Published:
Fri, Jul 11 2008
One of your most important roles as a business owner or marketeer is to help your business develop a strong, positive brand image. To achieve the brand image you desire, you must produce a convincing positioning strategy and deliver a consistent brand message. Below are a few basic steps to help you mold your audience perception and achieve your desired brand image.
Developing a Positioning Strategy
The first step to creating your brand image is to develop a strong positioning strategy. This strategy will be used to differentiate your business in the minds of your target market. In order to influence your target market, you must evaluate your offering and know which of your attributes are most attractive. Most businesses choose from five attributes: product, price, accessibility, service and experience. To begin your evaluation, try answering the following questions:
- Who are my target customers and what attributes do they value most?
- What attributes do I offer?
- Which of my attributes are better than my competition's?
- Why are they better?
Use the answers to these questions to identify an appropriate positioning strategy for your specific business.
Building Brand Image
Generate a brand message that will showcase your competitive advantage once you have finalized your positioning strategy. This message should evoke the desired brand image.
A great way to determine whether or not your message reflects the desired brand image is to test it on members of your target market prior to the release of any promotional materials. Although it is ideal to use a randomly selected focus group representative of your target market, a test group comprised of unbiased friends, customers and other volunteers can be a money-saving alternative for those with smaller budgets. Your audience's responses can help you identify weaknesses in both your positioning strategy and brand message. In addition, you will better understand your target's expectations and current perception of your brand.
Your brand image is a determinant of your business's success. For that reason, when developing a positioning strategy, be overly cautious and think long-term. The strategy and message you choose should be applied to your entire promotional campaign. Consistency will eliminate audience confusion, which will then help strengthen your brand image. Remember, it is much harder to repair negative brand image than it is to create a strong one from the start.