The importance of defining your company purpose is very high as it is the reason you are in business, the ‘why’ behind every action you take from an individual level to a company wide level. This is why your company exists and the benefit you provide to individuals.
By having this clearly defined for your whole team, it allows for everyone to have a singular focus, goal, and understanding of what we are all trying to achieve. With the entire team focused on one goal, we can waste less energy and time caused by confusion or disagreement.
It is also important to understand what your company purpose is from the point of view of the consumers, because if this is different from what your team’s perception of the company purpose is, it make create a disconnect in the message you are trying to send to the audience. V8 for example thought it was for thirsty people, but to consumers it was a veggie substitute. Once V8 realized this and adjusted their marketing tactics accordingly, sales quadrupled.
To help you understand how to view the company purpose from the consumer point of view, imagine the product or service you are selling as a ‘job’ which the consumer has a need to hire for. Whether it is duct tape, payment processor software, or dishwashing gloves, each product has a clearly defined purpose. If the product or service you are selling doesn’t have a clearly defined purpose, potential customers will not be quick to buy or think of your product when they need that ‘job’ done. Rather, you want them to think of your product immediately after they realize they have a need, and ideally, after they buy your product to fulfill their need, they are so satisfied that they return to you for any future needs and recommend you to any of their peers with similar needs. V8’s success didn’t last forever because their new marketing leaders failed to continue to view their company purpose from the consumers eyes, and it led to a decrease in sales and market share.
In order to provide that level of service for your audience, your entire company must be able to understand what the company purpose should be in order to serve the customer as best as possible. This may mean that a company must shift what it’s internal perception of the company purpose is to the consumer’s point of view of what the company purpose is. This also applies to back office employees, such as accounting, legal, and finance. You have to make sure that at any potential opportunity for a consumer to interact with your company, the interaction is one which is helpful to the customer, relevant to their needs, and furthers the likelihood of them using your products again or recommending them to a peer.
Believing in your company purpose will have a large impact on the success of your team staying competitive and encourages growth. If every team member understands and supports the company purpose, they will each contribute to the goal in different ways which will provide strength, and also allows them to adapt and change as necessary to consistently provide consumers with the best experience. Once you have figured out what your company purpose is and get the team onboard, it becomes much easier to shape your strategy and content moving forward.
Content Optimization 