How to Position Your B2B Business and Set You Apart From Your Competition
About the Author: Noa Eshed
Find me on:
Introduction
Creating a strong brand positioning is a challenge almost all businesses face. B2B companies have an extra difficult time positioning themselves among the most relevant clients for their business. This post will walk you through how to position your B2B business by defining your “why”, “who”, “what” and “how”. A strong positioning will set you apart from your competitors and help you attract the most relevant customers for your business.
Start with the “why”
Think strong and hard about the following questions:
- Why does your company exist?
- What inspires you at work?
- What’s the purpose of your work?
- What do you help solve?
- If your team were volunteers and not employees, what are they volunteering for?
Understand your ideal client “who”
Understanding who your target personas are is a critical step towards positioning you company and communicating in the language of your prospects. Yes, you’re a B2B business, but behind that B stands a human being. Human relationships are key to long term cooperations.
Reflect about the following questions:
- Who are your current best clients
- What is common about those clients
- What market segments and industries do you know best
- What clients do you like working with most
- What type of companies most need your help
- What are your clients pain points and challenges
- Is there a pattern among the clients of your clients?
- What clients don’t you want to work with?
Identify your core strengths â your “what”
It’s important to identify what your company is most competent at. A specialization helps on the path to positioning your company as experts.
Evaluate the following:
- How does what you do reflect what you know?
- What is your company best and most efficient at
- If you had to focus on only one product or service, what would it be?
- What is it that you do that provides the most value to your clients and makes you unique?
- What aren’t you?
Define your company culture â your “how”
Decisions + executions + values + work procedures =Â your company’s culture.
Reflect upon the following:
- What are the standards that guide you when making decisions?
- Do you have service methods set in place?
- What wouldn’t you change about the way the company operates
- What would you never do?
- What do you stand for?
- Will you turn down a client who is not in line with your culture and value?
Final exercise
After identifying what you do well, why you’re doing it, who you are talking to, and how, fill out this positioning statement:
We (provide this service/value/outcome) for (a specific type of company/industry/market) by (using a specific approach) because (why).
Now make sure you are implementing your positioning on all aspects:
- Set clear hiring standards and train your team on your company positioning
- Define service delivery processes
- Create a working environment that correlates with your company culture
- Educate your team about the buyer personas you are targeting
- Consider how your new positioning may help your ability to set premium pricing
- Align your internal and external messaging to your new positioning
Final note
Taking time to define your company’s positioning, understanding your core audience and creating a clear culture, can work wonders to your business. Once you know exactly what your unique offer is and what sets you apart from your competition, you’ll be able to focus on strenghtning your positioning and getting your target audience to choose you want want to work with your business.
If you found this useful, and you’re curious to learn more and find out how to step up your marketing I invite you to download our How-To guide for creating an inbound marketing strategy.
Noa Eshed
Noa is the co-author of the Amazon no.1 Bestseller "The Smart Marketer's Guide to Google AdWords" and co-host of the podcast "Real Life Superpowers". She's a content lover, certified journalist & lawyer (Hebrew U). She practices martial arts & yoga. She's been consulting and helping businesses create a significant presence online since 2010.
SHARE THIS STORY
Noa is the co-author of the Amazon no.1 Bestseller "The Smart Marketer's Guide to Google AdWords" and co-host of the podcast "Real Life Superpowers". She's a content lover, certified journalist & lawyer (Hebrew U). She practices martial arts & yoga. She's been consulting and helping businesses create a significant presence online since 2010.
