A Guide To Brand Pillars

Creating a brand has become more complex the more society has progressed. While keeping a focus on creating quality products is still very important, customers are looking for more than just something worth buying. Connecting with your audience can make a huge difference in the success of your sales, and starting with your brand pillars is a great way to show your audience what is important to you and what you stand for.

What Are Brand Pillars?

Brand pillars are the characteristics and values that are unique to your brand. These can include strengths, core values, or anything that is important to you. Your brand pillars are what the foundation of your company should be built on. Ideally, your brand pillars will be easily identifiable to your audience. While they might not know how to answer the question, “what are our brand pillars?”, when asked what they like about your brand, your brand pillars should be the answer. Being aware of your brand pillars is important, so go through the 4 main pillars and thing about how they relate to your company.

Purpose:

Your purpose is your mission statement- what did you hope to achieve by starting your company? What goals do you have for the future? Think about how to want to communicate your purpose. Not only will this help you find your ideal target audience and help you convey the message that you want, but it helps you find people who are a good fit for your team.

Identity:

Identity is all about who you are as a brand, and how your customers perceive you. Think of a like of ways you’d like to be perceived, and then find out what your audience actually thinks of you. Choose some keyword adjectives that you would like customers to associate with you (trustworthy, innovative, ethical) and work together to see how you can portray that message. Asking your customers to describe you in a few words is also a great way to see where you stand in their eyes, and how it lines up with how you want to be perceived.

Values:

This pillar is fairly simple- What values does your company have, and how are you communicating that they are important to you? Some common, worthwhile values are integrity, leadership, diversity, honesty, and teamwork, but there is no wrong answer to what you value!

Brand Experience:

What overall experience do you customers have when shopping with you? Customers are much more likely to shop with brands that they like, than brands that they don’t like or simply don’t care about. Having strong brand pillars helps create a brand experience, and allows your audience to connect with you on a deeper lever. This is a great way to stand out from your competitors, and show customers why you are the best choice!

Using the brand pillars will help you define your brand for your customers, and keep you on track with your goals. Brand pillars are something you should revisit every so often, to ensure that they are evolving with your company. Has your company established brand pillars? What is the most helpful one to you?