You're looking to improve your brand positioning. What are the best tools to help you get there?

Enhance brand positioning with tools like Brandwatch for sentiment analysis, SEMrush for competitor insights, and Hootsuite for social media management. Leverage customer feedback through SurveyMonkey, optimize SEO with Moz, and use CMS like WordPress for content consistency. Employ email marketing via Mailchimp and design tools such as Canva. Strategic use of these tools ensures a cohesive brand presence, audience engagement, and improved visibility, contributing to effective brand positioning.

From experience, SWOT is a versatile tool used for strategic planning, and while it is valuable for market analysis, its primary strength lies in assessing the internal and external factors affecting a business. Overall, SWOT is more aligned with market analysis than directly improving brand positioning. However, when it comes to directly improving brand positioning, SWOT analysis is more of a diagnostic tool. To enhance brand positioning, businesses often need to delve deeper into the specifics of their brand, target audience, and competitive landscape. Tools like perceptual maps, brand audits, and customer journey mapping may be more directly aligned with refining and optimizing brand positioning.

After spending more than 12 years in Biopharma marketing & strategy launching multiple products & leading various complex projects, I can state that traditional SWOT analysis is one of the most efficient tools in brand planning at any stage or for exploring business scenarios. Still this tool has gaps since with no overlap in the 4 elements of SWOT structure, there’s a possibility of poor decision making as it’s not about “informed decision”.

To maximize your SWOT analysis, integrate it directly into your brand strategy: Strengths: Directly tie them to your USP. For instance, use a strong brand image to enhance storytelling in your marketing. Weaknesses: Create specific improvement plans. Addressing a weak digital presence? Invest in targeted digital marketing skills. Opportunities: Align them with market trends and your strengths. If you excel in customer service, explore markets where this is a key differentiator. Threats: Develop resilience strategies, like diversifying your product line in response to market volatility. Regular SWOT reviews ensure your brand stays ahead of the curve.

Tools like Miro, Lucidchart, or even a simple excel sheet helps you structure and visualize your SWOT analysis. But simply doing a SWOT analysis isn't enough - to get the holistic view, competitor analysis is just as important. Tools like Brandwatch, SEMRush, SimilarWeb help in gaining insights into your competitor's digital marketing efforts, website traffic, social media coverage, etc.

Archetypes have roots in the work of Carl Jung. They are universal, archaic symbols and images that derive from the collective unconscious and are the psychic counterpart of instinct. Here's the 12: The Innocent: Optimistic and pure, seeks happiness. The Sage: Knowledgeable, seeks truth. The Explorer: Adventurous, seeks freedom. The Ruler: Authoritative, seeks control. The Creator: Innovative, seeks to create something meaningful. The Caregiver: Nurturing, seeks to care for others. The Magician: Visionary, seeks transformation. The Hero: Courageous, seeks to triumph. The Outlaw: Disruptive, seeks revolution. The Lover: Passionate, seeks intimacy. The Jester: Joyful, seeks to lighten up the world. The Everyman: Relatable, seeks connection.

A brand archetype serves as the personification of a brand's essence, encapsulating its values, emotions, and aspirations. Functioning as a symbolic character, it establishes a relatable personality that resonates with the target audience. Whether embodying the hero, sage, or adventurer, the chosen archetype helps define and communicate the brand's identity cohesively. This intentional persona facilitates brand positioning by forging a deeper connection with consumers, aligning with their values, and establishing a distinctive presence in the market, ultimately contributing to a more memorable and meaningful brand experience.

I recommend using brand archetypes as a source of inspiration rather than a template to be applied to your brand. After all, while they are rooted in our collective subconscious, your brand needs to set itself apart from the competition. When putting together your brand, follow your instincts and feel free to combine up to two archetypes to develop a nuanced personality.

Imagine you place a 3yo kid who has never seen a snake in the same room with a snake, and close the door behind him. The kid will be scared of the snake – instinctively. But why, you ask? ???? Well, because of something called the collective subconscious. Intrinsic knowledge we have in all of us that helps us survive. And what does this have to do with brand archetypes? ???? The fact that archetypes are there, in the collective subconscious. Which is why you must leverage them: They are powerful communication tools that help your brand appeal to your audience beyond their conscious understanding.

Use brand archetypes to define the personality of your brand. This tool helps in creating a brand persona that resonates with your target audience, making your brand more relatable and distinctive.

Hay que tener cuidado con perder tiempo con sobreanalizar cuestiones que no son relevantes para dise?ar una estrategia de posicionamiento. Por ejemplo, si eres una marca tecnológica, quizás saber qué físico tiene tu público objetivo no te afecta mucho. Yo siempre recomiendo poner foco en esos elementos que sí que son importantes porque sí afectan de alguna forma en la toma de decisión de compra. No sobreanalices, en lugar de eso actúa, aprende y pivota.

To effectively utilize a brand identity prism: Physique: Define your brand's physical characteristics (logo, colors). Ensure they align with your brand's essence. Personality: Identify the tone and character of your brand. Is it professional, friendly, or innovative? Culture: Reflect your brand’s values and beliefs. What does your brand stand for? Relationship: Determine how you interact with customers. Are you a mentor, friend, or guide? Reflection: Consider the typical customer your brand mirrors. Who are they? Self-image: Understand how your customers see themselves using your brand. Use these insights to craft marketing strategies and messaging that resonate with your target audience, ensuring a cohesive and authentic brand experience.

The brand identity prism is a visual compass, delineating the six crucial facets of a brand's identity. Physique embodies its tangible features, while Personality encapsulates its character. Culture reflects shared values, Relationship denotes customer interaction, and Reflection signifies how the brand is perceived. Self-image explores the customer's identification with the brand. This comprehensive tool guides businesses in crafting a holistic brand narrative, fostering cohesion, and ensuring consistent communication across all touchpoints. By understanding and aligning these elements, a brand can create a compelling and resonant identity within the market.

The Brand Identity Prism is a model that helps in defining and visualizing the different facets of your brand identity, including its physique, personality, culture, relationship, reflection, and self-image. This tool can guide the development of a more cohesive and powerful brand identity.

A Brand Prism is your brand's multifaceted personality showcase. It's like a unique lens that highlights different dimensions, from physical features to values and relationships. This tool helps define your brand's character, allowing you to strategically position it for maximum impact. However, it's just one of many tools and not always needed.

Brand positioning statement is the heart and soul of the brand. I have used the below template that can help nail down important facets that defines the positioning of a brand. It can be crafted as follows: To [ TG ], [Brand Name] is the brand of [frame of reference] that [Point of difference] because [Reason why].

Effective brand positioning combines specificity and adaptability. Begin with your unique attribute: what sets your brand apart? Next, pinpoint your audience: who exactly benefits from your product? Then, define your value proposition: what tangible benefits do you provide? Finally, highlight your distinction: how are you different from competitors? For example, 'Our tech startup offers intuitive software for small businesses, enhancing operational efficiency at competitive prices. Our edge? Unmatched customer support and continuous innovation.'

A brand positioning statement is a powerful way to work through the elements you need to create a solid position in the market. I recommend this template (and use it with my clients): For [ideal customer label] Who [problem they face] [Your Brand Name] Provides [benefit or transformation] Unlike [competitor label] Filling in those blanks requires customer and competitive research and can help you nail down your brand differentiation.

The soul of your brand is this statement that defines you concisely who you are, what you offer, what you promise, and what your key differentiators are. This statement is the driver of all your communication strategies that will reach the customer through multiple channels. If hammered enough consistently and effectively, this helps in creating brand association and loyalty from the customers.

Positioning statements are some of my favorite tools in Brand Strategy. When you write one, make sure that: 1) It is based around real customer knowledge 2) It doesn't have just "reasons to believe" but a very well-studied differentiation strategy 3) It is aligned with your business strategy and your UVP Do these 3 things and you'll have an above-average positioning statement.

Brand positioning is one of the most important aspects of brand strategy development. Here's what to consider when designing your positioning map. Research Competitors: Gather data on their key attributes (e.g., pricing, quality, positioning). Understand Customer Preferences: Know what your audience cares about and values most. Plot on Map: Use tools like Canva to visualize competitors and your brand on chosen dimensions. Identify Gaps: Identify areas with less competition as potential opportunities. Align Your Strategy: Adapt your positioning to occupy these 'white spaces' based on your strengths. This is not a one-time exercise. Use this dynamically for ongoing strategy adjustments, ensuring your brand stays relevant and competitive.

To improve your brand positioning, you must understand the competitive landscape to determine where you have the opportunity to stand out. Conducting a competitive analysis is a key piece to getting this right. It can help you see what gaps you can fill or new territory that you can explore. Plotting this out on a map can offer a great visual way to see where there are opportunities to uniquely sit in the minds of your audience. Once you've done this, you can roll up your sleeves to work on how to improve your brand positioning.

A brand positioning map plots the competition landscape according to important criteria such as pricing, quality, innovation, or customer service, acting as a visual compass. With the help of this strategic tool, firms can evaluate their position in relation to competitors, as it offers a clear overview. Through market visualisation, brands can pinpoint untapped markets, refine their value propositions, and make well-informed decisions to augment their positioning. This dynamic map promotes a greater understanding of a brand's perception in relation to competitors in the market, which is beneficial for strategic planning.

Map your brand against competitors on key dimensions. Identify whitespace opportunities to differentiate. Plotting on a perceptual map allows strategic positioning adjustments for a distinct market placement, ensuring your brand stands out in the crowded landscape. Leverage perceptual mapping software or Excel for a comprehensive analysis, pinpointing your brand's unique space. This visual insight unveils opportunities for strategic recalibration, ensuring your brand occupies a distinctive and desirable position in the minds of consumers.

VRIO statements help to create a brand positioning mapping. When you compare against your competitors you need to understand their unique selling point, their customer, their product and service they are providing. So once you develop VRIO framework, you can look towards value of the product or service you are offering and can compare for competitive advantage, Rarity of the service is also very important, inimitable of the service is also very useful because alternate methods can be developed to create a same product or service, so it is important to understand properly to differentiate with others and last, organisation. You always try to create value to your organisation, so it is very important to keep in mind this VRIO framework.

A brand audit should be performed at least once a year. It will give you insights into what is working, what isn’t working, and what aspects of your brand strategy need to change in order to stay relevant to your ideal customers. You should include a prioritized checklist to make improvements once the audit is completed.

You should check your brand every year. It will help you see what is good, what is bad, and what you need to change to keep your customers happy. You should make a list of things to fix after the check.

Brand audits are a great gut-check to help you see what's working (and what's not). If you're just getting started with brand positioning, it can help you see where you need to improve. And once you've implemented a new brand strategy, it can help you ensure you are staying on track. Consistency is the key to improving your brand positioning and an audit is a great way to ensure you are staying on track.

Conduct a brand audit to assess how your brand is currently perceived both internally and externally. This involves reviewing your current branding materials, marketing strategies, and gathering feedback from customers and stakeholders.

Many say Brand, yet many don't necessarily stand by what it means and entails. If you are saying you are a "premium brand", you can't afford negative feedback regarding your customer support. As a premium brand, you can't afford keyword stuffing on your website just to rank higher in search. Define what it is for you to be "on brand" and check in every now and then to see if your north star is heading south.

Very surprised that such a piece doesn't have "Audience Research" at the top. Maybe it's assumed, but we position for a specific group and nuggets of gold are found in deep understanding of these people. Another factor that is regularly overlooked is positioning beyond the product. These three categories/questions are where you'll find some of the most potent positioning insights. Brand Experience: How is our journey unique? Relevance: How/Why should our audience see us as more relevant? Personality: All things being equal (product / service / outcome), "pertinent & unshy" personalities influence buyers

Brand analisis is the key to understand the way that we should go to improve, a brand tracking is useful to have relevant information about how is it beign perceived, comepetitors & consumer drivers, as well as compare whats is outside the organization in other categorys that probably insipre you.

Leveraging Customer Engagement Data: Beyond traditional methods, tap into customer engagement data across various digital platforms. Utilize analytics tools to monitor customer interactions, reviews, and feedback on social media, your website, and other digital channels. This data provides invaluable insights into customer perceptions and experiences with your brand. Analyzing this data helps refine your brand positioning by aligning it more closely with customer expectations and preferences. This approach ensures that your brand remains relevant and resonant with your target audience, fostering loyalty and advocacy.

Avoid the trap of basing brand strategy on insights that describe the consumer’s attitudes and behaviours of today alone. Seek out and challenge the conventions that underpin the terms of competition in the category. Use foresight to project forward how customer attitudes are likely to change and explore new dimensions of delivering value in the future. Seek to overturn long standing assumptions of how to ‘win’. Unify your brand efforts with the business, ensure ‘brand’ strategy is informed by and informing of ‘business’ strategy. In short design brand strategy for tomorrow's consumer in tomorrows market.

Despite what this article says, before you start looking at tools to help improve your brand positioning, you need to be clear on what "improve your brand positioning" means. It could mean, "We don't have to be a follower brand anymore. We want to be something else." It could also mean, "We want to increase our brand value/equity." It could also mean, "We want our brand positioning to be more clear, distinct, and known." Figure out which one you're aiming for first.