A simple positioning process for B2B companies
One of the critical elements for a successful marketing strategy is positioning. However, many companies can't crush it. We wanted to give a simple process applicable to most B2B areas, especially for professional service providers.
How do you know when you need to rethink your positioning strategy?
There are a couple of scenarios where you need to invest time & resources to define your positioning correctly.
When you just launched your business. Typically, startups mix up positioning with niches. They think that their product or service will define their market position anyway - but this is not true. It only explains what industry niche they are active in. For example, if you have a product that helps small businesses to accept card payments, you are in the SME fintech niche - but it is not your market position.
Simply put, you can't skip your positioning strategy when you are just starting because your product or service won't define it for you on its own. Others are providing the same solutions on the market - you have to be different.
When you reached a certain point with your business. This scenario is typical for medium-sized companies. They started with a position; they evolved beyond and now need to rethink their mission, goals, and ultimately position on the market.
Positioning is not something you set and forget - it has to evolve and change with your business.
When your market changed, forcing you to change your business. Typical for those who used to do business in a certain way, but the market moved ahead. They might not feel a push back, as old-school is still working, but their competitors will soon eat their slice of pie as well. Legal companies are a great example of this, sticking to traditional networking, capitalizing on their attorney profiles to get new clients - but people are looking for specialized help with a lot of upfront value-based content.
You can't skip upgrading your business to the current needs, and an upgrade starts with your positioning strategy.
The five steps of our positioning process
Our process is insanely simple, but it takes a lot of effort to go through it properly. We designed it for general purpose, and we can apply to any business scenario. However, we've found that it works best for B2B service providers. If you have an in-house marketing team, you can implement this process on your own as well. We advise using a facilitator like us to get objective results.
The first step is RESEARCH. Before we do anything, we do a lot of research on the market. Our research focuses on three key areas:
Your competitors. Everyone operates within a niche industry nowadays, and no one is alone doing so. Proper competitor analysis is mandatory for any positioning strategy or plan.
Your customers. You have to know your customers' pain points to offer correct solutions to them. Gathering intel on what your target audience wants will help to craft better messages within your positioning strategy.
The broader market. Like day traders can't ignore the current trends of the market when they are trade, you can't ignore the market trends either. It doesn't mean you need to follow the trends - but you have to be aware of them.
A tangible output for this step is a market report with competitor-, customer-, and market analysis. No actionable steps yet, just insights.
The second step is an AUDIT. Gathering all internal stakeholders, decision-makers, and opinion leaders within your company is a crucial need for this step. We can't recommend a positioning that is a) not doable with your current internal resources, b) is not within the company's future vision, c) just not desired for whatever reasons. Your whole company should fully own the new position; otherwise, it won't work. This step should produce an audit report, seen & approved by all stakeholders.
The third step is STRATEGY. With all the information gathered from the previous two steps, at this point, you can create a positioning strategy for your business. The plan should detail the summary of the research & audit documents, the reasoning behind the strategic switch, the goals & objectives, the necessary steps (tactics) to fulfill the strategy, and KPIs to measure the plan's effectiveness. We always include quick wins, and teams stay motivated in completing the procedure when there are immediate wins for the business.
The fourth step is the DESIGN. It is inherently different for everyone - a collection of materials to achieve the business's desired position. Simply put, this step is the production work that is needed to fulfill the strategic approach. Most companies do a design makeover at this step, rewrite their messaging, maybe push out a complete set of new content.
The last step is implementation, LAUNCH. Usually, the previous step's production work has a set of milestones. Completing the milestones will launch the positioning strategy into action. The stage is ready; the curtains are down. We always recommend keeping a close eye on the results & metrics. Monthly marketing reporting with an additional KPI report should be a priority for at least a quarter. There might be some adjustments to the positioning strategy because of the reviewed data.
As described, positioning is not that hard. Positioning IS focus, a focused approach for your business. It is why you need to focus time & resources to craft a positioning strategy that captures your customers' attention.
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