Remember, a positioning statement is not about what you do. It is about the benefit to your target customer of what you do differently to your competition, and why they should believe it.

Identifying the optimal differentiation is the hardest part of constructing your positioning statement, and this is not an easy task. Many experienced marketers struggle to develop positioning statements and it is certainly something that is easier once you have done it several times. It requires that you identify your target customer as precisely as possible and truly understand how the customer makes their buying decisions (their frustrations, attitudes, values, challenges, likes and dislikes, the competition, etc).

You can construct the positioning statement in several ways, but we like the following.

Product (Company, Service, Person)

is the one category of product

that provides the target customer

with key benefit

because reason they should believe you can deliver the benefit

The most common mistakes in crafting positioning statements are:

• Not precisely defining the target customer.

• Listing multiple differentiators/benefits (the benefit promise should be singular).

• Developing benefits that are not unique or sustainable.

• Not including the reason customers should believe the benefit promise.

Some positioning statements include a statement on competitors, but in our view, you consider competitors during the process of defining the benefit promise, so it is not required.

SUS out the benefit promise.

Singular

Unique

Sustainable

Developing the market position must be an inclusive process and will probably involve several people across the organisation, for that reason brainstorming sessions can be a good way to get a lot of the required input. Following are some of the important steps in the process.

• Define the criteria your customers use to evaluate the product they will buy.

• Identify you product’s (company, service, person) key benefits, stated in

customer terms and your current market position.

• Identify your competitors’ positions

• Identify your competitive strengths

• Select a position for the optimal unique and sustainable competitive strength

• Craft the positioning statement.

Précis Marketing. An agency that will understand your products, your markets, your customers, your purpose. From one-off graphic designs to international product launches, call Andy on 08456 444567 to discuss your requirements.