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When bringing your brand, your products, and the services you render before your target audience, you must have an idea of how you want them to perceive it. This is important because perceptions drive sales. If your brand is not positively viewed, no one would want to do business with you.
And this is where the positioning statement comes in.
To make sure your target audience perceives your brand in the exact light you intended, you also have to position your brand correctly. The idea is to control the information that reaches your target audience from and about you. We love how WhatIs.com puts it:
“A positioning statement is an expression of how a given product, service, or brand fills a particular consumer need in a way that its competitors don’t. Positioning is the process of identifying an appropriate market niche for a product (or service or brand) and getting it established in that area.”
Is This The Same As Value Proposition?
The short answer is no. Granted, just like value proposition, there is an emphasis on the benefit of your brand and the need your brand fills. However, there are differences between value proposition and positioning statements.
The first big difference is the focus. For value propositions, the net is wider and generally covers what makes your product or service unique and different from competitors. For positioning statements, they are more focused. In fact, you don’t even start creating your positioning statement until after you have figured out the value proposition.
The second difference is that, while value propositions are written for the public to see (front-facing, according to Hubspot), positioning statements are written for the public to perceive. They are known to the staff and applied for the target audience to experience.
When positioning statements are gotten right, they can transform the success rate of your brand and make your target audience more endeared to you. So, what steps should you follow to create a good positioning statement?
Elements Of A Good Positioning Statement
Writing your positioning statement requires you to get a few elements right. This is why it is beneficial to write the value proposition first. MarkGrowth compiled a list of the major elements to figure out. Here they are:
The Target Audience
Who is your target audience? This is the first question every brand should figure out. It should also be pretty obvious. Without a clear target, what could be considered a win? Are you targeting pregnant women or millennial entrepreneurs, for example?
However, this shouldn’t just be about answering who they are. It is about brainstorming on their interests and how they think. You want to figure out what influences their decisions and why they make certain choices. The more you know your target audience, the easier your job would be.
Frame Of Reference
You can call this the industry. It is the market you are competing in. Nike’s frame of reference, for example, might be athletic apparel. For Apple, that might be consumer electronics. Your frame of reference would guide how you relate with your target audience.
Point Of Difference
This is what sets your brand apart from its competitors. It is why your target audience should choose you over others. Naturally, this unique promise must be relevant and relatable for you to create that necessary connection.
Reasons To Believe
Let’s face it; promises are cheap. Every brand can name a few things they can do better or different than their competitors. That doesn’t mean they are going to fulfill them.
To convince your target audience, you must be ready to present a clear list of features that would help you achieve the promised differences. Cheaper products? Better customer service? How can you do that? Beyond words, show them your plan. Beyond plans, back things up with action.
When you combine these elements in your positioning statement, your staff would have a clear direction of what you are aiming for, and this would reflect in the quality of service you deliver to your clients.