How To Define Your Brand’s Core Values

First up in the Building a Brand Foundation series, we’re talking about how to define your brand values.

Pretend you’re a marketing agency with return clients who come back because they love getting results. At the same time, there’s something else setting your agency apart. You're bold & innovative while your competitor is more traditional and by-the-book. Their clients get the same results as yours. But the reason you’re the perfect fit for your clients is because they want to bring more innovation to their brands. 

Core values can be challenging when you’re first starting out. But think of it this way: values are what you do better than anyone else. If there’s another business doing what you’re doing, these values differentiate you so an overlap in offerings or audience isn’t a problem.

At the end of the day, your business isn’t for everyone. No business is. You’re a fit for the people that believe in the same things you do. You’re bound to scare away people who don’t fit into your audience so you can better connect with people who are. It’s why you can’t miss out on defining your core values, the driving factors of a lasting brand. 

Values are the beliefs that drive your company forward. If you’re a personal brand, you truly need a business centered on values because pivoting services or even other parts of your brand foundation means people are already connected to what you’re doing no matter what changes you make. These beliefs are the reason your company exists and the problem your brand solves. 

That’s why you should always define your brand values right up front. Read on to find out how to explore your core values to start building your brand’s foundation!

Journal it out.

Get comfortable sitting with your ideas to ensure you’re choosing the right words for your brand. I always recommend journaling it in a notebook or Google Doc. 

Start out writing about why you started your business. If you’re a personal brand, this story will be more related to your journey which can be different from larger organizations. These companies would benefit more from asking people who work there what’s different about being part of the company or digging into how the company got started in the first place.

Then ask yourself what your brand does best. Why are people choosing you over someone else? Don’t just list your technical skills or the products/services you offer. Think about what people compliment you on. What do your past testimonials say? Are you detail-oriented? Is your customer service incredible? Do people say you have integrity?

This is also a great time to discover the void you’re filling not just in terms of products & services but more focused on your soft-skills.

If you’re really stuck, go back to past emails with clients you loved working with or simply scroll through your testimonials. I also recommend asking friends & family what your brand does really well. Start collecting words and phrases you see used often. These will be a big part of building up your brand’s values and beliefs.

Some other questions you can ask yourself are: why are people choosing to work with you? Why are they coming back? What are you doing to set yourself apart from the crowd?

Uncover words & phrases

When you spend time looking at your past emails, testimonials, and even your marketing materials, you’re bound to find words and phrases that just keep popping out. You might find that you’re community-driven, bold, modern, traditional, you get the idea!

The core values you come away with can be one word like “integrity” or it can be a short sentence that encompasses how you bring integrity to every interaction. You can also have a descriptor sentence that gives more detail.

But don’t stop here. Get as specific as possible. Say you keep coming up with the word “adventurous,” meant to show how you push the envelope but it’s not feeling like the right fit. Keep workshopping it. Are you explorers instead? Or pushing the boundaries? These all have slightly different meanings that your audience will feel when they see them. Make sure the words you use truly convey the underlying value so your meaning is clear.

You can use these words in your copy to remind your audience who you are at every step. At the same time, these words may be hanging out on your website already. Get interested in the way you’re already talking about your brand to see how you can improve upon it.

Most companies have somewhere between five and 10 core values, but I encourage anyone to focus more on quality over quantity. You don't want a core value that doesn't fully resonate with you. When you look at your list of core values, you want to feel passionate about each one. Nothing should be extraneous or unimportant. 

It’s okay to take some time really exploring your values. Don’t feel the need to come up with everything in just one day. This is something you want to spend some time to focus on and fine tune so you come away with values that truly reflect your brand.

In the next post, we’ll explore who your audience is and how they are directly influenced by your values.