Being a marketer, you have probably heard of the term brand positioning. But what does that mean, and why is it so important for companies to flourish? Let’s take an example of beverages, people, while asking for a cold drink, usually calls it Coca-cola as a generic term. This is how brand positioning impacts its audience.
You could have the best product on the globe and still can’t find a way to make it familiar to your targeted public. If this is the case, then let’s dive into the article to find out the most about BP.
What is Meant by ‘Brand Positioning’?
The process of determining and broadcasting your brand in a unique selling voice is what brand positioning is. The unique selling point (USP) of your product, explaining how it diversifies from the competitor’s good is the definition of BP. It is a fundamental marketing strategy where an organization represents its unique value to its consumers.
To maintain and take control of your business’s reputation and your brand’s image, planning its positioning becomes vital. This differentiation creates brand awareness among the public, communicates value, and justifies your product’s pricing. These approaches are directly associated with consumer loyalty, brand equity, and willingness to purchase the product.
The best example I can give here of brand positioning is ‘Apple’. Despite selling their goods at sky-rocket prices, people are more than willing to purchase them. The features, products, operating systems, and services make them unique, but without BP strategies, how could they even make people believe in their brand? If you’re thinking about how you can create one such effective campaign right now, then read along!
How to Effectively Position Your Brand?
Regardless of the size and segment of your company, some steps given below are the base of your brand positioning process.
Figure out your current positioning.
Map out your product’s features and characteristics.
Analyze your competitors and their positions.
Make a blueprint of your BP framework.
Create a unique statement for your brand positioning.
Evaluate your implementations.
While some aspects to keep in mind while making a BP strategy are
Don’t forget to keep an emotional connection with prospects and your consumers.
Do thorough market research.
Emphasize the product’s unique qualities during the selling process.
Building up a BP strategy involves delving deep into the details of the product or services and discovering the features that make your brand different from others.
What are the Different Types of Brand Positioning?
5 main types of brand positioning are given in the section by which you can individualize your business.
Cost-driven positioning: This technique is used by providing similar products as your competitors but at less price. This method can often be called ‘cheap branding’; however, using technology and an officeless approach can help in saving money.
Niche service specialization: Refining a specific service in the industry. For example, Tik Tok is the only social media platform to specialize in Tik Tok.
Industry specialization: Similar to niche, you could position yourself as the #1 accounting company for Digital Nomads, for example.
Role-focused specialization: Services that are specialized in a particular role are role-focused specialization. For example, providing HR departments or CEOs with management-related assistance etc.
Quality of service positioning: To explain this, we’ll take an example of this SEO agency that approaches its targeted audience by pointing out their pain through social proof and case studies. They gain the trust of people by showing them their previous success records and over 500+ full-star reviews, etc.
Characteristics of a Good Brand Positioning Strategy
In this section, we’ll be discussing the characteristics that reflect on a brand when its BP strategy is effective.
Categorize – Deciding marketing category and sub-category for your brand is important. A good analyzer knows that market categories are not the same for every brand and understands this is the thin line between success and failure.
Targeted Audience – Knowing your targeted audience and their requirements and preferences sets you apart from the crowd. For example, if you are a sports shoes selling company, your targeted consumer will be from the athlete, runners, trekkers, etc., category.
Unique Selling Proposition – A smart seller knows their brand’s USP and utilizes it effectively to advertise the product or service. It can be anything from service benefits to new features, etc.
Differentiation – Diversification of your merchandise on the basis of price, quality, experience, color, design, or any other character is vital. Understanding the aspects that make your product apart from other businesses of the same niche will make your company grow.
Identity – Your brand identity is the first thing your targeted audience is going to see or read. It can be your product’s logo, brand name, tagline, etc. What you’re serving to your customer should reflect your brand identity, which means the design or tagline should be related to your services and not confuse people.
You can read and analyze these characteristics to see if your company is adhering to these elements for a good BP process.
Conclusion
In this oversaturated market, being a brand competing to stand out in the crowd is the hardest. No matter what size your business is, having a smart brand positioning approach is another key to success.
Though following some principles like understanding your long-term goals, thoroughly researching the market and audience, identifying your uniqueness, and implementing your strengths to empower your business will help you flourish.