How to measure brand positioning- finding a prankster
Bob is looking for a prankster, specifically someone who pranks teachers, using animals or insects they are scared of. Dylan's name keeps popping up!
Dylan has succeeded in positioning himself in Bob's mind as the go-to prankster for this type of prank. Just Like Dylan, let us learn a couple of things about Positioning a brand.
Brand positioning is the system and methodologies brands use to appeal to their audience and set themselves apart from competitors.
To get a functional system in place, you need to whip up a plan as well as strategies that will help you to position your brand as one with an edge(no matter how small) over others that share a niche market with you.
After planning out and fine-tuning these strategies, a positioning statement is created to serve as a way for your brand message to be communicated to your target audience.
To be clear, when it comes to measuring brand positioning, what is being measured is the effectiveness of the strategies you used to position your brand in the market.
In measuring the effectiveness of the strategies, the results obtained will be proof of how well your brand positioning is perceived in the market.
Brand positioning strategy
Having the right strategy helps you gain the type of attention you need for your brand and sustains loyalty over time.
To create a relevant brand positioning strategy, you need to look carefully into these 3 areas. They will show you the strategy type that will fit the goal you have in mind.
These 3 elements are;
1. Know thy target audience; It is only in fully knowing that we understand what roles we can play. It is only through well-rounded insights(into how our audience responds to the market) that can help us know how to position ourselves favorably. This is how Dylan figured out how to position himself. He discovered the reason why people prank each other, when they do, how often they do, and why they prefer some to other types. It helped him craft out his positioning strategy and his solutions to answer the different needs his schoolmates have about the pranks they would like to do.
2. Recognize your competition: Knowing your competition and studying them will help you figure out loopholes you can tap into to position better on the market. Learn how they are delivering on the benefits of their product, study your findings, and put out a better positioning strategy that will set you apart from their systems highlighting your brand uniqueness and giving you an edge.
3. Evaluate your qbrand promise and market needs: Brands that stand out do so by making unique brand promises that answer a specific need in the market. Ask questions such as will my brand values be properly reflected through this promise, and is its proposed benefit relevant to the market?
If you have completed your market survey and drawn up responses for these 3 elements you can now go-ahead to build an effective strategy for your brand positioning. When it comes to making promises, always add some padding. If you can perform an action in 2 hrs say you can do it in 5hrs. You can most definitely keep that promise without blinking.
Building a brand positioning strategy means creating a method to effectively pass your brand message. A brand positioning strategy is not a one-way street as there are multiple strategies you can develop. The difference lies in the objectives each strategy fulfills. Different strategies can be used to determine how you position your brand in the marketplace.
Objectives of brand positioning strategies
i. Consumer Appeal; your objective could be to make your brand highly appealing to your consumers. The points, plans, or road map you build will direct your customers to why your product is appealing.
ii. Differentiation; the aim is to make sure there is a clear-cut line between your target market's perception of you and others in the same niche.
iii. Value positioning; this sort of strategy is one whose objective is to spotlight the value that your brand will be adding to the lives of its consumer.
Positioning helps you carve out a solid place in the minds of your target audience, and strategies fine-tune the processes involved in creating those impressions.
Metrics for measuring brand positioning
To know how well your brand is performing, you need to study how effective your brand has been in solving the problems of its customers.
The following questions can help you to evaluate the effectiveness of your brand positioning.
Positioning strategy used:
Question | ​How to measure |
How effective has your brand been in solving its consumer's problems? | reviews accompanied with a rating |
Are your consumers easily differentiating your products from others in your niche? | survey |
Has there been an increase in sales since you set up your brand positioning strategy? | sales data |
Has this helped you scale in the market and become a force that people would want to associate with? | a survey, number of new users |
If you can answer these questions positively then Your brand positioning was successful.
If you are yet to develop your brand positioning statement, this is also an effective guide to help you create a strong statement.
Keep in mind that the easier your statement is to grasp, the more compelling it will be for your teammates to push its value forward and communicate the brand message to the desired target audience effectively.
