I’d be willing to bet you’ve written a values list at some point. Maybe it came out of a branding exercise, or a journaling session, or one of those business planning moments where everything feels possible. And I’d also be willing to bet it has words like honesty, integrity, authenticity, connection, and growth on it — because most people’s do.
They feel really good to write. And then you go to create content, and none of those values show up anywhere. The list sits in a notebook or a Google Doc and does absolutely nothing for your marketing. So let’s talk about why that happens, and what to do instead — because showing your brand values in content is actually a lot simpler than most people make it.
The difference between having values and showing them
The problem isn’t the values themselves. It’s that most people keep them as words, and words on their own don’t do very much. If one of your values is honesty, that’s lovely — but it doesn’t really tell your audience anything, because almost everyone would say they value honesty. It’s not specific enough to you to make someone stop and think, “oh, that’s exactly why I want to work with her.”
What makes a value actually useful in your marketing is turning it from a word into a decision. A moment. A choice you made that someone else might not have made.
Take honesty as an example. Instead of writing a caption that says “I believe in honesty and integrity,” you tell the story about the time you told a potential client they weren’t quite ready to join your programme yet, and pointed them somewhere else instead. You’re not saying the word honesty once — but your audience feels it completely. And that’s worth so much more.
You’re already doing this (you just haven’t noticed)
Here’s the thing. You probably do little things like this all the time without realising they’re connected to your values at all. Think about the times you’ve said no to a sale because someone wasn’t the right fit. Or the time you told a client something they didn’t want to hear because you knew it would help them more than just agreeing with them. Or the decision you made that cost you money in the short term but felt completely right.
Each one of those moments is a story. And each one of those stories is a piece of content — because stories are interesting in a way that value statements simply aren’t. No one else in your industry could tell that story word for word in the same way you just did. That specificity is exactly what makes it land.
And no, it’s not bragging. It’s showing your audience how you work and what it would actually feel like to be your client. Because we all have different versions of what honesty or integrity or connection looks like in practice, and sharing your version helps people build a picture of the kind of person you are — and decide whether you’re the right fit for them.
The brand feeling exercise
There’s another way I love to approach this with clients, and it’s less about individual values and more about the overall feeling you want someone to have when they land on your profile, your website, or your content.
I call it your brand feeling, and here’s how to find it. Forget the words for a moment and ask yourself two questions. If your brand was a colour, what would it be? And if it was an element — water, fire, earth, or air — which one would it be?
They might sound like strange questions, but they work because they force you to think about how you want your content to feel rather than what you want it to say. Water and fire feel completely different the moment you picture them — and that instinctive reaction is actually really useful information.
For me, my marketing is more earth than fire. Calm, steady, grounded, still moving forward but not making a lot of noise about it. And that shows up everywhere — in the colours I use, the music I choose for reels, the way I film B-roll. I’m not running around doing big energetic dances. It’s just me, chilled, maybe having a coffee or sitting in my car. I’m creating a feeling, and hopefully when you land on my page you feel it immediately and want to stay.
Once you know your colour and your element, go back through your recent content and check it against that feeling. Does your last post feel calm and steady, or does it feel like you’re trying to sound like fire because someone in your industry told you that’s what works? Because that mismatch — between the feeling you want to create and the feeling your content actually gives off — is usually exactly why content feels a bit off even when you can’t quite put your finger on why.
One more thing worth knowing
Your values aren’t fixed. What mattered most to you at the start of your business might not be what matters most to you now, and that’s completely normal. It’s worth checking in every now and then and asking honestly — are these values still true to me, or am I living by a different set of rules now? Because if you’re creating content based on values that no longer feel like you, it’s going to feel off. And your audience will feel that too, even if they can’t explain why.
How to show your brand values in content – where to start
If you only take one thing away from this, make it this. Stop trying to state your values and start trying to show them. Think about a decision you’ve made recently that you’re proud of — even a small one — and ask yourself what it actually says about what you stand for. That’s your next piece of content.
And if this is the kind of thing you want to go deeper on — really getting into your foundations, your voice, and how to show your brand values in content in a way that feels genuinely like you — this is exactly what I love to work on inside Silent Storm. You can find more information and apply to work with me one-to-one using the link below.
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