Do you know what your business stands for? 

Do you have a clear vision and mission statement? 

If not, it’s time to create a brand map. 

A brand map is a tool that can help you define your business values, goals, and target audience.

In this blog post, we will discuss how to create a brand map for your business.

What is Brand Mapping?

A brand map is a visual representation of consumer (or potential consumer) perceptions of brands in comparison to their competitors. 

In a nutshell, brand mapping is the process of detailing your brand, including your company’s goals, brand style and personality as well as a content marketing plan. 

As a positive, team members acquire a sense for the competition and learn how to perform in a capacity that is useful to their employer by doing this. 

It also aids company executives in determining where they are going, while it offers business leaders insight into where they have been.

The Benefits of Brand Mapping

There is something special about images – and it’s this that makes perceptual brand mapping such a useful and efficient tool for marketers. 

As brand mapping provides a concise summary of information, here are 3 main benefits for marketers:

Unlock Insights About Your Competitors

Perceptual brand mapping, in its most basic form, demonstrates the relative standing of distinct brands based on how customers perceive them. 

The axes represent brand characteristics that are recognised to be attractive to consumers and that can be used to create a large difference among competing businesses. 

Data may be segmented and filtered in a more expedient way than through tables of numbers, allowing findings to surface faster.

Discover Where The Brand Is Going

Perceptual mapping may be an excellent method for visualising a desired brand future position, especially when a company is attempting to change its positioning or when an industry is experiencing a significant transformation. 

A perceptual map may also be used to track a brand’s re-positioning over time as it approaches its intended future position.

Confirm Brand Strategy Alignment

Another advantage of perceptual mapping for marketers is that the mappings might help them achieve alignment on strategy. 

A crucial discussion to have with perceptual mapping is whether a brand’s position is the proper one, taking into account the company’s broader business strategy (e.g. vision, scope, advantages) and branding strategy (e.g. positioning, architecture). 

Here are a few of the most important questions that a company must answer about its current and planned future position in the market:

  • Does the brand’s position align with the company’s assets and capabilities?
  • Does the brand’s position effectively communicate the value the company is offering?
  • Is the brand’s position credible?
  • Is the brand’s position compelling for customers?
  • How sustainable is the brand’s position relative to competitors?

3 Simple Steps to Create a Brand Map

Here is a closer look at the concept of brand mapping and how you can map your brand for the best results.

Determine Attributes

To create your brand map, start by determining the key characteristics of your brand. 

Simply stated, the determinant elements are the various keywords that make it easier to categorise your product or service and appeal to your target demographic. 

For example, the terms “style” and “comfort” are two of the most important characteristics used by businesses to describe products such as furnishings, apparel, shoes, and even bedding. 

The first step in brand mapping is to select the determinant attributes for your product and figure out who the ideal customers are that value them. 

Plus, it also aids in identifying your direct competitors within your market and category.

List Your Competitors

When you know what your determining characteristics are, it’s time to familiarise yourself with your competitors’ information. 

To assess how your company compares to those already on the market, you’ll need to make a list of your most serious rivals. 

You may determine which brands to include by examining those who are considered industry leaders. 

After that, you may expand your search to businesses within close proximity to your firm or those with a similar brand message or vision. 

Whatever you do, ensure you have enough brands in your mix so that you can get a clearer indication of how your brand will perform and fit in the market.

Create Scores

Finally, you’ll need to create ratings for the brands you’re looking at and assess where your brand may fit in. 

Begin by selecting two critical attributes. For example, if you run a clothing line, you might consider the size and resemblance of your goods as your two critical variables. 

After that, you may simply set a value for each company based on the information you have regarding it. 

As a result, each brand will receive a score ranging from one to five, in order to measure how it compares to yours. 

Once you’ve completed this step, you’ll have enough material to begin charting out where your brand fits in comparison to the competition, and this will help you make important business decisions moving forward.

Wrapping Up

Mapping is important for establishing a brand, but it’s only the beginning of a long road – but it is well worth the effort. 

By simply taking the time to research other brands and figure out how to best present your own brand, you’ll attract loyal consumers who will feel like they’re helping their own causes while supporting you. 

Keep in mind though, building a brand is a never-ending process: it’s an ongoing task that needs testing and re-calibrating every so often in order to reflect the current state of your market, telling you where your competitors are and where you want to be.