In a crowded marketplace, brand positioning can be the determining factor that separates a business that simply blends into the background from one that stands out for the right reasons.
Brand positioning refers to how a business is perceived relative to the competition. But it’s one thing to understand what it is and another thing entirely to know how to actually achieve it.
For small to mid-sized businesses, creating a brand positioning statement can be difficult. Marketing efforts may be focused on advertising campaigns, social media, or other tactics, but the underlying brand positioning may be weak.
This is where a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO) can play a critical role. Fractional CMOs are seasoned marketing executives who work with companies on a part-time, rather than a full-time, basis. They bring the expertise of a CMO to businesses without the expense of hiring them full-time. One of the most important things a fractional CMO can do for a business is to develop the brand positioning statement that drives all other marketing efforts.
Here are five different ways a fractional CMO can assist a business with brand positioning.
1. Clarifying the Company’s Core Value Proposition
Perhaps the most difficult aspect of brand positioning is the lack of clarity regarding the unique value proposition. Businesses know what they sell, but they may not be clear about why customers should choose them over the competition.
A fractional CMO helps businesses clarify their value propositions, which involves identifying customer-facing benefits like the following:
- The problems the businesses solve for the customers
- The types of customers the businesses help the most
- The key differentiators that set the companies apart
Through refining these factors, a fractional CMO helps companies move from vague messaging to compelling stories that resonate with the target audiences.
2. Conducting Competitive and Market Analysis
For a company to successfully position its brand, it must have a good understanding of the market and the competition. Otherwise, the company might end up doing the same things as the competition and fail to highlight its unique selling points.
A fractional CMO kicks things off by conducting market and competitive analysis. This might involve analyzing the competition’s messaging and identifying market gaps.
By analyzing the competition and the market, a fractional CMO helps companies identify gaps that enable them to successfully position their brands and differentiate themselves from the competition.
3. Aligning Brand Messaging Across All Channels
Another challenge companies face today is aligning their messaging strategies across all marketing channels. It might be that the companies’ websites have one set of key selling points, whereas their social media messaging has different sets altogether. This might eventually lead to confusion and loss of brand recognition.
A fractional CMO helps create alignment across all communication channels. This can include creating brand guidelines that outline key elements such as core messaging themes, tone and voice for written content, and customer value statements.
When customers are exposed to the same message over time, companies can build brand awareness and brand loyalty.
4. Identifying the Most Valuable Target Audiences
For brand positioning to be successful, businesses must know who they’re trying to reach. Many businesses struggle with accomplishing this. Trying to reach a wide audience is a big mistake. When a company’s marketing message attempts to reach the entire market, it’ll never resonate strongly enough to appeal to the appropriate segment of the market.
A fractional CMO can identify the most valuable target audience for a business. This will be done through the analysis of customer data. By determining the most valuable target audience, a fractional CMO can design a marketing strategy for the ideal customer demographic.
5. Translating Brand Strategy Into Marketing Execution
While a brand strategy can be powerful, it’s ultimately not very useful if it’s not translated into the day-to-day activities of marketing. A fractional CMO helps bridge the gap between brand strategy and marketing execution. This means working with the marketing team to ensure the brand’s positioning shapes how marketing activities are carried out.
A fractional CMO also works with the internal team to ensure that the sales team’s materials, customer-facing activities, and marketing activities all work together to support the brand’s positioning.
Building a Stronger Market Presence
A brand’s positioning isn’t necessarily about the logo or the look and feel. Rather, it’s about positively impacting how the public views or perceives it.
For a growing business, it can be difficult to build a strong brand without the help of a marketing executive. A fractional CMO brings the expertise needed to help clarify the brand’s message and ensure the brand stands out from the competition.