How can I improve my business “Brand Positioning”?
Ah… A term or phrase that get’s thrown around a lot in the marketing, creative and agency space… But, what does it actually mean? And, more importantly, how does one actually understand, identify and improve their brand position? In this short article, I will share 3 simple tools and techniques that you can use today, to better understand how to position your company or brand in your market, in order to achieve optimal marketing success and future business growth.
So, let’s dive in…
First, the definition of “Brand Positioning”. What is it? I like the definition that Shopify has shared on their website, seen below:
“Brand positioning is a marketing strategy brands develop to establish the uniqueness of their brand and convey its value proposition. It begins with a positioning statement, which companies use internally to identify their target audience and build their brand identity. The purpose of positioning your brand is to make clear to your consumers what you stand to offer and why you’re uniquely positioned to serve them.”
However, the next question still remains. How do you improve or identify your brand position? Deploy these three tools and tactics and you will be well on your way to better understanding your current brand position and how to change it!
Tool 1: Draw some X and Y axis!
You can literally position your brand onto an X and Y axis. However, the key here is understanding that there can be INFINITE different graphs to draw. The point is to draw a few, and assign an X and Y axis according to values or traits that make sense for your brand or product. For example, on the Y axis you could assign the spectrum between “cheap” and “expensive”, and on the X axis you can assign the opposite values of “fast” and “thorough/slow”. Try not to be too negative in your assigning of values and/or obvious. This should force you to think about WHERE exactly your business falls in these ranges.
Draw a few, go crazy! And, don’t forget to add some of your direct and indirect competitors. Think about some obvious examples here… If you were to draw a similar graph and assign the values of “convenience/thorough” and “cheap/expensive”, where would McDonalds be placed? And what about a 3 Michelin star restaurant in New York. These two groups UNDERSTAND how they are positioned in their market, they lean into it, they don’t try to compete in areas where it does not make sense.
More important, they understand WHO they serve… Which leads us to Tool #2…
Tool 2: Obsess over your ideal customer and ask all the right questions
I remind my brand strategist of this tool all the time. You can NEVER ask too many questions about the customer… We would all do well to better understand WHO buys from us and WHY. We should obsess over our ideal customer…
Where do they hangout?
What do they like?
What do they hate?
What jargon do they use?
Why did they choose my product or service over my competition?
What did they like MOST about their experience with my brand?
What did they like least?
I like to encourage our team and clients to take this one step further… You should be PART of that tribe, you should be doing similar things they are doing, using the same language, having the same conversations. Often times I feel we have been so overwhelmed with “quantitative data” (surveys, analytics, reports) that we have forgotten the power of qualitative data.
When was the last time you took one of your best customers to lunch? When was the last time you asked for 30 minutes to simply “pick the brain” of one of your recurring customers and better understand why they chose you? When was the last time you read your last 25 reviews both positive and (more importantly) negative to understand what your customers are thinking?
Get obsessed, get curious about your customers! Join their tribe!
Tool 3: Why, How, What?
Let me fill you in on a mistake that you will most likely make during this brand position process… I see it time and time again… And I get it, for whatever reason, we naturally tend to gravitate to a certain group or type of questions and talking points when we start talking strategy.
That mistake is jumping to “WHAT” question before we have answered the “WHY” and the “HOW” in that order.
What do I mean by this? Here are some example of “WHY” questions that have to be answered first:
- WHY does this company exist? Why did you start this company? (in other words, what is the purpose?)Try not to answer these questions with anything related to revenue or your services. It will feel “corny” but it SHOULD! These purpose statements fuel the brand position and messaging moving forward! For example, “I started Big Red Jelly because I wanted to inspire people and communities to be creative and grow.”
- WHY would a customer choose your company over a competitor around the corner?
- WHY is your service or product the BEST in your particular niche? Give me 5 specific reasons.
And some examples of HOW questions:
- HOW is your product or service different. Tell me more about your “secret sauce”, “proven process” or “competitive edge”… A key point here is not to settle for any general/unspecific answer, like: “we are honest”, “our prices” or “we out the customer first”… That’s not good enough.
- HOW do you deliver on your brand promise, or how do you ensure that your product or service is delivered consistently and at a high level.
WHAT questions are the easy ones… And probably the reason that we tend to JUMP straight to this category when doing strategy…
- WHAT are your top performing products or services?
- WHAT are some features that are unique to your product/service?
- WHAT makes your sales or marketing process different?
- WHAT is your pricing strategy?
- etc. etc. etc.
I am confident these three tools and tactics will help you better understand your brand positioning and then take actionable steps to improve that brand position. Once you clarify your brand positioning, everything else becomes that much more efficient and clear: Your marketing results will improve, your ad spend will go further, your conversion rates will climb and even your company culture will improve!
Your brand is the perception that your ideal customers have of your company… With that definition in mind… We can admit that your BRAND is everything! Therefore, making meaningful improvement to your brand and growing your business, start with better understanding WHO you are as a company and positioning your company correctly within your niche.
Go for it!
