Perception is Reality.

First, there were 4P’s of Marketing. And then there was 1 more. And it made all the difference.

We all know the 4 P’s of marketing.

• Product: WHAT you are selling
• Place: WHERE you are selling
• Price: For HOW MUCH you are selling it
• Promotion: HOW are you making it an enticing deal for your customers

To ensure that you have the most ideal 4 P’s of marketing and to set your business up for success, you must first conquer the STP of marketing.

S is the Segmentation of your prospective customers. You can never please everyone in the market. You also can’t to be everything to everyone. And so, you need to analyze the various customer personas for your business. What are the different segments of users that you can envision using your products/services?

T is Targeting the specific customer personas that you think fit best with your vision and mission as a brand. So of the X number of user groups, you will want to identigy a few, ideally 2-4 customer personas, that will make up the bulk of your buyers and become your key target customers.

And finally, we come to the P, or Brand Positioning. The positioning is essentially how your target customer perceives your brand. It doesn’t have less to do with the inherent qualities of the product, and more to do with how you communicate the brand to your prospective buyers to ensure they perceive it exactly as you intend it to be perceived.

Positioning is one of the most important factors in building your brand identity. You want to be in control of the narrative of the brand and not let your customers build their own perceptions about it. So, how do you create a good brand positioning? Here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Review the competitive landscape of the industry you are trying to enter.
• Understand the basic points-of-parity you need to enter the industry and be considered a legitimate business in the category.
• Now, think about the target customers you have identified. What are they looking for? What are their unmet needs or pain points with the category?
• Now that you know that, identify how you will be different from others in your category and satisfy your customers’ needs. How will you stand out?
• Think beyond the physical attributes and functional benefits of your product. What emotional needs is your product fulfilling for this Target customer?
• With all the information you have gathered, create a brand positioning statement in this manner:
• To <Target Customers>, <Business Name> is a/an <Offering> that enables them to <Address an Unmet Need/Pain Point> by <Reason to Believe>.
• Once you have this statement, it can inform your key messaging to the customers, and make it easy to break through the noise of the market in a unique manner.

A good brand positioning helps you create a Key Message that has these qualities:

• Short
• Simple
• Clear/ Easy to Understand
• Easy to Recall
• Unique
• Emotional Attributes over Functional Attributes.

Reach out to our team of branding experts for a FREE review of your brand positioning and guidance on building a new brand positioning statement.