Episode #30: How to Position Your Brand For The Greatest Impact

Positioning also differentiates your brand from the competition and increases the perceived value of your brand above the competition.

Brand positioning relies on you understanding 3 fundamental areas of your brand strategy.

• Your Audience
• Your Competitors
• Your Differentiators

You should have already defined your audience and competitors in previous Building The Brands episodes. If you have not, I have provided links to those building the brand episodes in the description below.

So today, we are going to focus on the Differentiators.

And there are 2 differentiators you must define.

The first is your Value Proposition and the second is your Unique Selling Proposition.

Although the characteristics of both these prepositions will be similar, one will focus on the customer while the other will focus on the competition.

Let’s begin with your Value Proposition.

A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered and focuses on the functional and emotional benefits of the experience.

Understanding your value proposition starts with analyzing the data from the audience targeting and competitor audits you completed earlier.

Question you should ask yourself are:

• What do customers value most about your brand?
• How do customers see you as different from the competition?
• What is your competitive advantage in the customer’s mind?
• What is your brand’s promise to the customer?
• What is the number one reason your product or service is the best solution?

By putting yourself in the mind of the consumer, you will see the value you are bringing to them.

Next let’s take a look at your Unique Selling Proposition or commonly referred to as your USP.

Your Unique Selling Proposition is an internal statement which only focuses on the competitive differentiator.

Basically, why your product or services are better than the competition.

Here is a template to format your Unique Selling Proposition:

[YOUR BRAND] offers [PRODUCT/SERVICE] for [TARGET MARKET] to [VALUE PROPOSITION].

Unlike [THE ALTERNATIVE], we [KEY DIFFERENTIATOR].

Now that you have both your differentiators defined, let’s finish this up by writing your Brand Position Statement.

A brand positioning statement is a declaration that communicates your brand’s unique value to your target audience within the competitive marketplace.

Its job is to provide clarity and direction for your team to consistently guide your brand into the mind of the consumer.

Unlike your brand tagline and mission statement, your Brand Positioning Statement is not customer facing, which means the customer should never see it.

It should only be viewed and used internally to assist your team in their designs and marketing campaigns.

Your Brand Positioning Statement can be broken down into 5 distinct elements:

• The Audience
• The Challenge / Pain Point
• The Key Benefit
• The Competitive Alternative
• The Unique Point Of Difference

Take each of these elements and develop a concise sentence that defines it.

Next place each of those sentences into this formula to create your Brand Positioning Statement.

WE HELP [AUDIENCE]
WHO [CHALLENGE / PAIN-POINT]
TO ACHIEVE/EXPERIENCE [KEY BENEFIT]
UNLIKE [COMPETITIVE ALTERNATIVE]
OUR SOLUTION [UNIQUE POINT OF DIFFERENCE]

This will provide a better understanding about the roles each of these elements plays and clarifies the exact position the brand intends to occupy in the mind of its audience.

It may take a few rounds, so keep asking yourself these questions until you have it just right.

• Is it believable?
• Is it easy to understand?
• Is it flexible and allows for future growth?
• Does it differentiate the brand from the competition?
• Will it help create more effective marketing campaigns?
• Does it speak to your audience?
• Does it motivate your audience?
• Is it memorable?
• Is it unique to your brand?
• Is it better than your competitors?

Once you have the perfect Brand Positioning Statement that will attract your audience, defeat your competition, and project superior value, you will want to revisit it as your business grows to see how you can make it better.

Brand positioning is critical to communicating the value of your brand to the ideal audience.

It will influence customer behavior, dictate their buying decisions, increase customer loyalty, and build valuable brand equity.

How to Connect with Your Target Audience: https://brandidentified.com/how-to-connect-with-your-target-audience/

5 Steps to Find Your Competition and Capitalize On Their Weaknesses: https://brandidentified.com/5-steps-to-find-your-competition-and-capitalize-on-their-weaknesses/