Picture this: You’re preparing to launch your new product. You’ve spent countless hours, days, weeks, months, even years determining what sets the product apart from the competition and developing your brand identity.
But how can you ensure your marketing efforts are aligned with the brand?
The answer? Positioning.
Your positioning impacts all aspects of your branding and how your market sees you. It influences everything your business presents and shares about your product and brand with your target audience. Your internal teams benefit greatly from effective positioning, too — it helps sales reps, marketers, and service and support teams create more delightful and on-brand experiences for customers.
When consumers visit your company website, view an ad, or check out your Twitter page, each piece of content should communicate the business’ core values and brand and a positioning statement helps you do exactly that.
Having a clear and concise positioning statement is important because it gives potential consumers the ability to understand your business at first glance. Buyers want to know how your product and purpose differentiate you from the rest of the market, without buying the product first.
To craft your positioning statement, you’ll need to get crystal clear on a few key facets of your business:
Next, let’s talk about how a positioning statement differs from some other common guiding principles in a business’ marketing strategy.
A positioning statement is broader and it’s created after you’ve developed your business’ value proposition. It also identifies the primary customer benefits — why someone needs your product or service.
Now that you understand the differences among some common business and marketing elements, here are the core elements of strategic marketing positioning that you’ll need to know.
As mentioned earlier in the article, if you want to craft your positioning statement, you must first have a good understanding of your positioning as a whole. This includes defining the following core elements:
Target Audience
They say that “the riches are in the niches,” which comes down to the idea that, even if anyone can use your product or service, you should still be targeting specific buyers to maintain the integrity and differentiation within your brand.
A market includes buyers and sellers. A category defines a specific segment of that market. Market categories can be as broad as “grocery store” and as niche as “vegetarian health food store.” Market categories usually start out broad and get more niche as the businesses occupying that market expand their product and service offerings to the consumers in the market.
Your brand promise is ultimately what the target audience or buyer persona stands to gain from using your product or service. It’s what success looks like to them if their pain or problem is resolved.
Values guide how your business makes decisions within the context of your brand. They create the culture of your organization and leave a favorable impression on your target audience. They are the intangible methods with which you execute your mission and vision.
Once you have a solid understanding of these core elements, you can begin crafting the positioning statement.
When writing and evaluating your positioning statement, keep the following tips in mind:
Positioning statements are written documents. Since they don’t include images, video, or other visuals, it can be challenging to communicate what your business is, who it serves, and why that matters in just a few sentences.
Creating a vision board that represents your target audience when they need your product the most can help make your positioning statement come to life.
Your brand’s positioning statement should be concise and to the point. Aim for no more than three to five sentences, if possible.
The wordier that your statement gets, the less factual it becomes. It then risks becoming more aspirational than what your business is, with more elements that are more inflated than grounded in truth.
This statement should be unique to your company and the problems you aim to solve. When crafting your positioning statement, be sure to emphasize the distinctive qualities of your brand.
Buyers should be able to see the special value that your business can provide or solve for. Many markets are already saturated with products or services that are similar to your offering, your statement should be able to capture their attention against the noise.
The positioning statement isn’t the time to get fancy and pitch a new angle for the business. Your brand’s positioning statement should accurately reflect the core values of your business.
Clear core values in your positioning statement also sends messages to your internal team. It helps new employees with better alignment. In addition to letting consumers know your stances, it helps existing team members stay on the right track and continue to deliver on your brand’s promises.
Your brand offering is a vital part of your positioning statement. It’s the main reason that customers are seeking you out, so when crafting your own, you need to cover these two bases:
Succinctly state who your customer is and how you will help them in your positioning statement.
Does your brand serve a previously underrepresented target audience? Let them know clearly and proudly that you fill that gap.
There are so many different ways to stand out against the crowd, you just have to survey your competitors and see how you do it better.
In almost any circumstance, your team should be able to align key business decisions with your brand’s positioning statement due to its simple and easy-to-understand nature.
Once you’ve written your positioning statement, your eyes might deceive you. After spending several hours perfecting every word, you’ll think what you’ve written is wonderful, when in reality it’s full of jargon, acronyms, and features that aren’t clear to someone outside of your company.
Just because positioning statements aren’t public-facing doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be easy to understand. Investors, new hires, and external agencies who work closely with your businesses will need to use this document, too.
Pro Tip: To jargon-proof your positioning statement, have a colleague who is unrated to your business review the statement for you and give feedback. They’ll make meaningful observations that you may have overlooked.
Each business is unique, and it’s alright if your statement doesn’t fit the template exactly, but be sure to include the main points below:
You might need a little more inspiration before taking pen to paper and creating your own positioning statement. Here are some examples to get your creative juices flowing.
Since positioning statements are meant to be kept from the public eye, you’ll rarely find one floating around the internet. Using the template we shared earlier, we’ve crafted a few example statements for recognizable brands using the information we know about them as consumers (or employees!) Below are examples of positioning statements of well-known brands to give you a feel for how to create one for your business.
Since 2006, HubSpot has been on a mission to make the world more inbound. Today, over 100,000 total customers in more than 100 countries use HubSpot’s award-winning software, services, and support to transform the way they attract, engage, and delight customers. Composed of HubSpot’s CRM, Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub, HubSpot gives companies the tools they need to Grow Better.
With a clearly defined mission and track record that could capture the attention of prospects, HubSpot’s positioning statement leads with its trustworthiness and variety of products to better service businesses looking to grow and scale for the future.
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.
While their product offering is literally beverages, Coca-Cola leads its positioning statement with how much of a positive experience they want to provide its customers. By appealing to prospect’s emotions, with a vast variety of products to choose from, buyers can know they’re buying from a company that wants to better their lives — even with something as small as a cold drink.
White Dog Distilling was founded in 2016 by the husband/wife team of Carlo and Alecia Catucci based on passion, spirit, and the journey from grain to glass. Bolstered by Carlo’s background in physics and Alecia’s culinary and product development experience, they set forth with one goal in mind: to produce high-quality distilled spirits that could appeal to both novice spirit drinkers and longtime aficionados alike.
White Dog leads its positioning statement with the high quality it delivers to customers. Offering locally sourced and sustainable ingredients attracts customers looking for good value versus price, with delicious taste, and making it accessible to those who aren’t well versed in spirits.
We are creating an airline people love. Each day, we are guided by our core values of “own safety”, “do the right thing”, “be kind-hearted”, “deliver performance”, and “be remarkable at work and in our communities.” Alaska Airlines also fosters a diverse and inclusive culture and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Alaska Airlines leads its positioning statement with love and heart. Prospects can be introduced to the brand feeling as though they’re more than your typical transactions, but instead as unique individuals who are worth delivering great service and inclusive experiences to.
We are creating an airline people love. Each day, we are guided by our core values of “own safety”, “do the right thing”, “be kind-hearted”, “deliver performance”, and “be remarkable at work and in our communities.”
Organic Bath Co. has a brilliant positioning statement that successfully conveys its focus on quality ingredients, health, and the value of rest. Prospects could be looking for a soap brand that not only is made from organic and safe ingredients, but encourages its customers to indulge themselves in the relaxing experience of using its product line.
For consumers who want to purchase a wide range of products online with quick delivery, Amazon provides a one-stop online shopping site. Amazon sets itself apart from other online retailers with its customer obsession, passion for innovation, and commitment to operational excellence.
Amazon cuts straight to the chase in its positioning statement, and that’s a big testament to its success. It clearly outlines that its store is the customer’s one-stop shop to find everything they need, to better help the customer achieve their goal.
At IMPACT, we have revolutionized the way inbound marketing is done and taught to businesses by reimagining the agency-client relationship through the ground-breaking principles of They Ask, You Answer.
Instead of creating a cycle of dependency, wherein our clients are reliant upon us to move the needle and get results, we empower all of the companies we work with to take ownership of their digital sales and marketing. Instead of fishing for you, we’ll “teach you how to fish” and feast on remarkable results for a lifetime.
IMPACT’s positioning statement explains how it goes against the grain to better serve its customers in the market, by eliminating the cycle of dependency. This approach is unique and will attract many prospects to want to learn more about its solutions.
One by one, we are leading a movement to a future where all beauty is clean beauty. We are powered by people, and our collective mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone. Formulate, advocate, and educate—that’s our motto for creating products that truly perform while holding ourselves to unparalleled standards of safety. Why? It’s really this simple: beauty should be good for you.
As opposed to other beauty brands that strive to fix or perfect customer’s complexions without much focus on ingredients, Beautycounter takes the unique stance that beauty should be good for you beyond looks. The focus on cleaner, safer ingredients will really attract customers looking to maintain their complexions, instead of temporarily fix them.
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.
Nike’s positioning statement clearly outlines its range of products to better serve athletes, and doesn;t use exclusionary language to define what an athlete is. By doing so, people that enjoy hobbies and professionals alike can derive value from its product line.
Thrive Market is an online, membership-based market making the highest quality, healthy and sustainable products available for every budget, lifestyle, and geography.
Short and to the point, Thrive Market let’s prospects know exactly what it has to offer in a single sentence. Prospects won’t have to guess what type of product they can find from it, and they also know that their line must be extremely versatile, too.
For individuals who want the best personal computer or mobile device, Apple leads the technology industry with the most innovative products. 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 appeals to people of all different backgrounds to expect quality products made with intent to innovate in a way that helps people and the environment. It even gains prospects’ trust by emphasizing its industry authority, making it even more successful.
For individuals looking for a quick-service restaurant with an exceptional customer experience, McDonald’s is a leader in the fast-food industry, with its friendly service and consistency across thousands of convenient locations. McDonald’s’ dedication to improving operations and customer satisfaction sets it apart from other fast-food restaurants.
McDonald’s doesn’t narrow its target audience, but instead panders to individuals of all sorts looking for a fast and satisfying service. It also leads with its position as an industry leader to gain trust from prospects.
For individuals looking for a quick-service restaurant with an exceptional customer experience, McDonald’s is a leader in the fast-food industry, with its friendly service and consistency across thousands of convenient locations. McDonald’s’ dedication to improving operations and customer satisfaction sets it apart from other fast-food restaurants.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
