Try a hand at writing your own positioning statement for your personal brand. Your statement gathers information from the research you have done on your target market and asks you to think about how you want to position yourself.
A positioning statement is a tool used in business to identify how a brand will be positioned in the market. It puts into words what makes a brand important and differentiated so that it is noticed by those who need to know about it.
It guides you in developing a position that will best serve your brand identity and communicating your personal brand to the right people. Positioning yourself will keep you in the minds of your target market and attract the right people to seek out your expertise.
Here’s how to develop your own positioning statement:
Define your target audience (who do you want to serve?).
Who are you interested in directing your brand toward? Your target audience is who you want to know about you. Your first target audience must always be yourself because you need to believe in your brand before anyone else will.
Figure out your frame of reference (what is your point of view?).
The frame of reference sets the tone for the space you want to occupy. What category do you want to participate in? Who wants to have the same role or achieve the same goals? What is your unique point of view in this category?
Identify points of difference (how will you uniquely do this?).
The point of difference is what makes you different from others in the space you play in. What distinctive benefits do you bring to your target audience? How do you stand out from all the rest?
Offer support (I am credible because . . .).
Support is the evidence that your positioning statement is true. You need credible proof that you are what you say you are. You are giving the because statement for the points of difference. This is the reason that your target audience will want to work with you or seek out your expertise.
State your promise or core benefit (who, where, uniquely how, because).
Here, you pull the four previous pieces together to let your target audience know what the net benefit is to them. What’s in it for them?
