Your Hispanic small business needs a positioning statement because positioning is to marketing as sofrito is to Spanish cooking: Without it there’s no gusto

One of the most basic tenets in marketing is one of the most often overlooked by Hispanic entrepreneurs as they start their businesses. For the most part we all seem to get “starstruck” by the social media phenomena. Instead of thinking about who is our customer and what key benefit our product delivers to them, we ask how to start a Facebook page or what to tweet about.

If you ever take one piece of advice from me, please take this one: start with crafting a positioning statement. The textbook template for a positioning statement is a follows:

For (target audience), (brand name) is the (frame of reference) that delivers (benefit/point of difference) because only (brand name) is reason to believe).

Whereas,
1. Target Audience is the description of the core user to whom the brand is intended to appeal; the group of customers that most closely represents the brand’s most fervent users. This is important because by knowing who they are you can identify where to find them. In social media parlance, if your customers are most likely to engage professionally in LinkedIn, why would you waste time maintaining a Facebook page? If you are looking to reach female “tweens” why would you develop a presence in Google+, which skews male technology professionals?

2. Frame of Reference is the category in which the brand competes; the context that gives the brand relevance to the customer. This is important for two major reasons:

A. It will help you understand how to develop your point of difference (below) and,

B. design the tonality of your message based on the context

3. Benefit/Point of Difference is the most compelling and motivating benefit that the brand can own in the hearts and minds of its target audience relative to the competition, (i.e., what sets you apart from competition).

4. Reason to Believe is the most convincing proof that the brand delivers what it promises. Today, more than ever, consumers want transparency and truth, they will be very quick to review you negatively on Yelp or post in their profile, for everyone to see, if you are not living up to your promise.

Why Do It?

Crafting a positioning statement will help you:
1. Clearly identify what your brand stands for and maintain a focused message (This also helps you craft your brand persona, which is very important when engaging with your consumers in social media).

2. Better guide you to identify best channels to communicate with your customer (target).

3. Focus your product development improvement as you strive to always maintain your point of difference.