Growing a strong brand goes beyond a memorable tagline or eye-catching logo. You must consider how those elements will be seen by – and resonate with – your audience. It’s just as important for mission-driven organizations to consider branding as it is for commercial or for-profit companies. Creating an effective strategy to position your brand to appeal to the right audience will help you get your messages heard and grow your impact.

What is Brand Positioning?

Brand positioning can be summarized as the process of establishing the uniqueness of your organization’s brand to convey its value proposition. In other words, a brand position explores what sets your organization apart from competitors, identifies your target market, and showcases the value and promise you bring to that market.

A brand positioning strategy can bring several positive impacts:

• It clarifies what your organization does. Most organizations have an easy time explaining what they do and how they do it, but many struggle with digging deeper into why they do it. Why does your organization exist? Why should people care about what you do? A brand positioning strategy will help answer these questions and bring a deeper clarity about what you do to your audience.
• It helps you stand out to your audience. There’s an ever-growing list of items that compete for our attention each day, which makes it even harder for organizations to stand out to their audiences. Your brand positioning strategy will provide the framework needed to ensure your messaging cuts through the noise and resonates with the right audience.
• It creates alignment across your internal and external messaging. Cohesion across messaging is a vital part of a brand’s long-term success. It aids in brand recognition, helps build trust and credibility, and provides your audience with a seamless experience across all touchpoints with your organization.
• It drives strategic decisions. A brand positioning strategy lays the groundwork for informed decisions. Often, you need to make strategic decisions fast. This strategy serves as a clear direction for what strategic moves are in line with your brand, allowing you to move forward quickly when needed.

Key Parts of an Effective Brand Positioning Strategy

Ready to put together a brand positioning strategy? Here are a few key elements to include:

• Brand Promise – When creating your brand positioning strategy, begin with your commitment to your audience. A brand promise, while typically short and memorable like a slogan, serves as the foundation for an organization’s identity and tells your audience what they can expect each time they interact with your brand. It should be short and memorable, unique, and convey value. For example, the brand promise of Coca-Cola is reported to be, in part: “To inspire moments of optimism and uplift.”
• Insight Discovery – Generating insights about your brand and audience can help form many aspects of your brand positioning strategy. Generate insights by determining the true drivers behind your audience’s current behaviors, perceptions, and needs. Once discovered, these insights can help guide your communication about your organization’s value.
• Positioning Statement – No brand positioning strategy is complete without a solid positioning statement, which documents the unique value your organization brings to your target audience. This statement should be developed for an internal audience but used as a guide for all marketing communication. When developing your positioning statement, begin by answering these four questions:
  • What is my organization’s target market?
  • What industry is my organization in?
  • What is my organization’s unique value?
  • How does my organization provide this value?

While brand positioning strategies should be unique to every organization, they are similar in their framework for delivering compelling messages. A successful brand positioning strategy will help you communicate your organization’s unique value and create messages that resonate with your audience.

Ready to get to work on a brand strategy of your own, or don’t know where to start? We’re happy to help and ready to talk: reach out to inquiries@forumone.com.