HOW TO WRITE A POWERFUL BRAND POSITIONING STATEMENT (YOUR STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE)

 

Today’s talking point:

In this episode I'm going to walk you through step by step how to create a powerful brand positioning statement that represents who you help, how you help them, and why you do what you do. 


Now I know that when it comes to answering the question “so what do you do?,”  a lot of us freeze, stumble over our words and just really wash ourselves down. We all do it, and I know I'm definitely guilty of this.

So if you're anything like me and sometimes you feel like being yourself and being vulnerable and real online isn't the easiest thing you've ever done, then this episode is for you.


THE FIRST STEP

Now, if you've been following me online or listening to this podcast for any length of time, then you'll know that I think you have to have your productivity systems down and nailed before you can start to implement any kind of other business or marketing strategy because that's only half of the pizza.

The pizza really needs to be split into thirds and something that comes before the systems, before the strategy, before the organisation is what you actually want to be known for. 

I truly believe that before anything, you need to have full clarity on yourself, the message you want to share with the world and how you want to share it. And that's when you gain full clarity on how to put yourself out there in a way that pleases you, but also attracts new audience members who turn into leads.


WHAT IS A BRAND POSITIONING statement?

First of all, what even is a brand positioning statement? This can be quite confusing sometimes because it can be called a few things. It can be called a brand positioning statement, a brand statement, a mission statement. I actually like to call it your brand strategy statement because it really does underpin your entire strategy.

Now, you might have one of these already, but I still encourage you to go through this episode and make some notes because I promise that this formula I'm about to share with you will really make you think about whether your brand statement is actually doing its job. 

Now, the biggest thing with this, with your elevator pitch is that you don't just want to recite it to everyone like you’re a robot. You want to be a human. You want to make it real. You want people to believe in this exciting, amazing description of the people that you serve and how you serve them. Packed into two or three sentences that just roll off your tongue so smoothly.

By the end of this episode, you'll finally have clarity about your brand and who your audience is that you want to connect with. Think of it as your elevator pitch. Now, the way that we're going to format this strategy statement today is for internal use. This is for you.


3 STEPS TO CREATING A BRAND POSITIONING STATEMENT


#1 | Your Why

So first of all is your why. This is arguably the most important part, which is why I'm covering it first. Because you can't do anything without a why. This is why every strategy statement is going to be different; you can't use someone else's. 

Why can't you do this based on someone else's “why”? 

Because if we don't have something specific to you, to your situation, to your feelings, to the life that you want, then this strategy statement is going to be worthless. 

So the question that you need to ask yourself is what is at the heart of why you do what you do? There is a deeper reason that gets you out of bed every morning. There's a reason that you want your life to be a little bit different, to be a little bit better, to be a little bit louder with the message of your content.

I'm not going to be able to pull it out for you, it’s something you have to find yourself. It doesn't’ have to be something big or deep, but it’s got to be your motivation behind the life you want. 

My why when I first started my business was because I really wanted a dog; I wanted to be able to work from home and stay at home with my dog because why would we get one otherwise? In the future I want to be able to take my kids to school. I want to be able to pick them up from school. I want that life on my own terms. I want that freedom and that's the “why” that kept me going every single day. 

Another factor that goes into this are your goals. So I had my why, but I also had the goal setting for the business that I wanted to start and how marketing and content was going to play a role in that. 

How to use your goals in your “why”:

  • Define your business goals. So maybe you want a certain number of clients in the first six months , a certain number of sales in the first 12 months, whatever you want to set as your expectation. 

  • Look at your set goals and understand how they can fit in with your why.

    1. Laying out goals to support and help achieve your why will make it a little bit easier for you to envision it every single time. 

Your why might be personal, it might be business related - the only thing that matters is that it rings true to you.

#2 | Your Who

Let's talk about who you're doing this for, part two of your brand positioning statement. I get that part of you will be saying, “deep down I'm doing this for me;” and I get that. It’s not selfish to say so at all.

But if your goal is solely to just do this for you, to just run this business for you, then it's not going to be that interesting to your clients. They won’t get what you get from what you’re doing.

Yes, you are absolutely an important person in this process, but you are the creator. Whether you are product or service based, you are the creator (and yes, at the very heart of it you are doing it for you), but we need to know who you're doing this for. Who do you help? 

Ask yourself:

  • Who do you entertain? 

  • Who are you going to be showing up for every time you publish a piece of content? 

  • Who is your perfect audience member / customer / human? 

Let's say you are a real estate agent, so you might be thinking in this case: “Oh well anyone that buys a home is great for reading my blog posts or watching my videos.”

Sure, anyone that buys a house is going to help your business, but it's not clear enough. You could literally be envisioning anyone by saying that: a man, a woman, a millennial, a baby boomer, etc. and that makes it very hard to focus on who you're really talking to, which makes it difficult to know what you're actually going to say. 

You've got to learn who they are. List out all of the characteristics that you can think of of your potential perfect audience member. 

  • Ideas of what you think

  • Things they talk about, vocabulary that they use 

  • Do they use the same terms that you use? 

  • Do they have kids? 

  • What is their day like? 

  • Do they commute? Do they listen to podcasts or do they listen to the radio? 

After you have a clear vision of who you want to target, try and sum it up in a few words as part of your brand statement. So this could be as simple as:

A working mom who comes home, wants to make a delicious meal for her kids but isn't a great cook and needs some education. Can you educate her? Are you the perfect creator for her? What's that person like? What's their day like? How can you get in touch with them? How can they learn from you?

Once you've done this,  really wrap your mind around that person. Make them real in your head. Really envision them, give them a hair colour, whatever makes you understand that this is a real human being that is watching your real videos and consuming your content 

Come up with a name for them, and every time lock eyes with the camera, every time you show up on your Instagram stories, or anytime you create a piece of content say, “Hi Amy, I really hope you're good today.”

Rather than just thinking of a random person or thinking, OMG, I am talking to a camera right now, or someone from high school is really gonna judge me - think about your ideal client that knows you and trusts you. 

Every time you have a question about a piece of content you're creating or a new product you want to launch, ask yourself, is this right for Amy? Because that's what you want to aim for: your perfect audience members feel like you are speaking and creating directly to and for them. 


#3 | Your What

For the last part of the brand positioning statement, we need to know what you're actually going to talk about. This is all about what your “who” wants. Not what you think they need. 

If you are blogging, you are creating valuable content. You are not creating a commercial, you are not selling something, you're not even selling yourself. Start asking those questions like:

  • What do you think about this?

  • What is your biggest problem? 

  • What's worrying you? 

  • What do you wish was better in your life? 

Anytime you can come up with a way to solve someone's problem is a blog post. 

Back in the beginning I knew I wanted to be a coach and so I knew I needed to gain trust. I had to think about what my ideal audience was thinking about at that moment. You might have to do a little bit more research.

Start now and start calling people and saying, Hey, what do you want to know? What bugs you in this industry? What do you enjoy? What do you want to see more of? Just hear what they have to say because sometimes it's not just the answers that they're saying, it's hearing how they talk about it. 


HOW TO TURN YOUR BRAND POSITIONING STATEMENT INTO AN “I HELP” STATEMENT

Now you have your three sections:

  • Who are you doing this for?

  • What is your message?

  • Why are you even doing this at all?

Writing an “I help” statement is an absolute must to move forward and gain clarity and confidence in how you market yourself effectively online. (That’s why it is one of the first things covered in the Busy to Boss Academy where I go through this with you on a whiteboard and we map out a full example together. I audit your brand strategy statement and help you turn parts of that into your I help statement for your bio across your platforms online.)

So in terms of your I help statement:

The Why

The why is just for you. No one else needs to know that apart from you because that is going to drive you to get out of bed and sit at your desk or get in your studio every single day. 

The Who & What

Who you are doing this for and what you actually talk about. That's what you want to form in your brand statement that you can use across your bio's. 

The biggest piece of advice for you that I have is don't make it fluffy. So if you're saying: “I help busy women achieve a happy and healthy lifestyle,” what does that mean? Will they say that? What are healthy habits? In your research, find the message that comes up over and over again and run. It will give you so much confidence and clarity.

I hope this episode was helpful and I can’t wait to read your brand positioning statement!

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

 
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