Start with Why

People Don’t Buy What You Do. They Buy Why You Do It.

How many businesses do what others do? Chances are, there are many organizations that offer the same product, at a similar price point, with quality and customer service just as good as any other. So, why would a customer choose one over the others? Turns out, it’s not about what they do; it’s about why they do it.

Customers become loyal and engaged when they share an organization’s core beliefs, purpose, and cause. As Simon Sinek explains in his book Start With Why, “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.”

Why, What, and How

In a related TED talk, Sinek uses the Golden Circle to explain the power of starting with why, especially when it comes to marketing.

A traditional marketing approach starts with what the company does. The communication flow looks like this:

• We make great products (what)
• Our products are easy to use and beautiful (how)
• Want to buy one? (why)

But an effective marketing approach—one that connects your brand with people who think the same way you do—starts with why the company does what it does.

• We challenge the status quo and think differently (why)
• We make beautifully designed products that are easy to use (how)
• We just happen to make great products (what)

When a company differentiates itself through its beliefs, customers whose purpose aligns with these are willing to jump on board for the long haul.

Find Your Why (With a Little Help)

Step one of inspiring others is finding the why. Initially, an organization should look at the basics:

• Who are they?
• What do they value?
• What are they changing or inspiring with their product or service?
• Why do they want to?

Refining the answers into a why statement works best with a little help.

Aligning with an experienced marketing partner helps an organization find a purpose that will also impact their audience. The marketing team assists in discovering a tangible and relatable why through joint brainstorming sessions, kick-off meetings, branding workshops, and creative think tanks.

To find this “partner-in-why,” a company looks for an agency that aligns with their core values—because a united team always finds greater success.

Articulate Your Why in a Brilliant Campaign Concept

Step two is integrating the why into an impressive marketing campaign. With the help of a marketing partner, an organization creates a simple slogan or statement that clearly relays the why to their audience. The goal? To explain the purpose of the company in an easily digestible format.

Now that the company has their why statement, they can begin asking who else shares that purpose and belief. After understanding why people buy their products, they can create a buyer persona. Targeting a campaign to this why, rather than demographics or statistics, makes for more effective outreach.

From that point on, the company can create a campaign that will relay the why to their audience.

Where do they begin? Maybe with a blog or letter that is solely dedicated to articulating what they believe in—no sales, no fluff, just why.

Execute Your Why Throughout All Campaign Materials

Once the goals are set, the base planning finished, and initial content created, a company can produce even more campaign materials.

The why will encompass everything they do and create, from the biggest to the smallest parts, using the consistent branding generated by the marketing team. Ads, websites, flyers, presentations, speeches, anything and everything now display the company’s why in some form.

Creative content, design, and imaging that express the tone of the why is all a part of the authentic and convincing branding. A good marketing partner should be able to ensure that the core values are an integrated part of every outreach.

Why Graphcom?

Personal relationships are central to Graphcom’s values. We believe the best results are achieved in a collaborative environment where passion, innovation, and creative expression unite. That’s our why.

We know that our success stems from yours. That’s why we’ll begin our partnership by learning as much as we can about you and your industry. What are your goals? What are your challenges? We want to understand the why of your business almost as well as you do. We want to dig deep. We want your marketing to be a big win every time, helping other folks meet you and learn about your why, how, and what.

As a full-service marketing agency, we can plan, design, develop, execute, deploy, and analyze campaigns all under one roof. Beyond this, we can create additional marketing communications that integrate seamlessly with campaigns to boost engagement.

Our capabilities and expertise make us an ideal partner to incorporate your company’s why into your marketing and branding strategies.