What sets your company apart from the competition? Nearly all successful companies like Band-Aid and Coca-Cola have one unique thing in common: a strong brand. This should be a priority for all companies striving for success. And the proof of a strong brand and effective brand positioning lies in the numbers.
A recent study revealed that brands that are consistently presented get approximately 23 percent revenue increase. B2B companies with strong brands are associated with a higher EBIT margin compared to businesses with no strong brands. Additionally, successful branding yields other benefits, such as improved company image, increased client loyalty, and relatable company identity.
The only surefire way to strengthen your brand is effective brand positioning.
What’s brand positioning?
It is the process of getting your brand noticed in the market and the minds of your target customers. Some marketers call it ‘brand positioning statement.’ However, the theory is the same: how will your brand distinguish itself and stick in the minds of consumers? To position your brand successfully, pay attention to the following key points.
1. Identify your customers
Specify the consumers you want your brand to be relevant to. Use segmentation, a marketing technique that allows you to divide the potential clients into similar groups. Demographic segmentation involves the analysis of the physical characteristics of the clients. These include age, gender, weight, hair color, and more. If you are marketing hair products for redheads, for instance, you will know the right customers to target.
Geographic segmentation makes it possible for marketers to group their target customers based on where they live, hangout, or work. Another segmentation technique is behavioral segmentation. This technique focuses on how potential clients behave or what they do. It would help if you analyzed their lifestyle and how they use a given product.
Grouping your target customers depending on the benefits they seek or their needs is important as it gets to the core of your brand’s promise. Choosing the right customer segmentation approach is essential as it helps you with the other steps of the brand building process.
2. Understand your customers’ beliefs
The process of branding is like making a promise about the unique benefits you will deliver. Generally, there are three important categories that you must identify. First, identify the functional benefits of your products and services. This is the products’ performance. For instance, when purchasing a car, you would check the passenger seating, the size of the engine, and more.
Secondly, identify the economic benefits of your products and services. These benefits are related to saving time, saving money, and overall efficiency of the product. Consider the example of purchasing a car mentioned above. In addition, to check the physical benefits of the care, you may want to check economic aspects such as annual maintenance costs and mile per gallon.
Finally, you should identify the emotional benefits attached to your products and services. These benefits are related to the specific psychological feeling the consumers get when using your products. In the case of purchasing a car, a consumer may want to analyze things like social status associated with that car.
In the process of brand positioning, you must pay attention to these three types of benefits. It’s also important to the specific steps that customers take when purchasing a product so that you can streamline this process and give them a better experience.
3. The value proposition
The final step of brand positioning is the value proposition for the individual products that your brand covers. Think of your brand positioning as your long-term positioning and your product’s value proposition as the short-term positioning.
Your value proposition statement must specify the target audience and describe these customers. Do you remember the groups you made in step 1? You must understand what they need and match these needs with the benefits of your products.
Additionally, your value proposition must show how your brand delivers these benefits better than other entities providing similar products and services.
The point is, brand positioning makes a significant difference when competing or entering any market. Creating and implementing a reliable brand positioning strategy is important to making a bold statement, attracting & retaining clients, and successful growth.
