You have a lot of companies that want to be the leader in the industry. Do you know why? That’s right because it means getting more sales and higher profits. Your business can be leading in your industry as well, but this is not as easy as you might think. The brand needs to secure a good designation in the competitive market. It has to stand out among others and has to become the top priority for the customers by making strategies like a positioning map. Here in this blog, I will discuss how to develop a brand positioning strategy.

What to Read in this Blog?

In this writing piece, I have discussed

• The basics of brand positioning
• Positioning Map
• Types of Brand Positioning Strategies
• Steps to Develop Brand Positioning Strategies
• How to Make Your Brand Stand Different
• The Bottom Line

What Is Brand Positioning MAP?

Why is Apple the first choice of every smartphone lover? Why are niche perfumes so popular in the market? Why do some brands get long queues in the stores even if they do not offer discounts? It is because such brands have secured a strong position and have a massive reputation in the market.

Brand positioning is not a small concept. It is a thorough process of making your brand worth thinking about. It is a process of making the brand highly reputable among people. In this situation, companies offer top-quality products and build trust among people so they can buy whatever the cost is.

Brand positioning is a marketing strategy that establishes a product or service as different from most other offerings in the market. A brand’s uniqueness can be built on various factors, such as quality, price, or features. The purpose of brand positioning is to create a clear and distinct image in consumers’ minds and to differentiate one brand from another.

It is the process of defining how your company, product, or service is positioned in the minds of consumers. It’s all about understanding what people think when they think about your business and how you can best position yourself within that category.

A brand positioning map is a two-dimensional chart that is used to check the performance and other processes related to the positioning of the company. This chart is used to see the brand’s position as well as the position of its competitors in the market. Factors such as prices, quality, etc. are considered in the plot.

Brand positioning maps are visual tools that can help you understand your brand in relation to competitors, customers, and the market. They help you see how different groups of people perceive your brand and how they would react to various changes in your communications plan.

Why Is Brand Positioning Important?

Think about a world-famous smartphone brand. The company launches a new smartphone that has stunning updated features, appealing camera results, and super-active processors. However, the brand proposes a high price for the smartphone. Still, skyrocketed sales are recorded. Why? Because the price is justified by the quality features of the phone. The brand sees long queues of buyers within the initial days of the launch.

This brand has positioned itself so well in the market that people love to spend more money to achieve top-notch services and top-quality products. The goal of brand positioning is to create an image or perception in the minds of consumers that link their product with certain emotions, benefits, and values. In this way, your brand will become more memorable, relevant, and distinctive in the minds of potential buyers.

Before talking about the positioning map, let’s discuss the significance of brand positioning. It lets the brand stand different from its competitors. If customers want to buy a product that has distinctive features or something innovative, the product will get buyers’ attention more.

Similarly, brand positioning helps in easy purchase decisions for customers. Looking for perfume? Brand A is the ultimate choice. Looking for a smartphone? Brand X is the top option. This happens when brands develop trust with the buyers.

Furthermore, a well-positioned brand will get good sales even if it has launched products with high costs. It happens because customers trust the brand and put the brand on priority. Thus, this also allows the brand to create a plan for creative storytelling. 

Types Of Brand Positioning Strategies

Brands are positioned related to various positioning strategies. In the positioning map, the performances of the brands and their competitors are studied considering various factors. Then, the strategies are made accordingly.

One of the types is the price-based strategy. Some brands have positioned themselves for providing affordable prices with frequent discounts. The main idea behind this type of positioning is to offer a product or service at an affordable price. A price-based positioning strategy focuses on how you can provide value to customers at a lower price than competitors’ offerings. This can be achieved through offering better value for money, or by providing more benefits for the same cost as competitors.

In the customer service positioning approach, the brand focuses on offering highly satisfying customer service. A customer service-based positioning strategy focuses on how well you meet customer needs, not just providing products or services at a good price but also delivering excellent customer service before and after purchase. This type of positioning is more difficult to achieve than other types of strategic positioning because it requires time and effort from staff, but offers strong differentiation from competitors who may offer similar products or services but lack this quality.

In the convenience-based approach, brands examine how the product or service is more convenient for the customers than others. Is the product useful? What benefits customers can enjoy from that product? Is shopping online or from retail easy? It is based on the premise that customers will buy a product or service if it is convenient for them. Convenience can be defined as an advantage over other brands that enables a company to attract and retain customers.

On the other hand, the quality-based strategy focuses on quality. If the brand is offering products of unbeatable quality, customers will happily spend money. this type of brand positioning focuses on what your product or service means to consumers. It focuses on what sets your company apart from others and why consumers should choose you over other providers. Quality-based strategy is important if you have a premium product or service that has no close competitors or if you want to establish yourself as an authority in your industry.

Other types of positioning in the positioning map can be category based which emphasizes where your product or service fits within a category. Now, let’s talk about how to develop a brand positioning strategy.

How To Develop A Brand Positioning Strategy?

Brand positioning is the process of creating a unique place for your brand in the minds of consumers. It’s also a way to build a coherent marketing strategy so that you can develop your business in a way that matches up with your customers’ needs and expectations. On the whole, a good brand positioning map will help you develop your marketing strategies as well.

As you might have guessed, developing a good brand positioning strategy requires some time and effort. But it can also be really rewarding because it will help you find ways to connect with potential customers on an emotional level — which is exactly what you want if you’re trying to build a successful business!

Check The Current Positioning

Before heading towards planning and execution, brainstorming is important. Brands need to understand where they are standing. In this way, they can design their plan and strategies accordingly. Analyzing the current brand position will help you understand the different dynamics of the brand’s success.

The first step in developing a brand positioning strategy is to determine whether you want to create a new brand or extend an existing one. This will help you understand what kind of differentiation you need to create in order to stand out from the crowd.

Positioning Map Observe the Competitors

The next thing a brand needs to do is to identify who its competitors are and what they are doing. The goal is to determine how your brand is different from theirs. This can be studied by conducting activities like market research and surveying people.

You can do this by taking a look at their website, social media channels, ads or even visiting their retail locations. Once you know what they’re doing right and where they fall short, you can use this information to make sure that your own product or service is positioned within your industry in such a way that it stands out from the crowd.

What Type Of Positioning Map Strategy Do You Want To Focus On

This is another significant aspect to define the positioning map. I have discussed some types of brand positioning. Brands can either focus on one of the types at a time. Or, they can also work on all the types together. Brand X is good for pricing. Brand Y always treats customers with amiable customer service.

The main goal of a brand positioning statement is to create a consistent message about your company’s unique value proposition that resonates with customers. It helps you build a competitive advantage by differentiating yourself from competitors and establishing a clear identity in the minds of potential customers.

Promote Your Brand Well

Now you have selected your nice, it is time to promote the brand and your motive. When you’re developing your brand positioning strategy, it’s important to consider how to promote your brand well. This can mean anything from making sure you have the right tools and resources to promote your Brand Building & Promotion your brand on various platforms such as website and social media.

Create the right and updated content to promote the motive and services. If you are serving customers with affordable prices and frequent discounts, your campaigns should highlight this point well. 

Explain Why Your Brand Is Different

Now you have identified your motive, you need to explain it to your customers. The audience should know why your brand is different from others. They should know why your brand is worthy to be prioritized. For this, brands have to put in some extra effort. For instance, if smartphone company X is offering a good camera quality, company Y can focus on the pricing.

Numerous companies are launched and several companies get shut down because of their stance. Success can only be achieved by being vigilant and consistent in the mission and vision. This point will definitely help the brand to answer the ‘how to develop a brand positioning strategy?’.

Positioning Map-Enhance The Convenience And Customer Service

Promoting the brand is not enough, you need to see what customers are saying about you. Customers’ comments and feedback should be monitored and their queries should be responded to on time.

Make sure the product is convenient to use. And, the processes should be convenient as well. From ordering or buying the product to paying the price through payment methods, each process should be smooth and hassle-free.

Positioning is an important step in developing a successful marketing strategy. A clear understanding of where your brand fits in the marketplace will help you develop a lasting competitive advantage over other brands looking for their share of consumer attention, revenue, and profits.

Conclusion

By taking a step back and evaluating your company’s unique value, you can develop a stronger value proposition that will attract customers and help your brand stand out from the competition. Use an effective positioning map to develop a positioning strategy for how you want your company to be viewed by prospective customers. Then take these steps and ensure that you have the right tools in place to communicate the all-important positioning message. This blog will help you analyze the problem of ‘how to develop a brand positioning strategy’. In the end, your brand positioning strategy will depend on your own goals and what you want to accomplish as a business.