Brand Positioning Statement: A Guide to Creating and Owning Yours
Let’s do a little brand positioning statement “word association” to get your gears turning.
Just Do It.
Save Money. Live Better.
The Most Magical Place on Earth.
I’m Lovin’ It.
Have any trouble identifying who and what is being sold in those phrases? No?
That’s because these giant corporations understand the importance of — and have worked hard to develop their own — short taglines, elevator pitches, and catch phrases. How do they write something so powerful that makes the world practically memorize it?
All great brands OWN their positioning.
These taglines above aren’t (necessarily) the brand positioning statements of the companies, but they are (we assume) derived from very detailed and well-crafted unique value propositions and brand positions.
We’ve started by defining the target market. Next, we got more specific by defining our ideal client. Then, we took a look at how our product lines up with those factors to form our unique value proposition.
Now, we’ll dive into developing your own brand positioning statement by boiling it all down into one super sleek pitch for your brand. After all, a brand positioning statement is like your brand’s elevator pitch. To be used in places like web copy and cold email.
Hopefully, you’ve done all of the research to be in the right place, talking to the right people. Now you (or your reps) just need the right thing to say.
“Branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” — Jeff Bezos
What Is a Brand Positioning Statement?
If you do a Google search for the term “brand positioning statement”, you’ll notice several methods to develop one. The method we recommend using was developed by a man named Geoffrey Moore (called “Moore’s Positioning”).
His template is incredibly helpful in really getting your positioning concise, but it will help to re-go over some of our terms from the earlier positioning portions of our course. Here are the three things we’ve gone over:
- Target Market & Competitive Landscape: The two basic components every B2B organization must know in order to garner sales growth are their customers and their competitors. Our first module was a deep dive into this subject.
- Ideal Client Profile: Moving deeper than a specific industry is among the other factors companies have. Their size, revenue, and the roles of the decision makers all play a role in defining your ideal client. The second module covers this at length.
- Unique Value Proposition (UVP): Making a clear distinction between yourself and the competition comes by understanding which of your features appeal to your ideal clients. This happens best when a brand creates a UVP. This is covered in module three.
If your Brand Positioning Statement is the finished product, each of these items are the ingredients that are put together and cooked down to get it.
Now, onto Dr. Moore’s template.
- For: Who are your target clients and industries.
- Who: The most prominent pain point or problem of those ideal buyers.
- Our product is a: A vivid, yet short description of the solution.
- That provides: This is where the unique value goes, cut down into a pithy statement.
- Unlike: Just a quick mention of competition for reference.
- Our product: The key difference between you and the other company vying for your prospects.
A quick look at this framework and you probably understand how all of these modules are fitting together.
A well-conceived brand positioning statement allows you and all the members of your team to clearly communicate at all levels of your organization.
Boil It Down Further
We recommend having a detailed brand positioning statement like Moore’s, but you can also make a shorter version that captures a different angle. Using multiple templates can give you new insights and help clarify the value you offer and who it’s for.
A simplified version can help you identify potential clients that are more likely to become devoted and loyal to your brand.
One of the more simple examples:
- Core Client: Who are the 20% of clients that make up 80% of your business?
- Value: What’s the one statement that personifies why those 20% of customers love you?
- Promise: How can you convey that thing in a promise to your prospects?
5 Steps to Develop a Dynamite Brand Positioning Statement
Step One: Write Some for Your Favorite Brands (or Competitors)
One of the best ways to do this is to practice on some of the most well-known brands in the world and work backwards.
Let’s try a couple using both of our templates.
Example of Moore’s Positioning: Disney Parks “The Most Magical Place on Earth”
For: Middle and upper income families.
Who: Work hard, need an escape and want to provide their children a memorable experience.
Our product is a: Completely immersive parks that transports people to a different place.
That provides: An experience that comes with everything you and your family need to enjoy vacation; all on the same property.
Unlike: Universal Studios
Our Product: Provides more than an amusement park. We transport guests to a different (magical) world altogether.
Example of a Concise Positioning Statement: Slack “Where Work* Happens”
Core Client: Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with collaborative teams.
Value: A messaging platform that allows users to bring together all of the common software tools together in one place for ideal teamwork.
Promise: Improve communication and get more done.
Try reverse engineering the slogans of your favorite companies or those in a similar industry. There are likely many benefits to doing this with your competitors as well. Make a list of the two or three companies closest to your market and see what they offer that’s unique.
Step Two: Boil Down Your Ideal Client Profile
You know the company size, revenue, and key individuals that you need to target. All of this information belongs in your ideal client profiles (ICP) and buyer personas. That said, most of it can be stripped down for your position statement.
The “Who” or “Core Client” doesn’t need to be “American metal fabricators doing between $10-$20 million annually and with less than 100 employees”. It can be, but that’s not the point of this exercise.
Instead, it may be something along the lines of, “U.S. based SMB manufacturing companies”.
Step Three: Boil Down Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
Very similar to step two. Your UVP helps you target a few things:
- Why people buy your stuff over the other companies.
- Elaborate your uniqueness as a product/service/company.
- Tell that story across all the platforms of your brand.
The things you pull from your UVP mainly consist of the key benefits of your products and the expressed pains of your ideal clients.
A UVP of Uber may be, “One tap and a car comes directly to you. Hop in—your driver knows exactly where to go. And when you get there, just step out. Payment is completely seamless.”
However, in a brand positioning statement, it may be:
For: Travellers who need reliable transportation.
Who: Don’t want the hassle of buses or taxis.
Our Product is: a fairly-priced ride, arriving in minutes at the push of a button.
Make sense?
Step Four: Take a Shot at the Competition
Doing a mock brand positioning statement for your competitors really comes in handy here. You know who you’re up against, but you may not have taken the time to figure out exactly why someone would want to use your company over “them”.
For this, you’ll need to know two things:
- Who they are (not too difficult)
- Why you’re better (may be slightly more difficult)
Pro Tip: If there isn’t a large difference between you and your competitors, use the niche you’ve selected to make one. Rework your web copy, change your sales presentations, and even change the product to be the best in [insert your product’s industry] that’s built for [insert your target market].
Step Five: Write and Rewrite
A noun change here and a different verb there can go a long way to making your brand positioning statement “click”.
Changing the language and working all your info into a few drafts will help you feel more comfortable with the process. The finished product needs to be something that you’re comfortable with sharing at luncheons, sponsored events, and anywhere else where someone may ask, “So, what’s your company do again?”
How It’s Sales
To build a highly functional lead infrastructure, it takes precision. A great brand positioning statement will help you gather better leads and do it faster. All while communicating more effectively with prospects.
But it’s not the whole picture. There are actually four basic things you’ll need to have a laser-focus on your lead generation methods. Here’s a brief look at each, as well as further resources to help you develop each.
1. Target Market & Competitive Landscape
Researching and choosing a target market can lower the number of leads you have to track, while increasing the number of sales you make. Knowing how competitive your industry is can help you develop better products and pivot efficiently, thus increasing sales efficiency.
Further Reading: Great piece from Crazy Egg on how to find your target market.
2. Ideal Client Profile
Target markets help you figure out who wants to buy and how you can better serve them, but now it’s about finding who’s buying right now. To do this, you’ll need to figure out who you are most likely to impress and where to find those specific buyers to target. A target market helps you a little, an ideal company profile helps you a lot.
Further Reading: Our post on the subject, which you can find right here
3. Unique Value Proposition
Now that you know who you’ll be talking to, it’s time to start figuring out how to interact with them. The UVP helps with all communication including: content marketing, email, and web copy. But it’s also very helpful in determining how your company will interact with outbound leads, or moreover, how qualified leads will interact with you.
Further Reading: Another one from the LeadFuze blog, specifically on finding your UVP.
4. Brand Positioning
This is the final dish that comes out after you throw all the other ingredients in the crock pot and let them simmer down. The brand’s position is vital and must be known and kept central in all marketing and sales efforts. It will help your reps know who the company is and what the products can accomplish in a quick and easy statement.
Further Reading: Six more tips via Entrepreneur on this very subject.
All of these elements come together to create a laser-focused sales message that your entire team can and should wrap themselves around.
Will you tweak things? Of course.
But everything you change should be calculated, documented and tested. Are you ready to position your brand and products and take your revenue to the next level?