 Part 1: Tips for writing a great mission statement for your ecommerce storeAs a budding ecommerce entrepreneur, you’ve got a million things to do. And while thinking about a mission statement for your company probably isn’t at the top of your list, it should be. Before you can entice people to buy from or hire you, you need to know exactly what you stand for. Having a compelling mission statement not only builds trust with consumers, it gives your company legitimacy and reinforces your brand. A good mission statement inspires and informs shoppers, and, if it’s effective, can even turn them into long-term customers. In this article, we’ll review some of the elements of writing a great and compelling mission statement for your ecommerce company. Do I need a mission statement? Although you probably didn’t start out with a fully baked mission statement, internally, you know exactly why you started your ecommerce business. It’s the foundation of what you do and as such, it needs to be at the forefront of how your customers view you. And whether you’ve articulated it or not, every business has a mission starting out. Making money is one of the reasons for your business, but it is not part of your mission. If you own an online clothing boutique, for example, it’s unlikely that you hate clothes. You’re always motivated by more than simply making a profit. On some level, the product that you sell inspires you and interests you enough for you to have built a business around it. Articulating the question that your mission statement asks – why do we exist? – serves as clarity for both you as a business owner and your prospective customers. What makes up a great mission statement? Now you know the value of a mission statement, How do you write one? It starts with understanding the three main components of a mission statement:
More simply put, the questions your mission statement needs to answer are who, what and why? Make-A-Wish International is a great example of a mission statement that illustrates these three components: “The mission of Make-A-Wish International is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.” Make-A-Wish’s mission statement is great because it concisely answers the three questions at hand.
If you can answer the three components of a mission statement in one sentence, like Make-A-Wish does, you are off to a great start. But you aren’t quite done. Mission statements need to be unique, they need to sound like your brand voice, and the best ones are memorable. Guidelines for writing a great mission statementTo make a truly great mission statement, there are a few tried-and-true guidelines you should keep in mind. 1. Be Uniquehere are so many great mission statements out there to draw inspiration from. But make sure that you’re staying original. Your mission statement should be a unique reflection of your business. Therefore, it should accurately represent your company and its offerings. You don’t want it to be a knockoff of someone else’s. This means that it may require time to explore the depths of your brand, your products, services, and benefit to the world before crafting your mission statement. 2. Write a mission statement, not a vision statementWhile mission statements can be a bit lofty by nature, ensure that you’re not, in fact, writing a vision statement. A vision statement describes the unrealized goals of your business. It speaks to who you want to become, or what impact you plan to have, at some point in the future. To the contrary, a mission statement focuses on what you do now and what you sell now. It answers the question of what impact your business makes now. The language can be flowery and inspirational, but the message needs to be very much now-focused. 3. Be StraightforwardPiggy-backing on the previous point, your mission statement should be straightforward. Mission statements aren’t supposed to be vague. They should be very clear about what your company does and doesn’t do. If people are unsure about the who, what, and why of your company after reading your mission, then it’s not a very good one. 4. Make sure it will lastcause your mission statement is the foundation of your company, it’s not something you should change very often – or even at all. Some word choice edits here and there are permissible. But, in general, the mission statement should be consistent throughout the lifetime of a company. 5. Be MemorableCraft a mission statement in a way that it’s memorable. This can mean putting your company’s name in the statement, adding in unique buzzwords, or even having a great sense of humor. A great mission statement will make such an impression that it’s easy to remember days, weeks, months, even years later. Michael ArnoldMichael is a freelancer from New York City. When he isn’t writing about how Kliken unleashes the marketing, you can find him reading, writing for pleasure, or traveling the globe. Unleash the Marketing with KlikenWe’re Kliken. And we’re ready to help you take your ecommerce marketing efforts to the next level. We don’t write mission statements, but we can market your products online to likely buyers so that your website gets higher traffic volumes and more sales. How? We get your products in front of the right shoppers with our simple Shopping & Ads integration platform. With Kliken, marketing your brand has never been easier. Because we do all the heavy lifting for you. That way you can focus on what matters most to you - running your business. As the world’s #1 Shopping and Ads marketing platform, Kliken has helped over 1,000,000 small businesses worldwide grow their sales on Google and get a return of up to 7x their original ad spend. Our proven marketing solutions can help you to unleash the potential of your ecommerce business. Learn more about how customers use Kliken to grow their businesses online here.
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