come for more.
