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Some time ago, I discussed the important of correct brand positioning and proper market segmentation. It would appear, however, that, in my haste, I forgot to cover the most important element of them all - how to actually create the theoretical framework to position your brand. While I’ve touched briefly on examples of brand positioning and why it is important to ensure that your positioning strategy correlates with the needs of your customers, I’ve never actually provided a step-by-step guide for accomplishing all of that.

The objective of this post is to correct this unfortunate oversight by examining the process of writing a brand positioning statement. This statement will create the framework which will help you determine the positioning strategy and methodology for your brand as well as help you gain a quick overview of what your brand is really all about and why it’s going to appeal to your target segment.

A correctly-written brand positioning statement will contain four essential elements:

1. Target Market Segment
2. Frame of Reference
3. Critical Point of Difference (PoD)
4. Credibility

Some of these are more self-explanatory than others, so let’s look at each in greater detail.

Target Market Segment

Your target market segment is the group of customers that you will be mainly targeting in terms of positioning your brand. As discussed earlier throughout this blog, it is important to segment your market properly and drill down to the group of customers that you will be working with. In other words, you must never make the mistake of falling into the trap of mainstream appeal. In fact, there is no such thing as a mainstream market - if you look at brands such as Coca-Cola (which is arguably one of the most global brands in the world), even they employ some form of market segmentation. For example, Coca Cola Light is currently being repositioned to appeal to women, while Cola Zero is being marketed to men.

Frame of Reference

Your brands frame of reference determines what category you will be competing in. For example, as Coca-Cola, your frame of reference would be the non-alcoholic beverage market. As an Internet Marketer, you would be dealing with a wide variety of niches, but one possible example could be the “make money online” market (and yes, I know, it’s pretty broad!) Properly selecting your frame of reference is very important, because it is a prerequisite for correctly identifying the next element of the brand positioning statement - PoDs.

Critical Points of Difference

Commonly referred to as PoDs by professional marketers, these signify the key critical differences between your brand and your competition’s offerings in any given frame of reference. For example, your product may be less expensive, include expert interviews or be written by someone of recognized Internet Marketing fame. The key question to ask yourself is - what is it that really makes my product different from the competition, and is this difference relevant in the mind of my target market segment? For example, if Mike Filsaime were to write a book on Internet Marketing, his reputation as an IM guru would be one of the main PoDs; conversely, expertly-designed e-cover would be unlikely to server as a PoD, simply because the quality of the cover would not be of high relevance to the target segment.

Credibility

This is the really important one. Why should your target segment believe that your brand can deliver on your promises? Examples of this justification can include “because we’re the only ones who have the necessary experience” or “because it leverages our expertise in the industry.” Ideally, your credibility point should also relate to your PoDs to help make life even more miserable for your competition!