Why do you do what you do?
Setting marketing goals
“I try never to take myself for granted as somebody who should be out there speaking. Rather, I'm doing it only because I feel there's something important that needs to be conveyed.”
― Angela Davis in Essence magazine, 1988
In my last post, I talked a little about the importance of identifying your goals as you market yourself, your business or a project on social media. “Think before you speak,” to paraphrase one of my favorite philosophers, Angela Davis. Goal-setting is step one in any social media marketing plan, and the truth is, goal-setting is step one for any plan period: business, strategy, communications or marketing. It’s important enough to warrant doing first.
Why is it so important to set goals that you have to do it first, you might ask? Your answer is in your question! Your goal is your why, and your why is your goal.
What is why?
Goals are at the center of concerted action. Goals are the reason for the action! And your goals are the reason for your value as a brand. Your goals are the roadmap forward: they are the journey, the destination, the desired outcome, the change in the world (or the market) you wish to see and how you’re going to get there.
Knowing and communicating your why builds engagement among your audiences. Those personal connections based on shared goals can build the well of support that propels your brand forward — creating clients, constituents and ambassadors founded on mutual interests. This support is what creates the change in conditions to scale your business or reach milestones on your path; it also creates the accountability that will keep you in step with volatile markets and constantly changing conditions.
Examples of generative whys
The majority of powerful brands, organizations and communities leverage their why to generate the support they need. It’s possible to learn something from each of their whys without really evaluating the substance or effectiveness of these projects’ goals. (That is to say: my including them is not an endorsement of their goals.) Let’s look at some randomly selected examples of organizations driven to varying degrees by why, aka “purpose-driven.”
Apple: “the best user experience”
Zoom: “frictionless communications”
Seventh Generation: “for the next seven generations”
Patagonia: “business unusual”
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): “guardians of liberty”
The Movement For Black Lives (M4BL): “Black lives matter”
The Cherokee Nation: “improving Cherokee lives”
National Network of Abortion Funders (NNAF): “everyone loves someone who has had an abortion”
Each of these whys is “generative” because it points directly at each organization’s goals as well as its constituency, making communicating the value of the brand as simple as focusing its messaging on these taglines.
What ISN’T why?
Knowing when you might be falling off the path of effective goal-setting is essential, because it happens to all of us. Beware that the yellow light of warning is lit if your why is:
vague
about you
about the past
so complicated that your 12-year-old neighbor couldn’t understand it
longer than a sentence or two
So, how?
Finding your why is an iterative, long term process that can’t be undertaken without time, dedication and support. I’m here for you! If you feel like you’re ready to try writing your why, I encourage you to try to fill in these blanks:
I envision a world: [outcome of your brand’s success/desired change]
The expertise needed to make this change is: [the customers/constituents of a brand and communities affected by it]
My brand/work connects #1 to #2 by: [how you intend to achieve success]
As an example, I’ll share how I fill these in for my own business:
I envision a world of systems inspired by true stories.
The expertise needed to make this change is found by unearthing humans’ motivations and values that have been buried under social and economic constructs.
My work connects #1 to #2 by building values-driven communications and marketing strategies that lift up people’s stories in pursuit of social justice.
Congratulations!
You’re on your way to never fearing being trapped in an elevator with somebody important again. Did a funder, influencer, client, partner step onto that elevator and now you want a fast and easy pitch? Once you’ve outlined your why, once you’re fluent in your goal, you’ll be taking the first step toward being able to sell your vision to all the people who know they want to buy it — and some people that don’t know yet, too.
