Positioning Applied ✍️ 🧠

How to use your Positioning Statement to seed your brand strategy.

I’ve been marching up and down the beach, beating my drum for positioning. I’m telling everyone who will listen: take the time to write a positioning statement and your marketing will flow like the chocolate in the River Wonka.

Most entrepreneurs and high-achieving professionals pushing a brand boulder up the hill have a singular complaint: when it comes to marketing, I don’t know what to say.

This kinda internal handwringing can cause communication paralysis. We know we need to make real connections, beyond the likes. The magic is in the comments… and for that to happen, things need to be comment-worthy.

You need a blend of content (and context!) that inspires, educated, motivates, and demonstrates. We’re looking for storytelling. (I don’t need to tell you that. If you’ve read this far, that little marketing gem has been hammered into your head a gajillion times in webcasts, podcasts, blog posts, and emails.)

You know what’s a whole lotta easier to execute across a robust and meaningful brand/content strategy? A plan, that’s what.

Stop pacing the room wrestling with the daily struggle that is “hmmm, what to post on social.” Quit spending countless hours weighing out the pros-n’-cons and doing All. Of. The. Follow-up.

When it comes to vetting a new lead, know instantly if this is your kinda work with your kinda people.

Start making a small group of intensely committed people very happy by talking to them about the things they care about in a voice they can relate to — and respond to.

Do it with Positioning.

Last year I shared how the sausage is made on a solid Positioning Statement.

Yes. And?

So, you’ve done the intensely soul-searching work and crafted a mighty fine positioning statement (or if you haven’t this will help) You’ve shared your positioning statement with your business besties and everyone agrees: #nailedit.

You’ve got your north star for marketing and messaging, You know just who your people are and just what they need. You know who you are and what you deliver. What’s more, you can articulate why you are different/better/The One… and you can do it in a way that people can really get with.

Your pencils are all in a row on your desk and your notepad is fresh and ready for brilliant ideas. <cue the loud, impenetrable tick of a watched clock> …..

Now what?

Applying a positioning statement is as easy as breaking down the elements and plugging into your content strategy as appropriate, things that when consistently executed create a cohesive and compelling connection with your audiences.

• [FOR] Who are our people? This is the center of our target. Talk only to them. Other people will still find the conversation interesting, I promise. (e.g., You don’t have to be an athlete to love Nike.) Talk about things that are of interest to them or adjacent to your industry. Acknowledge their struggles. Make them feel seen. Celebrate their victories. Feel their pain. Make them feel like part of a community.
  
  
• [WHO NEED] What do they need? Your people have some pretty powerful things in common. They all need something that you can make manifest with your products and/or services. Breadcrumb the Buyer’s Journey by immersing yourself in their needs. Show them how you can change their lives for the better. Tell them stories where you already have.
  
  
• [<YOU> ARE/IS] Who am I? Listen, friends, mamma has a lecture. This is no time for trendy marketing language. If you are a makeup artist, you are a makeup artist. No one can understand “personal branding transformation coach.” This matters because when people are confused, they walk away. When your marketing works, you have the floor — for a hot minute. Make it make sense. (You can be cute another time and/or in other ways.) Tell stories about your industry and pull back the curtain on the profession. Help me understand why what you do is so dang important/interesting.
  
  
• [THAT DELIVERS] What do I sell? Give me a menu so I can understand what to buy. Workshops, coaching, and keynotes? YES! Bookkeeping and virtual CFO stuff? Winner. All-in-one-video-production services? Great, now I know who to call. Promote your products and services that paints a clear path to buying.
  
  
• [BECAUSE ONLY] Why am I the One? Is this work your jim-jam? Why? What makes you a better fit than the “other guy?” Get on your soapbox! This is YOUR differentiator; own it. The stories around your “why” are the things that people truly connect with. Be a voice for <YOUR THING>.

<wipes off hands on apron>. Well, that’s it, kids

…. or is it?

All of this sounds pretty good in theory, but it may not be entirely clear how to make this methodology work for you. Let’s see it in action. When you apply this to each and every infinitive in your marketing mix, you’ll soon find you’ve built a robust and relatable brand.

Learn how to position yourself, your organization, any project or initiative and you’ll bake a clear, concise content plan into the foundation of your marketing mix. Do that — and reply to comments that engage with your branded content  — and forge the kind of relationships with your people that flows like an endless mountain spring of that sweet, sweet, brand loyalty.