A brand positioning statement defines who your target audience is, what do you do, what makes you unique and how you do it. Here in this article, we will show you how you can craft your brand positioning statement easily with this methodology that we follow.
4 Steps to Build Your Brand Positioning Statement
Step 1 – What do you do?
A simple question that always seem to come with an extremely long and complicated answer. First, ask yourself what does your business do? At the very core of your product or service, what solution are you providing? Are you solving a market need? It is important to note that your answer should not be going too much into the fine details. Do not overthink.
Step 2 – Who is your target audience?
Next, you need to define your target audience. Sometimes, people might answer that the target audience is everybody. Just because everybody will need to buy furniture, but that is definitely the wrong way to look at it. In other words, the target audience needs to be more specific because different messaging appeals to different profiles. How will your brand speak to a 35-year-old mother with 2 kids is completely different from how you speak to a 21-year-old student fresh out of school.
Let me give you an example. As a seller of anti-aging moisturiser, I want to target a working adult in her mid 20s. The reason is a 16-year-old student cannot wait to be in her roaring 20s, and a 45-year-old woman would love to feel young again. My brand strategy that targets the working adult in her 20s, would speak to the 16-year-old and the 45-year-old indirectly too.
Step 3 – What makes you unique?
This is often the kicker, and it is not an easy question to tackle. What makes you so special and why should a customer pick you? It is not an easy question because the simple truth is that a lot of businesses out there do not have a unique selling point. If you cannot fulfil this step 3, it is highly likely that your business will not perform well. That is to say, there needs to be a good reason why a user or consumer chooses to buy from you. Or otherwise, your business idea can be easily copied and sold at a much lower cost. In conclusion, a product can be duplicated but hardly the brand experience.
Step 4 – How do you do it?
What are the reasons to believe? How are you achieving the unique selling point of your company? In short, this should be in line with what your brand is selling on a day-to-day basis. As an example, IKEA sells furniture at a lower price because it is self-assembled by the customer, which helps in reducing the overall production cost.
Put the Pieces Together
With the elements of a brand positioning statement established, it is time to piece them together! We will use some popular brands to show you what we mean.
For [Target Audience], you offer [What you do] [What makes you unique] by [How you do it].
- First example: For the affluent city-dweller, Starbucks offers premium customisable coffee in a comfortable and homely cafe setting served by neighbourly baristas.
- Second example: For the individuals and families looking for budget-friendly furniture, IKEA offers trendy Scandinavian-inspired furniture at the lowest price possible by implementing innovative flat-pack solutions.
Is my Brand Positioning Statement good enough?
To know if you have built an effective brand positioning statement, there are some questions you can ask yourself.
- Is it possible to copy your product easily?
- Will it be differentiating enough?
- Is it easily understandable by your team and staff?
- Are there actionable steps you can take for your business to grow accordingly?
I have my Brand Positioning Statement, but now what?
Your brand positioning statement will change as your business grows and evolves. Above all, the statement should be simple and useful in guiding your team in executing your upcoming plans. If you are ready to start building a marketing plan, go ahead!
We hope that this article has been helpful to get you started on building the positioning of your brand. Of course, we know that developing a brand positioning statement is easier said than done. Sometimes it may come naturally to some entrepreneurs, and sometimes it does not. Book a consultation with us, and we are help to help you every step of the way.
Ready to learn more?
Just Startup is a centralised resource platform for entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs. We will be launching digital courses that covers a range of topics to follow your entrepreneurial journey.
- How to build the foundation of your brand
- Developing a visual identity that works
- Polish your pitch and win deals
Contact us to learn more or to reserve a spot. It will come with an explainer video, along with DIY worksheet templates, for you to follow through at your own time and pace.