Every successful business, no matter its size, has a unique identity that distinguishes it from the competition and helps customers to identify and remember it. This identity is often shaped by its brand values—in fact, it has to be. For small businesses, especially, brand values can encourage growth, customer loyalty, and long-term success by creating a cohesive sense of what the company stands for, thus attracting the desired target audience. In this article, we’ll explore what brand values are, why they are vital for your business, and how to determine and implement them effectively.
What Are Brand Values?
Brand values are the guiding principles and beliefs that define your company’s identity. Now, you need to make a decision about whether your brand values are an empty marketing tool, or genuine values around which your brand will revolve and by which it will operate.
There are countless examples of companies spouting values in hopes of appealing to a certain, more considerate customer base, but far fewer examples of companies actually making the effort to live by these values—especially if it makes profit-making more challenging. Ultimately it’s up to you, but you can be sure you’ll be happier as an individual as well as a business person if your values aren’t a mere ploy.
Examples of Brand Values
To understand brand values better, let’s look at some examples:
- Customer-centricity: Prioritising customer satisfaction and experience above all else, customer-centricity is exemplified by fast response times, with customer service personnel being well-trained and able to make decisions.
- Innovation: Innovation exemplifies a desire to constantly seek new ways to improve products and services—preferably to make them better for the customer, rather than just more novel or addictive!
- Sustainability: Committing to environmentally friendly practices friendly practices and reducing carbon footprint are main tenets of sustainability. There is no “value” that is more abused than this one. So if you don’t actually plan to be sustainable, don’t pretend, as it just adds to the noise and decreases consumer trust in your brand.
- Integrity: Ensuring transparency, honesty, and ethical practices in all business dealings is part of having business integrity. Again, most businesses are decidedly cut-throat and lack integrity, so don’t fool yourself or your customers!
There are plenty of other brand values you can focus on. For instance, some brands prioritise being funny and lighthearted, while others project a more serious tone. To determine your brand values, you should consider your own values as an individual, and figure out how these intersect with the values of your industry and, more specifically, your target audience.
Brand values are the core principles that define your business’ identity, influencing decisions and behaviours. They are essential for creating a strong brand identity that resonates with customers and stakeholders.
Why Brand Values Are Important for Your Business
Now that we’ve established what brand values are, let’s take a look at the ways in which they are important for your business. For most brands these days, it’s important to have some kind of values, as there are so many businesses operating in an over-saturated market—and customers generally flock to those that immediately resonate with them. Without establishing core brand values, it will be hard for your own brand to stand out.
Increasing Awareness
One of the primary benefits of strong brand values is a potential increase in brand awareness, making you more visible and more memorable. When your values align with those of your target audience, these individuals are more likely to remember and talk about your brand, and also more likely to appreciate your products or services.
After all, people select products based on “vibes” as much as they do the utility of the product itself. If you can increase awareness to the point that you generate genuine word-of-mouth marketing (whether in real life or on social media), then this organic reach can significantly boost your brand’s visibility and resonance.
Targeting the Right Audience
Brand values also play a critical role in attracting and retaining the right audience—i.e. those who will pay you money. When your values are clear and consistent, they naturally attract customers who share the same beliefs, or at least want to signify that they belong to the same sphere. This alignment creates a deeper pull, making your marketing efforts more effective and your customer base more loyal.
Customer Loyalty
Building on the above, if your values resonate with those of your customer base, it’s more likely that they’ll return to you rather than absconding to your competitors. After all, if people feel they’re buying from a company with a respectable set of values, they get the added benefit of feeling good about themselves when they purchase from your brand.
Differentiating From Competitors
All of your competition will have values—or at least, they’ll claim to. So, how can you differentiate yourself? By actually operating by these values, rather than just spouting off on social media and in ad campaigns. This is not some trickery, and indeed it can take substantial time and effort to actually live and work by your values. If you can manage it, though, it will, in time, cement you as a reputable brand with loyal customers.
Increasing Sales
All of the above should—so long as your products are also good—increase sales and profit, which is probably ultimately what you’re after. The manifold benefits of having real values will eventually coalesce into sustained, increased sales and greater revenue.
Attracting Motivated Employees
If you want motivated employees, then having good values is key. The very best employees will want to work for companies that don’t just pay them well, but also offer them real satisfaction. If you have hollow or no values, you can be pretty sure that your employees will lack satisfaction, and that the very best will either pass you by entirely or move on at the earliest opportunity.
Being on the Same Page as a Company
When your brand values are clear and communicated throughout your organisation, it ensures that everyone is on the same page. This alignment gives rise to a more cohesive company culture where everyone works towards common goals, reducing conflicts and enhancing efficiency.
Brand values are crucial because they increase awareness, attract the right audience, foster customer loyalty, differentiate your business, boost sales, attract motivated employees, and ensure alignment within your company.
How to Determine Your Brand Values
Determining your brand values is a critical step in establishing your brand identity. These values should be authentic, reflecting your business’ true character and mission. Here’s how to determine them.
Organise a Brainstorm Session
Start by gathering key stakeholders and your marketing team together for a brainstorming session. It could also help to bring along some real or potential customers, or members of your target audience, so you can get some insight from without. Discuss what your company stands for, what it aims to achieve, and what principles guide its actions. This collaborative approach ensures that the values you identify are representative of the entire organisation and that they align with your desired customer base.
Look at Your Current Strengths
Examine what your business is already good at, and what sets it apart from competitors. Also identify its weaknesses, as knowing these is always helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of your company, how it operates, and where it fits in the wider industry. The strengths identified can often be translated into brand values. For instance, if your company excels in customer service, “customer-centricity” might be a core value.
Address Weaknesses
Brand values should also guide your company in overcoming the weaknesses you identify. Identify areas where your business could improve, and consider incorporating values that address these gaps. For example, if communication is a weak point, you might prioritise “transparency” as a value. Or, on the other hand, you might decide that your weaknesses are tolerable and that they can remain. But this is why you must identify them, because until you have understood them, you can’t hope to figure out whether they are a genuine hindrance or not.
Speak to Your Customers
As mentioned, you customers and target audience are able to offer valuable insight. Try to have real conversations with them. If you don’t create a meaningful dialogue, you’ll get vacuous answers that lead to equally vacuous values, so try to really understand what your customers want, and not just what you want them to want.
Analyse Other Brands
Look at successful brands in your industry and analyse their values—copy them if appropriate! By copy, we mean identify the effective values and see how you can integrate them into your existing brand; we never suggest copying an entire set of values.
To determine your brand values, organise a brainstorming session, assess your strengths and weaknesses, gather customer feedback, and analyse other successful brands for inspiration.
Tips to Incorporate Brand Values Into Your Business
Once you’ve determined your brand values, the next step is to incorporate them into every aspect of your business. Here are some tips to help you do that effectively.
Know Your Target Audience
Understanding your target audience is, as mentioned, crucial when incorporating brand values. Ensure that your values align with what your audience cares about. This alignment will make your brand more relatable and appealing to them, helping them to identify you in the first place, and remember you later on!
Narrow Down to 5 Values
While it might be tempting to have a long list of values, it’s better to narrow it down to five core values. These should be the ones that truly define your brand and can be consistently reflected in your actions.
Document Your Values
Once you’ve identified your core values, document them clearly. This documentation should be accessible to everyone in your organisation so they’re all on the same page. It serves as a constant reminder of what your business stands for and guides decision-making.
Communicate Your Values to Customers With a Narrative
Your brand values can be communicated effectively via storytelling. Craft narratives around your values that resonate with your audience. These stories can be shared through your website, social media, and marketing campaigns to reinforce what your brand stands for.
Do What You Stand For
Finally, the most important step in incorporating your brand values is to live by them. Your actions should consistently reflect your values. This authenticity is what builds trust and loyalty with your customers and employees.
To incorporate your brand values, understand your target audience, focus on five core values, document them, communicate them through storytelling, and, most importantly, live by them.
What Brand Values Do You Reflect?
Brand values should not just be meaningless buzzwords that exist to draw customers in. Instead, they are integral to building a successful and sustainable business that is also enjoyable to work in. Combined with your unique value proposition, they help to shape your brand identity, differentiate you from competitors, attract the right audience, and create valuable customer loyalty. As you reflect on what values your brand represents, remember that these should be more than just statements. They should be the principles around which your business pivots—from how you interact with customers to how you make decisions and treat employees.
By focusing on authentic and meaningful brand values, your business can create a lasting impact, build strong relationships with customers and employees, and stand out in a decidedly busy marketplace. Take the time to determine, document, and live by your brand values, and you’ll see the positive effects on your business’ growth and reputation.
