What is Brand Positioning and how can you improve it?

Brand positioning is the process of strategically positioning your brand in your customers mind. You may have a clear idea of where your brand is positioned in the market, but do your customers share the same opinion?
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What is Brand Positioning?

Brand positioning is about presenting your business’ value and niche to consumers to demonstrate how you are distinctive from the rest of your competitors. Why should a consumer choose you over your competitors? 
Brand positioning can also be known as: 

• brand strategy 
• positioning strategy 
• brand positioning statement

It is important that before developing a brand strategy and working on brand positioning, that a business first gains clarity on their brand performance. To find out more about brand clarity, read our article.

Once you have clarity on your brand performance, you can then set about understanding where you want to position yourself in the market. In the day to day running of the business, having conversations about positioning never feels like a priority, but it’s one of the most important things you can do to boost growth in the next 12 months.

Your brand position is expressed through your brand image and what message your business portrays to consumers. This can include the visual design, but also the tone of voice and the way your business is presented both in person and online.

​Brands are powerful

​When you think of Apple, there are some immediate perceptions that come to mind. Apple’s brand image presents characteristics such as innovative, creative and smart. Arguably, Apple’s brand is what has made their products so successful. 

Consumers have trust in their brand, and therefore will be willing to pay much higher prices to have an Apple product. Their brand is positioned at the top of the market, and it is because of consumers' love for the brand that it continues to lead.

But brand positioning is just as important for B2B businesses such as professional service firms. Just like in consumer product markets, there is increased competition with many businesses offering similar services. Branding is critical to standing out from other firms and secure clients.
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​Why is Brand Positioning important?

You communicate your value through positioning. Positioning helps your target customers understand in an instant why you’re right for them. It defines your why, what, how and will inform all future critical business decisions you'll make for many years to come, from which clients to work with to who to hire when growing your team.

An informed and clever brand positioning strategy can be an asset for driving focus and clarity to your marketing strategies, promotions, and recruitment tactics. Applying your brand positioning strategy can help you make effective decisions to help differentiate your brand, attract your ideal customers, captivate top talent, and gain market share from your rivals.

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Ask yourself the fundamental brand positioning question: 'How are we going to become, and remain different?

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​Positioning feels scary, but it’s one of the most powerful things a business can do to quickly stand out from competitors while drastically increasing its perceived value in the eyes of potential clients. Well positioned businesses compete less on price and charge more than the average market rate.

How do I create a Brand Positioning strategy?

Define your purpose

The mistake businesses often make is to define their positioning in their market uniquely by what they sell. Although this is important, your purpose is much bigger than that and creates a unique emotional connection with your core audience. 

Your purpose is articulated by three things: 

• Your vision 
• Your mission
• Your values​

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Your brand purpose is the big WHY behind your business. Why do you exist for your audience? And why should they care?

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​Understand your ideal customer

Once you nail down your business purpose, you can develop a customer persona. Who is your ideal customer? Your brand position should be focused on attracting the attention and engagement of your ideal customers to best maximise the results. 

Your customer persona should consist of the following:

• What is their occupation?
• What industry do they work in?
• Where do they live?
• What are their challenges?
• What are their goals?

The more detailed the persona is, the better understanding you will have of who you are aiming your marketing and branding to.

​Develop your brand voice

The third stage of developing your brand positioning strategy is to define your brand tone. By this stage you know who you are, who you want to appeal to and now it’s about presenting this to your audience. 

Your brand tone of voice is about displaying the position through a personality. In the example of Apple, they portray an informal but smart tone of voice. Think about what characteristics you want to focus on for your brand.

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Once you’ve defined your voice it is critical that it remains consistent across all that your business does both online and offline. ​

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​How do I improve my Brand Positioning?

​Understand your current brand position and recognise where to focus your attention

Consider the following criteria to understand where your brand’s current position is, to understand where you may be able to improve the alignment of your business objectives and your brand strategy. 

• Do your customers perceive your brand in the same way you do?
• Is your brand position clear to customers so they can distinguish you from competitors?
• Is your brand focused on your ideal customer?
• Does your position reflect the niche you offer customers?
• Does your brand position allow you to grow and adapt?
• Is your brand strategy consistent?
• Is your brand positioned for long-term success?

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Get an external perspective

Positioning is hard, and businesses that don’t nail their positioning quickly are unlikely to do so without outside help. There could be many reasons, but it's often uncertainty about the most appropriate areas of focus.
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Most businesses leaders are too close to the business to identify the business' remarkable difference. It is rarely what you sell, or how you do it, but rather some intangible 'X factor' which makes your business stand out in a way that competitors will find hard to copy or imitate.

Acacia’s approach to Brand Positioning

​Defining your positioning

At Acacia, we work with you to define a clear brand strategy and the most profitable positioning for your business. We articulate your brand story and the visual and verbal qualities around it. 

We understand the importance of outlining a strong brand position as the foundations of building a brand which will connect with your ideal clients. Our approach works is results-driven to ensure that your business overcomes challenges and achieves growth.
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Benefits of Brand Positioning

Through defining the optimal brand strategy, we can help you achieve the following:

• Attracting your ideal clients
• Retaining your top clients
• Improving your sales revenues
• Attracting top talent
• Future-proofing your business against competitors

Once your business has a clear brand positioning strategy, you can then focus on designing your branding and marketing material. This stage of Acacia’s brand methodology is driven by brand visibility. 

​Get started by taking Acacia’s free Brand Performance Scorecard

​Acacia's Brand Performance Scorecard will give you clear branding insights to grow your business in less than five minutes. Try it now.

Take The Scorecard