How Brand Positioning Strategy Can Help You Stand Out in the Blogosphere
Brand positioning strategy is one of those complex concepts. But you can break into small steps and start implementing it today.
So you have a blog or you use social media to spread your message. As time passes, you start to strengthen your own voice in the ocean of other users. Whatever is the subject of your choice, you slowly become an expert in it. If not an expert, you accumulated enough knowledge to become a reference for others.
For some people this process may take years of experimenting, lots of trial and error, countless failures and a bit of success. Others get “lucky” and hit the jackpot going viral with the blink of an eye. But maybe their “luck” was the result of a lot of planning and research (in the best Gangnam Style). We may only see the end of the line, but the path towards it was long. Besides, it is necessary to have a structure backing up this instantaneous growth. Otherwise all the fame will indeed only last 15 minutes.
“In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” – Andy Warhol
Both scenarios have one thing in common: the development and consolidation of a brand.
In the case of most bloggers, their “voice” is them. They develop a personal brand. It reflects their wishes and aspirations for their online presence. A small minority is not connected to a person but an idea, a concept. The two profiles aim the same goal which is being remembered by readers and growing a strong community bond, a tribe. To achieve it, they are looking for developing a brand positioning strategy that will lead them to success.
[Tweet “#Beginners can break #brandpositioningstrategy is small steps to implement it.”]
Brand positioning
There I go again with another term for your collection. In short, brand positioning is the process of positioning your brand in the mind of your customers.
In its deepest sense the term refers to having customers associate something specific and desirable to a brand and distinct it from rest of the marketplace. Roughly as we refer to Duracel instead of batteries, for example.
I am not going to write an encyclopedia about brand positioning. My idea here is to give you an introduction of the subject. With the information below you will already be able to set steady steps into the right direction. If you want to go deeper, there are a lot great articles and books that detail step by step what you have to do. Besides brand positioning is a concept that is always evolving like anything else in the blogosphere. You will have to keep yourself updated anyways.
[Tweet “Take one step a time and strengthen your #brand consciously. #brandpositioningstrategy”]
In the blogging and social media world
I can almost see you sitting at your desk wondering what this has to do with your blog. If you are a starter you might be even wondering whether you should read further or not. The answer is YES!
Of course that your reach will also dictate how fast you move and how far you go in the beginning. “Rome was not built in one day” and neither will be your brand positioning strategy. Take one step a time and strengthen your voice consciously with the tips below.
1. Position your brand as-is
I am sure that you want to grow. Maybe you want to monetize your internet presence, maybe not. Maybe you would like to do it full-time, maybe not. The answer belongs to you and no matter your choice, you can still develop your brand.
Many mid and large bloggers post their stats on a regular basis. You may want to check where your peers are to situate yourself in the blogosphere. I am not saying that you should compare yourself to them, but analyze where you are in comparison to those you look up to.
For social media, you can use the number of followers, likes, and comments as reference. Sometimes they will be representative, other times not so much. That is why I reinforce that you do not just compare apples with oranges because they are not the same thing to begin with. Look deeper.
2. Develop your positioning idea
How many sites from competitors do you visit on a regular basis? From the ones with most prestige and higher stats: are they exactly the same? Is their message identical? I am 100% convinced that your answer is going to be “no” for the last 2 questions. And why is that? Because those standing out in the crowd always offer “something” that no one else has.
In the same way you are unique, so are these bloggers and the voice behind them. Even when they count with a team of writers and contributors, their approach cannot be found anywhere else. There might be similarities when they are on the same niche, still they will not be equal.
Now take a critical look at your content. Whether it is your blog posting or your social media updates. What is that thing that you, and only you (if not only ‘you’ still something you do out of ordinary), offer that no one else does? It might be your filter effect of preference, vocabulary, jokes, photography angle, favorite color, anything. Break free from the common place.
Think out of the box, define your positioning idea and write your 2-sentence statement.
[Tweet “Think #outofthebox and define your positioning idea. #brandpositioningstrategy”]
3. Revisit your positioning
The trick about brand positioning is that you will not have direct influence on the retention of your readers. The perception your visitors have of what you do is what will define your ranking.
After making your statement public, it is necessary to assess the impressions of your readers. Compare them with the idea you want to convey. The real test is when one is able to check the retention of one’s brand and how it is connected to their brand objectives.
If you write about parenting, are you being able to promote yourself as a reference in the subject? Are people stopping by because of your parental tips or it was only because of a giveaway?
This exercise is important to evaluate the quality of the message you are sending to your public. If they are seeing something different from what you want to show, you might need to rethink your brand strategy. Maybe have someone more experienced on the market do an evaluation for you.
Note that it is not the same as rebranding. You have already implemented your Voice and tested. The way you promote it however might need some review.
[Tweet “Check these 3 baby-steps for #brandpositioningstrategy. #blogging #socialmedia”]
The baby-steps of a brand positioning strategy consist in:
- Position your brand as-is
- Develop your positioning idea
- Revisit your positioning
If you are a beginner, it is much easier to start drawing it at start so that your first efforts are in line with the desired effects. When we talked about blog release we took into consideration the preparation time for activities like this.
You may notice that your handful readers are not perceiving you the way you would like them to. In this case it will be easier to adapt things now than when you have thousands of daily visitors.
[magicactionbox id=”5407″]
I can almost already read comments like: “I don’t care about any of this”; “I am only here for the fun”; “I have no intention in monetizing my online presence so why bother?”. And as I said before: it is your blog, your social media platform therefore, you do what you want with it. I myself only recently realized that I have been blogging for more than 10 years total (!!!) without paying any attention at all to it. I have to admit I wish I had taken advantage of the first wave when things was easier, but I didn’t. I cannot go back in time neither I will feel guilty for my choices.
What I can do now is do what needs to be done to grow and help others who also want to get better like me.
Is brand positioning a brand strategy you actively put in place already?
How Brand Positioning Strategy Can Help You Stand Out in the Blogosphere.
Wishing you a successful week!
#DebbieinShape
* You can also find me on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DebbieInShape
Instagram: http://instagram.com/debbieinshape
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DebbieInShape
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/debbieinshape/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DebbieRodriguesPlus/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+Debbieinshape/ (em português)
