What you say and how you say it in the marketplace is extremely important when you’re branding and marketing yourself. So, today I’m going to teach you how to craft your unique positioning statement using my 3-part formula, which will help you differentiate yourself and stand out in this noisy marketplace.
Your positioning statement is essentially a one-liner that says what you do, who you do it for, and the benefits they receive when they work with you. And, the catch is: you must be able to answer all of that in one concise sentence. Marketing is very important and what you say and how you say it matters the world in personal branding and marketing.
I look the positioning statement as an abbreviated elevator pitch. If you’re a personal brand or if you’re in business, you should have an elevator pitch. If you don’t, I’ll teach you how to do that in another blog.
An important thing to understand is that you’re presenting yourself to a market place that’s filled with other people in the same business as you, doing what you’re doing. What you do not necessarily unique, maybe how you do it is, so you have to SAY and PRESENT that in a unique way. And, what’s unique about you is your personality, presentation and perspective.
Having a positioning statement is important because it sets the tone and acts as a baseline for all your other brand and marketing messaging.
Before I give you the formula, I want to give you an example. If I owned a lawn care company, my positioning statement would be something like:
We transform lawns and landscapes for homeowners to enjoy their outdoor experiences.
It’s simple, concise, says what we do, who we serve, and what our client’s benefits will be when they work with us when they hire our company.
Let’s jump into the formula.
3-Part Formula to Create Your Unique Positioning Statement
What you do + Who you do it for + The Result/benefit they receive
What do you do? In one word, simply state what do you do? This is an action word. Think big picture and beyond what you physically do. For you it may be empower, educate, inspire, motivate, or transform). Again, think high-level, big picture. In my example company, we don’t simply mow grass, we transform landscapes.
Who do you do it for? This is your core audience. Who will benefit most from your product or service? Think about your ideal buyer. Who’s the person who needs your service so much so that it’s actually a requirement for them? For our example company, it’s homeowners. Don’t over-complicate this; keep it simple.
What are the results they receive? How does what you do for your audience enhance their life? What are the benefits? This is a very important key to know and understand, otherwise you won’t be successful with branding and marketing. For our example company, our customers get to enjoy their outdoor experiences.
When we add all 3 of those things, we get our positioning statement: We transform lawns and landscapes for homeowners to enjoy their outdoor experiences.
Now it’s time to do the work. If your business or brand is new, it may take you some time to think about those questions in order for it to be cohesive, so do some soul searching. If you’re already in business, this should be easy for you because you most likely already know this stuff. If you don’t, stop what you’re doing today, and take 30 minutes to craft your positioning statement. It really is a game-changer when you fully understand it and put it into practice.
How and Where to Use Your Positioning Statement
Speaking of putting it into practice, once you’ve written your positioning statement, what do you do with it? Use it as a baseline for all your other messaging, like on the homepage of your website, on your business card, social media covers, in your sales deck, marketing collateral, website copy, and elevator pitch.
Now that you know what a positioning statement is, how to craft your own and how to apply it in your brand and business, I want to hear it. Leave your positioning statement in the comments. What do you do? Who do you do it for? And, what are the results and benefits they receive after working with you?
Share it with me and the community of other folks reading this post, crafting their positioning statement.
If you’d like to learn more about building your personal or professional brand, check out my intro branding course Jumpstart Your Brand and the full signature course Brand Building 101.
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