Finola Howard 0:35
And in this episode, I'm sharing with you why your positioning strategy is your growth strategy. I also share with you the 10 steps to an effective positioning strategy that I will use with all of my clients, and I'll show you how it can level up your business. This episode is a follow on from episode number 47 where we talked about purpose, mission and vision, and I'm actually going to make this a three parter, so you'll know the next steps to take at each point. Okay, so in Episode 47 we talked about, as I said, purpose, mission and vision and why they matter, and how embedding them in your business can actually affect your growth rate. But they're also the starting points to building an effective positioning strategy, and while purpose, mission and vision will dictate the trajectory of the business, they don't actually dictate how you position yourself in the marketplace. So let's talk about this idea of positioning then. So a great way of looking at positioning is positioning is the defining characteristic of a brand that shows why it's better or why you're better than your competitors. And that's like your difference as your unique difference as a competitive advantage. I'll say it again. Positioning is the defining characteristic of a brand that shows why it's better than its competitors. It's good to take that in. But it's not just about finding your difference. This process is not just about finding your difference. It's about finding the difference that matters to your customers. It's why I ask the question, so what in so much of my work? And it's also another way of really asking, Well, who cares? So that we can ultimately find the answer, well, XYZ customer cares about this, so we should care too.
Finola Howard 0:00
I'm Finola Howard, intuitive marketer, your host and founder of how great marketing works, I believe that every business has a story to tell, because that's how the market decides whether to buy or not, and your story has to resonate with who you are and with the people you want to serve. And this podcast is about helping you reach the market in a way that feels right to you. So if you're an entrepreneur with a dream you want to make real, then this is the podcast for you, because great marketing is your truth shared.
Finola Howard 2:36
And that's the essence of strategic positioning. Does your customer care about the difference you chose to show the marketplace, or was that just you? We can become so expert at what we do that we can often forget that the things that matter to us don't always matter as much to our customers. Our customers may not care that we can produce x faster or make y slower. They may not care about all the research you did that might just care that you did it. What they do care about is if you can solve their pain in a way that fits for them. Positioning is about helping more of them find you faster. So let's take a minute now and dive into my 10 steps to an effective positioning strategy. This is the approach that I take with all my clients on looking at how they should best be positioned in the marketplace, and that's also participants on my training courses too. So let's start at the very top, number one. You know this from Episode 47 we always start with purpose, mission and vision, and I do advocate that you listen to episode 47 because it will really help you. And it's short, but in a nutshell, it's why are you here, and who are you here to serve, and why? Okay, that's the first piece, and it's really about digging in deep to ground. The purpose of the business, where you want to take it, what success looks like, so that we build a pathway to reach that end point. That's what that's about. Number two is about choosing customers. And I use that word very carefully, because so often we think we don't choose our customers. We think our customers choose us. But it has to be a two way street. We must first start by choosing those customers we want to work with, but we want to choose customers that fit, and vice versa. Not everyone fits, and you have a choice about who you work with, and that's also a choice you made when you did your purpose, mission and vision. So it's really, really important. Right? But that is the second step. Now it's often the step we take after we've built the product. But really, in an ideal world, we should first choose our customers before we build the product to serve them. Okay? And I mean, really choose them, really understand who they are, understand their pain points, understand the language they use to express their pain points. Understand that there is enough of them out there that fits our business, all of that stuff. Okay. Number three, build an offering they want. I could just say products, but that wouldn't be accurate in positioning. It's build the products they want. Can you build the product they want? Have you got what they need to solve their pain? Have you built a solution to their pain? That's step three. Number four, I always look at the trends, then it's at this point, you know what the status quo is. You know where you are with everything. And it's about now, what's happening in the ether, what's coming down the line. And the reason we do this, we not only want to future proof the business, we're also making sure that you stay relevant for the long term. You've got to be where you're going, and that is where relevance is important. Number five, find the gap between you and your competitors. It's what's unique to you, not cheaper, unique, not better, unique. What's unique to you? What do you do differently to your competitors that matters to your customers? And you've got to see your competitors like so many people tell me, I really don't look at competitors anymore, Finola, but how can you position yourself if you don't understand what your customer is seeing in the marketplace? So that you know how to show up as that difference that you have, you have to look at them. It's not to be intimidated by them. Is to understand, oh, this is what everyone else is saying, but that's not what I say. And really honing that, really understanding that, find the gap and then leverage that gap to take you where you want to go. Number six is all about market fit. Kind of talked about it a second ago. What we want to know is, is this market, this group of customers? Are these several customer personas, or this marketplace that you defined for yourself? Is it big enough to be profitable, to get the revenue that you want, the profitability that you want? Is there enough of them there to hit the goals, the financial goals that you want, and is it small enough to own? You have to make sure that it's big enough to be profitable and small enough to own. And what I mean by own is owning the space being the best in that space, with the difference that you have number seven, how does your brand express your position? Does it express your position from the starting point like from the off? Do you does everybody see at a glance why you're different and why it matters? Does your brand express that number eight, it's all about voice here. It's about honing that voice. This is where we start to move into the messaging space. It's about really being clear on the value proposition, the messaging, how you speak, what you speak about, what space you want to own in the minds of your customers. And you've got to know that before you enter the marketplace, so that you can build processes and systems that allow you to be consistent with that messaging in all the right places so they can hear you often enough that they that you stick with that messaging of your uniqueness, your difference that matters to them. Nine is a phrase that I coined, part of a two part phrase, nine and 10 are connected, and this step in the positioning strategy is called your truth told. Okay,
Finola Howard 9:09
this is about it's after you've figured out the voice. You've got to many people figure out their voice, of their messaging, of what they want to talk about, and then they hold off before they express it or they go in the wrong places. What we want to make sure is that you are where your customers are, so be where your customers are and show them why and how you're different. Got to make your messaging count so it can drive them to action. So many hold off on their purpose. Made all these other steps. They actually, they actually hold off telling the truth of who the business is. This is all the work that you've done in all of the other eight steps here. It's about coming to the marketplace, strongly telling the world the market that you're targeting your point of difference, why you're different, why it matters, why you started this and. First place, it's your truth, the essence of your business, and you have to go out and tell it. You would be surprised how difficult that is to do for so many people, and essentially, because the other eight steps haven't been done. But if you can do these other eight steps, you can take that last second, last step, to actually tell your truth. 10, your truth shared. Okay, so that's the second half of the statement. You often hear me saying, and and the basis for this podcast, in fact, and then, and that statement is, marketing is your truth told? It's the first point. But great marketing is your truth shared. And the great marketing piece is step 10, your truth shared. And this is where you've got to pay attention. This is where the market shares what you've already shared with them. And we've got to pay attention here, because this is what's showing you. This is the market showing you that you've achieved resonance, what you've done, what you've said, what you've built, everything about all of those other steps has worked, and it's worked at the start. Works in a really small way. And if you really listen in and look at your data and look at your analytics, then you will see what's working, and you will do more of that, and you will learn how to deepen that relationship with your customers. Because you understand what's working, you've got to watch for where they respond, learn from it and do it again, they are my 10 Steps to an effective positioning strategy. The key insight for you here is seeing that all these steps are important and that they're all connected. They're connected because each one builds on the next to bring clarity and robustness to your strategy, and that's what positioning does. It brings clarity and that delivers results. It helps you align everything you do with why your difference means you are the best person slash brand to solve your customers pain. Position positioning strategy must fit your business and the marketplace. It must bridge the gap between strategy and action. It's no good knowing why you're different if you don't know how to tell anyone positioning lies at the heart of your value proposition, and this ensures that your marketing tactics result in your customers taking action with you and not with anyone else. And with a strong positioning strategy, you can build your authority, stand out from your competition, become much more recognizable and expand your reach. A poorly positioned product or service will never reach its full potential no matter how well it's marketed. A strong positioning strategy means you have a strong growth strategy. That's how you level up your business. If you'd like to find out more about positioning and these 10 steps, then click on the link in the show notes for my free webinar of the same name. I really hope you can join me. That's all from me, and I'll see you next week. I hope you enjoyed that episode. Do reach out and let me know your thoughts on positioning strategy and anything associated with that. I'd love to hear what you think about it, and if you'd like to dig a little bit deeper about positioning strategy, please feel free to register up a spot on my free upcoming position with purpose. Webinar. There's a link in the show notes, and if you'd like to support the show, please leave a five star rating and review on Apple podcast. It truly does help people find it. And we'll be back as usual next week, and until then, take care.
Unknown Speaker 14:01
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