The way you position your small business is crucial to success as you grow and scale. And you’re probably doing some of it already, albeit subconsciously. This post is going to look more in-depth at market positioning meaning and how it relates to businesses.
In a nutshell, it’s how your clients and customers perceive your business.
When you start to consciously position yourself in the market, it means you take certain actions to make sure anyone who sees your brand has a certain impression of your business. Including the type of clients and customers you serve.
It’s how people talk about your business when they describe it to someone else, how they feel when they see your social media posts and website, the impression they get when they talk to you or your sales team and the value they feel they’re getting compared to the price.
Market positioning is how you stack up against competitors and other businesses with the same or a similar offering.
We often encourage small businesses to focus less on competitors and more on how they want to come across themselves for their ideal target audience. But the reality is that the way you position your business will influence how your target audience sees you compared to competitors.
Taking an active interest in your market positioning means you can start to stand out from other brands in your niche more and you can think about how you come across compared to similar businesses that your target audience may be considering.
Market positioning is key to building a strong brand.
Think about the first brand that pops to mind when you think of a ‘strong’ brand. I bet you could tell anyone their price point, a couple of their values, why you like (or dislike) them and what alternatives you could consider including the pros and cons of each.
Of course, this is related to strong branding. But it also shows that they have clear market positioning. They’ve obviously invested a lot of time and money into making sure that they’re perceived a certain way. So you thought of them first because of their branding. But you know why they’re stronger than their competitors and how they stack up because of their market positioning.
All brands have a market position.
Whether you’ve ever thought about it or not, your business has a position in the market. That’s why it’s important to understand the meaning of marketing positioning. You can choose to take control of this and steer it in the direction you want; or, you can leave it! But if you’re looking for strong business growth, this is one marketing area you can’t afford to leave to chance.
If you enjoyed this post and want more juicy marketing tips, here are some more resources for you:
Book a Marketing Power Hour to work out how to overcome your biggest marketing challenges
Follow us on Instagram for more marketing tips, reels and lives
Connect with Catherine on LinkedIn for marketing tips
Discover the ONE social media channel you need to focus on to stop feeling overwhelmed
