If you are a new brand in a highly competitive market with innovative marketing, you will need a successful brand positioning to set yourself apart. Read on to find out how to establish yourself as a trustworthy brand.
Consumers’ impression or mental image regarding a company is their brand position. Therefore, the brand positioning process is an intentional process to influence your brand perception in the minds of your customers.
Your business likely is one of many in the ever-competitive market for a particular prospect. To create this market niche and identify and attract potential customers, you need to strategize various sectors like pricing, packaging, promotions, and distributions.
Based on the concept of proper communication at the right time and place, An effective brand positioning will lead your brand to be perceived as credible, valuable, and favorable. Consumers are wiser now and just being “different” isn’t enough. Your brand will be established by doing something remarkable; anything else will just lead to comparisons.
Importance of Brand Positioning
A brand positioning plan can help you create a favorable reputation, brand awareness, communicate value and justify your pricing.
Over a century ago, a soda company decided to sell the first-ever cola drink in a bold move. It paid off and grew to become Coca-Cola, which is now a household staple and the standard for soda drinks.
There are several ways to position your brand, which should be decided based on your industry and offering. The general idea is to highlight your competitive advantage while simultaneously pointing out the shortcomings of your competitors. Here are a few commonly used methods:
- Customer Service Positioning Strategy
- Convenience-Based Positioning Strategy
- Price-Based Positioning Strategy
- Quality-Based Positioning Strategy
- Differentiation Strategy
- Social Media Positioning Strategy
- Other Positioning Strategies
Position Your Brand Well in your Market
Brand positioning requires meticulous planning, time, and effort, and here we briefly touch on each aspect that leads to a successful brand positioning.
Do Your Homework
This is being thoroughly knowledgeable about your company and the ideal customer. This includes your company values and what you offer to make a customer choose your brand over competitors. You should also explain how customers should reach out to you to find their solutions online.
Be memorable
Remember that first impressions always last. A visually appealing front will create a favorable perception of the brand in the customer’s mind. Work to develop a user-friendly, clean and updated website to help create a positive online presence for your brand.
Be the Expert
The star of your brand positioning should be content. Content marketing is what will hook in your prospects towards your brand. Reach out to customers through blogs about your brand and products, review videos on product use, podcasts with brand partners, industry leaders, and even customers. This is part of your digital marketing campaign, and in this age, a successful campaign by professionals like lineout can make all the difference in customer perception.
All this will help establish trust towards your brand and set you apart from others.
Be Generous
Don’t just make content; ensure that it reaches the mass. Go all out on social media, digital ads, celebrity collabs, and more to put your brand name out there.
Be Worth Talking About
Now that you have managed to put your name out, it is time to show results. Customer service, good results, and communication will ensure that people talk about you. This will result in a positive reputation for the brand that will last as long as you upkeep your efforts.
Positioning Statements vs. Taglines
A common misunderstanding is that some think positioning statements are equivalent to business taglines and slogans. On the contrary, positioning statements are meant to be used to guide business decisions regarding operations and marketing to elevate customer perception.
On the other hand, taglines are used for marketing purposes to capture consumer attention and are meant to be publicized. We will discuss some examples to highlight the differences.
Some famous brands taglines are:
- L’Oreal: Because you’re worth it.
- Walmart: Always low prices. Always.
- Nike: Just do it
- Coca-Cola: The real thing
- Target: Expect more. Pay less.
Here is an example of a positioning statement by Amazon when it exclusively sold books:
“For World Wide Web users who enjoy books, Amazon.com is a retail bookseller that provides instant access to over 1.1 million books. Unlike traditional book retailers, Amazon.com provides a combination of extraordinary convenience, low prices, and comprehensive selection.”
How to Create a Brand Positioning Statement
For a best-class brand positioning statement,
- Know your target customer. This will maximize your efforts to cater to a particular group instead of spreading your efforts aimlessly.
- Determine your category and how it can benefit customers; this is called market definition.
- Keep your brand promise to your customers, making them choose you over other brands. Give them a reason to believe your promises with relevant results.
Thoughtful answers to the above will help you craft a positioning statement that confidently captures your brand presence.
Integrating Your Brand Positioning in Your Customer’s Mind
To achieve this, you need to start the change within the company first. Each organization member coming in contact with a customer should be the best expression of your brand position. List the interaction points with your customer and find out how you can ideally communicate your brand position to your customer and whether they perceive it as such.
Positioning and Brand Signal
All talk about brand positioning is easier said than done. This is where brand signals come into play. These are triggers or indicators which prompt the brand image in a consumer’s mind. They help promote trust and build a relationship with consumers through social media, blogs, and websites.
Consistency is key to allowing your positioning message to sink into the customer psyche.
Brand Positioning Map
This can help you compare your brand to others in consumer perception. A brand positioning map consists of essential collaborations with your target audience.
Have multiple versions of the map based on different sets of attributes for best results. By placing your brand and your competitors on your map, you’ll see where you place over certain areas instead of your competitors. This will help identify your shortcomings quickly which you can then revise and come back stronger.
The attributes used in the map come directly based on your customer values, which affects brand perception. Brands focusing on shared values win in the end.
Step-wise Brand Positioning Strategy Process
Here is a brief rundown of what to do for your brand positioning strategy.
- Step 1: Assess Your Current Position
- Step 2: Assess Your Competitors
- Step 3: Create a Positioning Map
- Step 4: List Benefit Claims
- Step 5: Make Sure You Can Deliver.
- Step 6: Build a brand positioning framework.
- Step 7: Create Your Brand Positioning Statement
- Step 8:Identify your unique value proposition
- Step 9: Establish an emotional connection with prospects and customers.
- Step 10: Reinforce your brand’s differentiating qualities during the sales process.
- Step 11: Create value.
These are not concrete but an excellent guide to help you touch the important points when planning brand positioning.
Conclusion
Good marketing is the key to a successful brand. Therefore a unique brand positioning strategy is critical to making a statement, capturing the target audience’s attention, and successfully growing your brand.
Frequently, marketers don’t have the conviction or clarity to keep their brand promise, and you are susceptible to similar pitfalls. However, by following the strategies and frameworks outlined above, you can earn consumer trust while placing yourself in the sweet spot of your target market.