“Pivot” is a major buzzword in the current business environment, thanks to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. If a restaurant is forced to close its doors to customers, it pivots to delivering food. If a brick-and-mortar store faces steady decline in customers, it pivots and embraces online ordering. When a small business struggles to stay afloat alone, it pivots by collaborating with another business.
Sometimes, though, a business finds itself needing to pivot back to its roots. In other words, numerous iterations and changes in marketing strategies have taken the business in an unintended direction. In short, the business needs to return to its “why.”
The “why” for a business focuses on the passion that fueled its creation and spurs its success. As a business expands and contracts, grows and diversifies, new marketing strategies take hold. Along the way, the original reason — the driving force for the business — gets lost.
If this has happened to your business, you are not alone. It happens to a lot of businesses. Getting back on track is not that hard, but it is essential if you want to maintain your company’s authenticity and ensure long-term success. The good news is that this can very effectively be done by branding content to speak specifically to your company’s unique values.
Let’s take a look at the steps involved in making this happen
Reexamine your “why.” You certainly remember the reason your business was started — the pain point you wanted to address or the problem you knew your company could solve. It was what got you up in the morning, made you excited to invent, create and plan. And it was what you thought about at the end of the day, how the purpose for your business would not only help you professionally but would also make a difference in the lives of others.
Rediscovering your “why” is good for you personally, as well. The process can help you examine your values and see if they are being upheld in your branding.
Determine where your “why” got lost in your branding content. How much is that “why” still a part of your marketing strategy? Has the focus been replaced or overshadowed by goals like trying to appease disparate customers, expanding into another industry or simply losing sight of your original branding content?
It’s natural to tweak your brand as your company grows and the market changes. Problems arise when that refreshed brand eclipses your initial reasons for starting your business. You might have to pore through months or even years of content to find examples that don’t reflect your “why.” Are they beneficial to your business, or are they hindering progress? Are you still focused on the same goals, with the same drive that you initially had? Or is your current marketing strategy driving you in too many directions? These are tough questions, but honest answers will result in a wonderful revelation: Your “why” is what will always lead you to success.
Remove everything besides your “why” in your marketing and see what you have. Now, it’s time to get back to basics. Think about the keys to creating a brand – determining the core values and how to use them to make a strong impact in your industry – and stick only to those elements. Red-line anything in your marketing strategy that doesn’t align with your “why.”
You might be concerned that what’s left is too thin, but that’s not necessarily the case. If these main aspects of your “why” served you well in the beginning, they will continue to serve you well in the future. Keeping them at the forefront of your marketing strategy will allow you to rediscover your business goals and sharpen your relationship with current and future leads.
Follow through with branding your content this way. Stay the course. Even if it’s suggested that you head in a different direction with your marketing strategy, you should feel confident that you’ve recaptured your “why” and reinvigorated the passion in your business. That will be reflected in the branding content you choose, and it will be felt by those who place their trust in a business that sticks to its values and remembers its “why.”
Are you ready to redirect and return your marketing strategy back to its roots? Iris Writing is prepared to help. Start by delving into “Creating Your Content Marketing Plan in 2021: The Full Guide,” a great primer for determining your content marketing goals and making them a reality. Along the way, you’ll discover what drives your business, and you, toward success, and redirect your marketing strategy to the place it was meant to be.