Create Brand Positioning for a Small Business
Small business owners sometimes focus on the tangibles in running a business--the location, the inventory, the staff and the sale. Many don't recognize the value and purpose of positioning their brand as a distinct marketing tool. Big corporations spend millions promoting their brands successfully; it's a tool proven to work. Develop positioning to differentiate your brand and see results.
Instructions
1. Consider your budget and determine if you will rely on existing staff to develop your branding or if you can hire an outside consultant, such as a marketing or advertising agency.
2. Block out a half-day of time and plan a meeting for the stakeholders in the small business, employees who are highly knowledgeable about the business and a third party to take notes during the meeting.
3. Brainstorm as a group. Write down everything you can think of that describes the business and the way you want it to be perceived. Do you want the business to be an expert in something? Should the company be known most for over-the-top service or excellent prices? Note these items in addition to things the business does well and items it struggles with.
4. Make a list of the business' different audiences, and what the business aims to offer each of those audiences. Examples to consider include owners, employees, business partners, customers and the community.
5. Describe the value that your small business offers customers and what makes it different from competitors.
6. List competitors and the different values that they offer their customers. In thinking about this, it may be helpful to discuss why a customer would choose to do business with you rather than a top competitor, and vice versa.
7. Coordinate the results of your brainstorming session afterward, pooling your ideas into one short paragraph that describes who the company is, why it exists and what value it brings to others.
8. Translate your company's positioning statement into a form of branding. This can involve visuals such as a logo that you may prefer to develop with the help of a professional, or it may simply be a "tagline," a short group of words used on marketing and advertising materials to describe your business to others. Examples of taglines include McDonald's "I'm lovin' it" and Nike's "Just do it."
9. Use your new brand positioning to further develop your business, making decisions based on the purpose of the company. Include your branding on all communication related to your business.
Tags: your business, Brand Positioning Small, Create Brand, Create Brand Positioning, develop your, marketing advertising