It is in our nature to categorize and filter the information we come across on a daily basis. To affect how potential customers see your brand, you must offer it in a way that allows them to make their own decisions about how to think about it. This is known as positioning, and it is the most significant (and least understood) aspect of your brand book. The message that was received, not the one that was sent, what referred to as positioning? It is not just, what you say; it is how you organize that information in a customer’s thinking. In other words, where does it land? What kind of space does it eventually take up?
Taking a position is what positioning is all about. It is a stake you set in the minds of potential customers regarding what your brand can claim and defend in a unique way. A positioning statement is a succinct, comprehensive technique of directing someone who is thinking towards your business. It defines and frames your brand, serving as the message and strategy’s core organizational framework. You must first surface the component pieces of your positioning statement before you can create it.
Here is how to do it: Because positioning refers to the mental space, you hold in your client’s head, you will not be able to figure out how to place your brand unless you know who that consumer is. In establishing your brand, there is an order of operations, and developing your target personas comes before positioning. Before attempting to define your positioning, it is also a good idea to have your brand’s ethos thoroughly formed.
First, you must know who you are and whom you serve. The cornerstone for establishing important messaging, value propositions, tag lines, and voice and tone is your positioning statement. After you have determined your target client, you will need to determine your frame of reference or the framework in which customers see your brand. By giving them a frame of reference, you are giving them the tools they need to categorize, contextualize, and compare your brand to other brands they are already acquainted with.
This is critical because before potential consumers can examine areas of distinction, they must first analyze points of parity (what your brand is like) (what makes your brand unique). To restrict the number of brands competing for a prospect’s attention, competitive frames of reference tend to be narrow. A frame of reference’s specificity tells the buyer where to put it in their mind, and the narrower the category, the higher your chances of owning it (or at least, standing out).
