Positioning your brand is one of the most important aspects of marketing. It can make or break a business, and it’s not something you want to take lightly. This chapter will discuss positioning strategies that have been proven effective for businesses in all industries. We’ll also talk about identifying your target audience and some popular methods for differentiating yourself from competitors.
Here are the main topics of this chapter in case you want to jump ahead.
What Is Brand Positioning?
Brand positioning is the process of strategically placing your brand in the minds of consumers. It’s more than just a tagline, logo, or slogan – it also encompasses strategy and marketing tactics to set you apart from other businesses out there!
Positioning your brand means to think of it as more than just the total of its attributes. A company is not simply an amalgamation of colors, shapes, and logos; rather, it has a meaning beyond these things.
To connect with your product or services emotionally, you have to provide them with a sense of meaning and purpose.
This is what brand positioning does for you, helping to make it stand out from the competition by giving people a reason to choose your company over anyone else’s.
Why Is Brand Positioning Important?
The importance of brand positioning cannot be overstated. The more you know about your target audience, the better you can position your business to meet their needs and preferences.
Having a strong sense of what makes your company different from others is key in establishing yourself as an expert provider for whatever you offer.
Brand positioning also includes your company’s overall marketing strategy. It is important to make sure that your branding aligns with your overall message and helps people understand why they should choose you over competitors.
To gain more customers, you have to take a larger market share. Meaning that you have to convince your competitor’s customers or client’s that your business provides something more or better than what they are currently receiving.
Positioning your brand in the minds of consumers as something more beneficial will help create doubt about their current provider or source. Leaning them to choose your business instead.
You can also help create doubt and dissatisfaction by de-positioning your competitors, but we will later discuss that.
Let’s take a closer look at some effective brand positioning strategies that you can implement for your business.
Brand Positioning Strategies
To get an idea about how others have successfully positioned their brands in today’s crowded marketplace, take a look at the strategies and tactics that have been most effective for other companies.
1. Determine Your Current Brand Positioning
Understanding your current positioning and target market is the first step in determining which strategies to use.
How are you marketing your existing products or services?
Are you positioning what you offer as a unique product or service?
Do you focus more on affordability?
What is your target audience, and what are their needs or preferences?
You can’t position a brand without an understanding of who they are.
2. Analyze Your Competitors Positioning
Research Your Competitors’ Positioning Strategies
Where competitors have successfully positioned themselves in the marketplace may be a good place to start for positioning your own company’s brand.
What are they doing to market themselves?
How do their marketing tactics align with the needs of your target audience?
You need a clear understanding of how you will be positioned concerning other businesses if you want to come out on top!
3. Consider Your Brand’s Values and Purpose
One way that businesses have successfully differentiated themselves is by reviving the idea of a “cause.”
Companies like TOMS Shoes and Whole Foods Market have put giving back at the heart of their brands.
This is not only good for business, but it’s an opportunity to connect with your audience on an emotional level that goes beyond any other marketing tactic you might be using.
Gaining consumer loyalty by demonstrating a sense of service and giving is essential in creating the level of trust that will separate you from your competition.
It’s also important to consider what type of values are at play with your brand positioning strategy, given how today’s online environment can have both positive and negative impacts on public perception.
For example, if family values are important to your target audience, you may want to consider how Covid has negatively impacted them.
Doing this will help you avoid hurting their feelings or making them feel like a product for purchase rather than being served with value and integrity.
4. Differentiating Yourself From Competitors
Differentiation involves telling people how and why your product offers them something their competitors can’t. It is about positioning your company in a way that sets it apart from the competition. Differentiation can be accomplished by showcasing any number of things, including:
– Unique features
– How you’re better than what’s already out there
– Why this product or service is worth their time and money
5. Position Your Company at Product’s Core Value
You may not be the best at everything, but that doesn’t mean you can’t focus on what you’re good at. Positioning your company’s products and services to highlight its core values is a great way to show it off as an expert in those areas while also highlighting how they compare with competitors who specialize in something different.
6. Create a Unique Class for Your Products or Services
Providing a unique product or service would automatically position your brand as the only option available in the market. But most of us provide products or services that many of our competitors also offer. Therefore creating your class will help set your brand apart from others.
For example, if you own a CRM SAAS business and offer 3 different packages, instead of offering the same options as your competitors, try adding additional value that will set your packages apart.
If your competitors all offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, don’t be scared to offer a 60-day money-back guarantee. Having the courage to provide more value is another way to differentiate your business.
If you own a restaurant and sell hamburgers, don’t be afraid to explore by creating a unique spread and calling the hamburger “The Texas Chomper,” for example. Find unique ways to separate yourself from the same old boring stuff that your competition is doing.
Even though this won’t be enough to set your company apart on its own at first, it will start to differentiate your brand with time.
7. Create Your Positioning Statement
Companies need to establish a positioning statement that is clear and concise. A company’s position should be one of its top marketing strategies since it helps customers understand what the business does, who they do it for, and why people choose them over others.
To establish your brand as an expert in whatever field you’re in, there are a few things you need to do.
The first one is to make sure that your branding aligns with your overall message and helps people understand why they should choose you over competitors.
The second one is to make sure that your branding is cohesive.
The third one is to track the success of your brand positioning and see what sticks with people so you can use those elements in future campaigns.
Finally, it’s important to be consistent when using these steps because customers are smart enough to know if a business is duping them. A survey conducted shows that consistent brand messaging can increase revenue by 33%.
Avoid superficial terms that include:
- We are the best
- We are the #1 service company
- We are the cheapest
- We offer the best pricing
- We provide the best services
All of these terms are not provable, which will only create distrust amongst your target audience. The last thing you want is people questioning whether your positioning statement is true or false.
It’s better to create an honest and easily provable statement to build trust from new and existing customers/clients.
Now let’s take a look at what your positioning statement should include:
- A targeted message that highlights the target’s pain points, needs, or desires
- Your message should relay that your service or product is the solution they’ve been looking for
- The solution or promise that what you are offering will be beneficial
- A reason that the consumer should believe what you are saying
Your position statement can also include a de-positioning element to create doubt about whatever product or service they are currently using. This could include:
Exposing a flaw in your competitor’s way of doing things
Making it clear that you provide a unique “class” of services or products
Pointing out an obvious issue or problem that consumers have already
Creating a positioning statement that can produce the idea that your business is the only viable option for your target customers will generate more sales and generate more revenue.
8. Positioning Your Brand in the Market
Now that you have your positioning statement, it’s time to spread your message across your entire online presence. This means making sure that it is visible to all consumers on all of your marketing channels, including:
Website Content – This includes landing pages, sale funnels, and blog posts.
Digital Advertising – Paid search and pay-per-click ads.
Social Media Platforms – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, Youtube, etc.
Email Marketing – Newsletters, thank you emails, follow-up emails, etc.
It’s important to make sure that your position statement is visible in all of these channels because it’s one of the best ways to increase your brand awareness.
Final Thoughts on How to Position Your Brand
In Chapter 8, we went over how to position your brand. This is a vital part of any marketing strategy because it helps you stand out from the competition and gives potential customers an idea of what they can expect when interacting with your company. Creating a positioning statement that highlights one main message about your business while differentiating yourself from competitors in the same space will help guide all other aspects of branding and marketing decisions for the future. Our next chapter goes into more detail on how to create an online presence so stay tuned!
