How to create an effective positioning statement

A positioning statement needs to tell your employees as well as consumers who you are and what your focus and goals are. It needs to convey the message of your mission statement and your vision for your company all in one sentence to one short paragraph.

You will want to begin developing your mission statement with a team of company employees who are helping you unite your company as one. As a team you will discuss ideas and vision you have in mind for your company and together come up with one main goal.

Together you will need to make a list of who your consumers are so you can focus your positioning statement on them and their needs, rather than your own. Are the women, are they men, are the young, are they old, do they have children, are you a business for families, are you looking to save people money and you are a business for everyone? All of these questions need to be addressed so that you target the right consumer base and maximize your potential customers.

After deciding who your customers are you will need to do some market research. Send out a team to find out what your targeted customers current needs are. Find out what areas the current market is satisfying them in, and in what areas they wish it could improve. Find out if they have entirely different needs and wants that are not being met that you can provide for them.

As a group you will also need to explore, learn about, and talk about your competitors. What angle of the market are they currently hitting, what are their successes, likewise what their failures are? You will want to know what makes their products superior to other products on the market and what out of each individual competitor your consumers are finding the most beneficial. Knowing more and even all about your competitors is going to help you to come up with a position statement that is unique and will hit the needs that you will find are not currently being met.

Now focus on your product. What have you to offer that your competitors currently do not? What makes you more desirable than the competition? Focus on those differences and single it down to one or two that seem the most important. Is price a current issue in the market you are entering? Focus on offering a lower price, or a more effective product for the price being asked for it. Is the quality of the product the current issue? Focus on your superior quality and your desire to satisfy your customer's needs.

Once you have identified your unique abilities that you can bring to this market you will want to brainstorm with your team to decide on which of your abilities you think will meet the most needs currently in the market and focus on making a positioning statement out of that unique quality you have to offer. Try coming up with two or three positioning statements before you decide on just one.

After having chosen a statement that fits with your mission statement and vision for your company, than go and try it out in public. Practice on a few consumers to see if you grab their attention and peek their interest enough to try your product. If you do not peek anyone's interest in this trial period then it is not too late to go back and try creating a statement that is more effective.

Focus on the needs of your consumers, and the uniqueness you have to bring to the market and you will be able to come up with an effective positioning statement.

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