Ever wondered why some brands just stick in your mind? That’s brand positioning at play. It’s about having a unique spot for your brand in the customer’s mind. It’s more than just a marketing buzzword, it’s the difference between being a regular player or the top pitch in your industry. This is where you define what sets you apart. Getting this right means your customers don’t just recognize you; they remember and prefer you.
1. Know Your Market – Market Research
Economy and Industry Analysis:
You have to understand the playground before you play.
- What’s trending recently on your market?
- What’s changing or dying out in your industry?
- What’s predictable to coming soon in the local or global economy?
Identifying these patterns gives you insights to prepare and implement your brand and business in the proper way.
2. Know Your Competition – Competitor Analysis
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Ever study your competitors? It’s not just about what your competitors are good at.
- Are their prices too low or high?
- Is the quality of the customer service poor?
- Doesn’t their professional experience cover everything?
That’s your cue to do better.
Find the gaps:
Maybe it’s a product feature they’re overlooking or an experience factor they’re underplaying. These gaps are your golden tickets.
3. Know Your Target Audience – Target Group Analysis
Learn Your Potential Customers:
Go beyond just reading reviews. Analyse them. Surveys, social media tests, customer reviews – these are only few examples. . Search their pain points, explore their values, preferences, tone of voice and lifestyle.
- What are their problems or desires? What are they missing? Do they really have those needs that you want to solve with your product or service?
- What are they interested in? What do they love or passion about? What are their hobbies or recurring themes? Are they really interested in that topic which resonates with your brand?
- What values and behaviours do they have? What are their tone of voice, style and lifestyle?
That’s where you come in. Understanding these aspects helps you connect with them on a deeper level.
Customized Communication:
Use the language they use, tap into their aspirations, and address their fears. It’s important to know, who you talk to. Millennials, Gen Z, busy moms? Get into their shoes, align your communication style to their ones, while keeping your own values and staying authentic. This makes your brand not just seen but felt.
4. Know Yourself – Define Your Brand Positioning
After knowing your market, your competitors and your target audience, it’s the time to clarify how you want to distinguish your brand from your competitors. How to clarify it? Firstly define your own strengths and weaknesses as you have done it in case of your competitors, then here you are the points along which you can summarise your brand positioning. :
Basis of Your Positioning:
Based on what do you want to distinguish your brand? Innovative product feature, unbeatable location, unique design, exceptional experience, niche target group, sustainability efforts etc.? This will be the core differentiating element what your brand should be known for and what you want to highlight in your different communications.
Brand Adjectives:
These are like the personality traits of your brand. Do you want to be seen as ‘reliable’, ‘pro”, ‘luxurious’, or maybe ’entertaining’? Choose the key adjectives that align with your brand’s personality as well as resonates with your target audience.
Brand Perceptions:
What do you want to hear about your brand from your customers when they recommend / talk about you? Think about those expressions and sentences that would be formulated with their own, informal words? ?
Pricing Strategy:
Your pricing says a lot about your brand. Are you the high-level option with premium pricing, or the budget-friendly choice? These are not the two options. You can sophisticate it on a wider range. Be sure your pricing aligns with your brand positioning.
Unique Value Proposition:
Your unique value proposition (UVP) – sometimes called a unique selling proposition (USP) – distinguishes your business’s offer from others. It explains to your target audience why the option you provide is right for them and why they should buy your product or service over a competitor’s. The simplest, and often most effective, form of a UVP is a one-sentence summary, or maximum a two- to three-sentence description. Write it with your customer in mind. Avoid using technical language or industry jargon they might not understand. There’s no single way to write a UVP, but it should include these things: who you serve, how you solve their problem, benefit of your product/service and what differentiates your product/service.
Geographic Variations:
Are you a ‘one-size-fits-all’, or do you need to tweak your approach for different regions? First option is the best but sometimes it might be necessary to adjust, fine-tune your brand positioning to specific countries, regions where you enter due to different market situations, competitions or cultural aspects. (Of course this might also bring different strategies, offerings, messaging etc. but it’s a different story.
Effective brand positioning is about understanding your market with the competition, resonating with your target audience and knowing your brand and business. And remember, the ultimate goal is to create a unique and memorable place for your brand in your customers’ mind and heart.
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