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Craft Winning Positioning Statements: Examples & Tips

Learn the key components to writing a brand positioning statement. Follow these tips and examples when you go to write your own.

If you meet someone new, and they ask you about your brand, what would you tell them? As a business owner, you know your brand identity inside and out. You are immersed in your brand every day. But, how often do you sit down and really think about what other people see when they come across your brand in person or online? Do you have a statement describing your brand and how you'd like for it to be perceived by the public?

A key step in branding basics is to create a brand identity as well as to understand the unique value that your brand brings to users. Since you most likely have competitors in your niche, what makes your brand stand out? Why should someone use your brand instead of your competition?

To make your brand distinctive, you need a statement that tells your employees and customers who you are and what your brand is working to achieve, a statement that summarizes your brand identity. This is called a positioning statement.

When you have a positioning statement, the next time someone asks you about your brand, you have an answer ready. Having a positioning statement is essential for all brands. It doesn't matter what industry your business is in. Brand positioning statements guide a brand regardless of market or niche.

What is a positioning statement?

A brand positioning statement acts as an anchor or foundation for all of your branding and marketing. It is a statement that summarizes what your products or services are and how they fill your target audience's needs.

All of your branding, logo, ads, signage, and packaging are based on your positioning statement. It provides a solid brand identity, a focus or overlying theme, that makes your brand stand out and explains the values and purpose of your brand as a whole, and what your products are designed to give to your customers.

When boiled down, your brand's positioning statement summarizes the one-of-a-kind value customers can expect from your brand. Your positioning statement states your brand's value proposition.

Key parts of a positioning statement

What are the key elements that every positioning statement should have? Without these elements, your positioning statement is incomplete.

Target audience

Knowing your target audience is critical when creating a brand positioning statement. Ask yourself:

  • Who are the people who will benefit from my product?
  • What demographic (age, gender, household income, style, interests, etc) is my brand going to connect with?
  • Where can I find this audience?
  • What is the best way to connect with this audience?

It's important to understand your target audience, how they think, and what are "must-haves" for them. Whether you are selling something for individuals or commercial customers, by defining your target audience, you will find out why they need your product.

Value proposition

Another element that is necessary for your positioning statement is the value proposition or unique selling proposition.

A value proposition is a determination of how a customer will benefit by using your products or services. Knowing your brand's value to users is key to marketing your brand. Answer these questions to figure out your value proposition:

  • What makes your product one-of-a-kind?
  • Why do people need your product?
  • What is special about your brand that makes it better than other brands?
  • What benefits will your brand deliver to customers?
  • What value does your brand offer to potential users that differentiates it from the crowd?

In order for you to fulfill customers' needs, you need to understand what they gain by using your product and why yours is the best.

Competitive advantage

What gives your product a competitive advantage in your niche? A competitive advantage is a circumstance or characteristic that gives your brand a favorable position against your competitors.

Questions you can ask are:

  • What is unique about your product?
  • Why is it a better deal than the competition's product?
  • What is special about your brand and/or product that puts you ahead of the rest?
  • What are the circumstances that provide your brand with a leading position in your niche?
  • What have you learned from your competitor analysis?
  • What does your market assessment tell you?

Understanding the answer to these questions will help you market your product to your target audience in such a way that they will appreciate the unique benefits they can receive when they use your product.

Branding

Creating a brand strategy and brand identity is necessary for any business, whether you're selling products or services. Branding is creating a recognizable identity that your target audience perceives when thinking about your company (or the brand line of a larger company).

Branding is displayed everywhere your brand is marketed through your company logo, visual design package, brand mission statement, and presentations, including audio and visual customer interactions.

To develop your branding, ask yourself:

  • How do users perceive my business?
  • What does my logo represent? Is it the best logo for my brand?
  • What visuals do I use to create marketing materials?
  • What song or jingle does my brand evoke?
  • What emotions are connected with my brand? How do people feel about it?
  • Does my business align with the mission statement?
  • Are customers perceiving my business the way I intended?
  • When customers and employees interact with my brand, what type of experience do they have?

When creating a positioning statement, it's crucial that your branding is on spec and clearly perceived. A good way to see if your brand is viewed the way you intend is through A/B testing.

Once your target audience, value proposition, competitive advantage, and branding are ready, you can create your positioning statement.

5 tips to craft a strong statement

Once you are ready to start crafting a positioning statement for your brand, here are some tips to get you started.

1. Learn how your brand fits into your industry

Unless you are the first business to sell a specific product or service to anyone, you are entering an established industry. A good rule of thumb is to consider how your company compares to the industry as a whole, starting with the history of the industry.

Businesses aren't created in a vacuum. They are initiated to answer a need that has come to light within a niche or specific industry. Many customers already have a relationship with the industry you are entering. Therefore, it's helpful to learn about traditions and established practices in the industry that customers have come to expect.

Then, with this knowledge in hand, you can decide how you can fit in with the industry while providing something new that customers are asking for. A thorough understanding of the industry and industry leaders will help you find your feet and fulfill a need that is currently neglected. The better you know your industry, the better you will be able to position your brand within it.

2. Know your brand inside and out

A key factor in crafting a positioning statement is to know everything there is about your brand. This means everything. Make sure you know:

  • Who is the owner of the business?
  • Why did they start the business?
  • What is the background of the person or people who started the company?
  • What is the goal of the brand?
  • What is the ideal result that a user will have when using the brand?
  • How does your product operate and do you supply everything needed for its use?
  • What makes your brand special in the marketplace?

If you are an expert on your brand, then you will better understand how to position it as compared to other brands in the industry.

3. Prove that your brand meets your expectations

There's nothing worse than creating a brand that your product can't live up to. All of the hope that customers have regarding your product will turn into disappointment. Therefore, before you demonstrate your product to potential users, make sure that your product works without fail and meets the expectations set by your branding.

Next, you will need to assemble proof of your claims about the product and how it differs from the rest of the industry. You need to prepare how to explain to customers why your product is the best and whatever you claim your brand can do.

4. Keep it short

If your positioning statement is too long, you will lose your audience. Keep it short and to the point. A positioning statement should be one or three sentences or phrases. No more than that.

5. Make sure it says what you want

Once your positioning statement is crafted, make sure it says what you want it to. It must be clear and concise and reflect your brand's core values. Using your positioning statement as the foundation, you should be able to make clear decisions about your brand that reflect your brand's position.

Position statement examples

Let's look at some examples of positioning statements that established companies use across various industries to show that regardless of who a business is targeting and what industry they are in, they all include the same key components in their statements.

Mailchimp

To start, let's look at Mailchimp's positioning statement:

Mailchimp is an all-in-one Marketing Platform for small business. We empower millions of customers around the world to start and grow their businesses with our smart marketing technology, award-winning support, and inspiring content.

As you can see, our statement says exactly what is needed for users to understand what we do. It describes what we are—an all-in-one marketing platform. And what we do for customers—empower millions of customers around the world to start and grow their businesses. And how we do it—using smart marketing technology, award-winning support, and inspiring content.

The style of the statement is friendly and encouraging, giving customers confidence in working with Mailchimp.

Nike

Here is Nike's positioning statement:

For athletes in need of high-quality, fashionable athletic wear, Nike provides customers with top-performing sports apparel and shoes made of the highest quality materials. Its products are the most advanced in the athletic apparel industry because of Nike's commitment to innovation and investment in the latest technologies.

With this statement, Nike has clearly defined its brand as one that is for serious athletes—for athletes in need of high-quality, fashionable athletic wear. Nike's product is top of the line—Nike provides customers with top-performing sports apparel and shoes. And the brand is innovative—its products are the most advanced in the athletic apparel industry because of Nike's commitment to innovation.

Customers looking for durable, high-performing, and fashionable athletic wear are sure to look to Nike due to this positioning statement. The statement offers confidence in current products and future products moving forward because of its focus on innovation.

Apple

Now, let's take a look at Apple's positioning statement:

Apple emphasizes technological research and advancement and takes an innovative approach to business best practices — it considers the impact our products and processes have on its customers and the planet.

Apple's positioning statement offers insight into its business strategy with a broader focus. It focuses on Apple's forward-thinking research and development—Apple emphasizes technological research and advancement. And the statement emphasizes its innovation—takes an innovative approach to business best practices. Then it steps outside the box by declaring that Apple is aware of its impact.

Apple's impact can be viewed in more than one way. It can include the impact on people that use Apple devices. It also notes their impact on the planet. This emphasis is very appealing to Apple's target market. They tend to be more progressive than the general population and therefore concerned with their carbon footprint.

Apple is a company that understands exactly who they are selling to and what that audience values, including innovative products and a reduction of their environmental impact.

Airbnb

When it launched, Airbnb offered a unique service to its audience with this positioning statement:

For local and international travelers, Airbnb is the only booking website that connects you to unique experiences all over the world because we offer the largest selection, most diverse, top-rated and personalized places to stay.

Airbnb offered a new way to travel, targeted primarily to millennials. It was for travelers from anywhere on the globe—for local and international travelers. And they exclusively offered unique travel experiences—the only booking website that connects you to unique experiences. They featured global, diverse, personalized places to stay—we offer the largest selection, most diverse, top-rated, and personalized places to stay. Airbnb lays out its target audience, value proposition, and competitive advantage clearly.

Millennials have grown up with personalized online services, and their travel plans reflect that. With a clear target market, Airbnb gives travelers a peek into travel destinations that most people never see while having lower prices than many hotels and resorts. This new concept of travel has grown with new companies joining the niche.

Coca-Cola

For individuals looking for high-quality beverages, Coca-Cola offers a wide range of the most refreshing options — each creates a positive experience for customers when they enjoy a Coca-Cola brand drink. Unlike other beverage options, Coca-Cola products inspire happiness and make a positive difference in customers' lives, and the brand is intensely focused on the needs of consumers and customers.

Coca-Cola is a well-established brand with visual recognition worldwide. It has a wide target audience and offers emotions as well as flavor to its customers. Their products are refreshing—Coca-Cola offers a wide range of the most refreshing options. Drinking Coke is a positive experience—a positive experience for customers when they enjoy a Coca-Cola brand drink. They engender good feelings—inspire happiness and make a positive difference in customers' lives.

Coca-Cola has the benefit of being a well-known brand with an established history that is recognized pretty much anywhere. Even when the product is in another language, it is easy to identify the logo and branding. Coke doesn't define itself as just a refreshing drink, Coke defines its brand as one that brings positivity and happiness to all of its customers.

Make your position known

By crafting a position statement, you give your brand a voice. You can create marketing materials that are unified behind a single theme, and give your customers a desirable way to perceive your brand and product.

Using your positioning statement as an anchor or guide, you can project the brand identity that you want customers to see in everything you do to market and produce your product. This includes your brand logo, website, advertisements, packaging, shipping, and anything else your brand uses.

Audio and video commercials can all reflect back to your brand while giving users the impression of your brand that you want them to see. This creates a cohesive, focused presentation of your branding that is reiterated by each step you take and each marketing campaign you have.

Mailchimp offers numerous tools and services to help you achieve and promote your brand position. While they are best known for their email marketing service, they also have numerous other services, including:

All of these services can help you create and promote your brand identity and positioning statement.

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