Why Brand Positioning Matters for your Amazon Business
Herlene Somook
Why is brand positioning important for your Amazon business?
People buy for many reasons. Some buy because of a need and purpose. Others buy because of emotional motivations.
Some buy things to have specific experiences. And some make purchases to make their lives easier and much more efficient.
Whatever their reasons are, people buy things that resonate with their values. They choose to buy based on the product’s ‘identities’.
As an Amazon seller, brand positioning is as important as the product selection itself.
It’s a key step in helping you make the right decisions in the direction you will take as a brand and as a business.
Let’s take a look at why brand positioning is important for your business.
What is brand positioning?
Philip Kotler, the Father of Modern Marketing, defines brand positioning as the act of designing a company’s offering and image to occupy a distinct place in the target market’s mind.
In simple words, it’s crafting an image that resonates with your target market.
Brand positioning is all about how your target market perceives your brand.
The goal is to create relevance, credibility, and differentiation from other brands that sell similar products.
Customers must find your brand appealing. If not, your customers won’t consider your brand, regardless of how credible and different you are.
If done successfully, brand positioning can help highlight your exact brand offer.
It also explains how your consumers will benefit from your products.
The Four Pillars of Brand Positioning
There are four key pillars of brand positioning that you should be factored in when you’re creating yours.
The Ideal Client
Your ideal client is a fraction of the population that is the most motivated to purchase your products.
One of the common myths about branding is that targeting a much larger population makes selling much better. Targeting more would mean a bigger catch, right?
Truth is, the smaller niche can lead you to a better understanding of their specific desires and challenges.
Your ideal client is a concise summary of who they are, their attitudes, beliefs, and values.
Knowing who this specific group is can give you the marketing direction you need to take.
It also makes your message clear and consistent.
And most of all, it allows you to create a deeper connection with actual people.
It’s not enough for you to just set the demographics. You must understand the psyche of your audience.
Paying attention to what your ideal market thinks and feels makes it easier for you to cater to them better. It will also help you find better products to make your ideal client’s lives much easier.
Here’s a quick guide on how you can create a powerful ideal client avatar from Helium 10.
Market Definition
Market definition is the niche that your products fit into. By choosing a specific niche, you’re increasing your chance to bring the right products to markets that need them.
Defining a specific market helps you identify your customer easily. At the same time, it also helps you minimize marketing costs while maximizing returns in profit and results.
The purpose of niching down also helps set you apart from other competition. The more specific you get, the better you can come up with rational and emotional benefits for your target audience.
How do you apply this on Amazon?
The goal is for you to find a specific niche on Amazon. The next step is to dominate that niche with well-optimized listings and keyword ranking strategies.
Go for niches that are targeted enough to identify who the customers are. It should also be broad enough that you could make at least $10,000 per month as revenue.
Here are some useful tips on how to find trending niches and products from AMZ Scout.
Brand Promise
Your brand promise is the most compelling benefit your ideal customers get.
And your goal as a business is to communicate this brand promise effectively.
So how do you do it? Make it about them, not you.
Start with the current market research you have. Look at their desires, their enemies, and their needs.
Look at your product’s features and how it can be functional and effective in making your ideal client’s life.
It also helps to talk about the product’s functional benefits. What will customers get out of the product? How will it improve their lives?
Then last but not least, talk about how your product will make them feel.
Your brand promise can also help you stand out.
Discussing the emotional benefits of your product can create better connections with your audience. And when they realize that you want what’s best for them, it’s much easier to gain their trust and their loyalty.
Get more tips on how to create powerful brand promises here.
Why You’re Someone to Trust
Your ideal client needs proof that your promise works.
It’s not enough to talk about how they will benefit from your products. They need to know you can deliver.
People also can’t be forced to believe whatever you want them to. And it gets even harder when you’re marketing to people who understand persuasion.
That’s why you must be authentic and true to what you say.
Give your target audience a reason to believe that your product can deliver. Talk in a language they understand.
People are naturally attracted to those who speak their language. They also love people who get them or share the same point of view.
The goal is to make them feel like you’re talking to them directly. Make them feel that you understand them.
Show them how your product works for them. Share testimonials and information from experts in the field who can speak on your behalf.
Share clinical tests, before and after stories, and in-market usage study if your products have them.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. You’d want them to feel more confident in your products and how it will be worthwhile for them to try them.
Here are some more tips on how you can build trust and loyalty among your ideal clients.
Why is brand positioning important?
Brand positioning is important because it lets you determine if your brand warrants public interest. It also shows you how your brand is perceived.
Brand positioning strategies aim to influence brand perceptions. And content marketing plays a critical role in creating impressions in your target’s mind.
For it to be effective, your brand needs to be relevant, authentic, and be known as an authority.
You would need to assess how people respond to your marketing messages. And it’s best to approach branding through the eyes of your current consumers.
Feedback, testimonials, and reviews are vital for any Amazon business.
For one, feedback and reviews increase social proof. Eventually, it increases visibility, engagement, and sales.
The more people talk about your brand, the better it is for your pipeline.
Having reviews and testimonials grow your organic reach and increases your visibility. It also encourages your brand’s reach.
That’s why you need to keep your brand in check all the time. To do that, you need to create a brand positioning statement that serves as your guide.
It’s also important for you to take control of how people see your brand. Whether you’re a new seller or a seasoned one, protecting your brand assets should be a priority.
Need help with your trademark, patents, and other legalities? Check out our podcast on how you can protect your brand here.
How to Create the Best Brand Positioning Statement
A brand positioning statement is an outline of what you do as a company. It talks about who you want to sell to, and what makes you different from theirs.
Here’s a sample template to help you get started:
(Brand Name) is the (category reference) that (unique selling point) to (primary target audience).
Here’s another sample template from Hubspot.com:
For (your target market) who (target market need), (your brand name) provides (the main benefit that differentiates your offering from competitors) because (the reason why target market should believe your differentiation statement.)
Here are some tips on how to write a good positioning statement.
- Keep it brief and simple. Aim for at least three to five sentences at the least.
- Make it catchy and memorable. Your statement should be unique and gives your audience an idea of how you can solve their challenges.
- Keep it true to your core values.
- Add a credible promise of what you deliver as a brand. Talk about how you plan to keep your promise to your audience.
- Talk about how you’re different from the competition. Highlight your brand’s unique qualities and how it will benefit those who will buy it from you.
- Make it clear enough so you could use it as a guideline for alignment. This is helpful, especially when doing launches and relaunches for your brand.
Make sure you’ve gone through all the key branding elements before you create your brand positioning statement.
Ask yourself if you’ve committed to an ideal client and if you’ve understood them correctly.
Check if you’ve got the right market category. See if you’ve got the rational and emotional benefits correctly.
Test if your product resonates with your target market, and if it doesn’t, find how you can fix it with the right message.
Once you do, it will be easier to create sales and marketing strategies that are aligned with your purpose.
Conclusion
Brand positioning is vital in your success as an Amazon seller.
It helps you shape your target market’s perception of who you are. It also helps you determine the key strategies to use in marketing and selling your products.
But most of all, brand positioning helps you stay true to your purpose and promise.
Get more tips on how to build your brand and run a successful Amazon business here.
