Margaret Hovis (read her testimonial here) was a student in my Spring 2019 Social Media Marketing class at Belmont University. One of the beginning responsibilities for their student practicum is to write a mission statement that stems from their branding assignment for their new project. Margaret focused on our four key brand elements to compose her mission statement, shown in the picture above. In her final report, Margaret explains her rationale through this process.
“The brand story for Healthy, Honestly is what is written on the “About” page on my website. It gives some insight into my background and my reasons for being so dedicated to promoting health. I wanted my brand story to feel personal, which is why I gave some background information about my childhood and who I am as a person. I find it very important for my audience to feel as though they can relate to me, and that they can trust me. I want my readers to be able to think of me as a friend – someone they can trust and rely on for helpful advice. In order for my readers to get to trust me in this way, they have to feel as though they know me. This is why my brand story focuses on myself and my story.
My brand promise is this: “In writing about and highlighting specific ways to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle, I am devoted to equipping my readers with the knowledge and resources they need to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I will strive to motivate my readers to be aware of the health and wellness needs of their bodies, through the use of scientific research and personal narratives. Rather than feed into the health trend that so often influences many to make harsh, non-sustainable changes to their lifestyle, I promise to encourage healthy lifestyle choices that fit right into the lives of today’s young professionals.”
My promises to my readers were designed to equip them with the resources necessary to be able to determine a healthy lifestyle for themselves, to motivate them to choose a healthy lifestyle for themselves, and to offer healthy lifestyle options that fit their individual lifestyle. I feel as though I did a pretty consistent job of fulfilling these promises, by using my own time and energy to research each topic before coming up with a position on which to write about in my blog. I never want to feed my readers false information, so each blog post took me a considerable amount of time, as I did a lot of research before I ever published a particular post. This did get difficult at certain points in the semester, as I didn’t always have the time and or energy to dedicate to heavily researching a particular topic. In these instances, I chose to write about a topic I felt sufficiently educated on, so that I only had to supplement my writing with references and a good spell check.
My brand beliefs are: “honesty, accountability, respect”. I strive to implement these beliefs into every piece of content I put out, whether it be a social media post, an email newsletter, or a blog post. I feel as though I did a pretty good job of maintaining these beliefs throughout the course of the campaign.
My brand trust blueprint was to consistently respond to my audience’s feedback and criticism. Although I didn’t really get much interaction from my audience on my blog or social media platforms, there were a few times when someone would comment on a Facebook post or share one of my blog posts on their social media. In instances like this, I made sure to engage with these members of my audience to let them know I am grateful for their support and am consistently seeking to build that strong connection between myself and my readers. Therefore, I stuck to my plan for my brand trust, even though it wasn’t always needed.
In an effort to advertise my brand using these four brand elements in a concise manner, I developed the brand mission statement pictured in the picture above. This was the description I used for all of my brand’s social media sites, so that newcomers could get an idea of what Healthy, Honestly is about without needing to read too much. I feel as though I did a pretty good job in writing and using this brand mission statement to promote the passion and integrity behind my brand.”
– Margaret Hovis, Belmont University, Spring 2019 Student
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