The Strategy Fix: Brand Positioning
This is my updated version of The Strategy Fix, a 5 week “course” where I’ll send you weekly information and tasks to help you get closer to your ideal brand through critical thinking and strategy.
Welcome to week 4 of The Strategy Fix! This week we'll be going over how to find your positioning sweet spot.
I’ve done a lot of consulting calls over the years, and the thing people always want to know is “what actually makes us different?”. This is often the hardest question to answer because most people struggle with going deeper than surface level answers like “great customer service” or “high quality products”. These are often very limited answers and only work if you put everything you have into being the best at that one thing (kinda like the Ritz-Carlton). So instead, I’m going to walk you through some strategies and techniques you can use to figure out your positioning.
What Is Brand Positioning?
There are lots of definitions floating around the internet, but if you were a total newbie, I would explain brand positioning as the way you position your brand in the mind of your audience and furthermore the way you shape your brand to be seen. Ultimately its up to your audience to determine how you should be positioned but theres a lot of work you can do to help frame their mindset.
Take Apple for example. When you think about Apple, what comes to mind? Probably words like innovative, premium, and sleek design. This didn't happen by accident. Apple deliberately positioned itself as the premium, design focused alternative to typical tech companies. They don't compete on price or technical specifications like their competitors do. Instead, they focus on user experience, design, and lifestyle. This positioning shapes everything from their minimalist stores to their product launches that feel more like cultural events than tech announcements.
This strategic positioning tells customers "we're not just another tech company - we're a premium lifestyle brand that happens to make technology." And guess what? Their audience believes it because Apple consistently delivers on this promise across every touchpoint.
How To Position Your Brand
Positioning is a end result of a lot of different analyses. You’ll need to look at multiple touch points for your business before you even start to think about what makes your brand unique. To break it down in simple terms here are some of the things I think are most important when establishing your positioning:
Figure out what your audience desperately wants (their needs)
Figure out what you are good at (your skills)
Determine what your competitors are failing at or ignoring (the gaps)
When pulling these elements together some of them will require more work than others. You most likely already know what you’re good at because well… you’re doing it. However, determining what your audience wants or what your competitors are failing at will require a bit more work and research.
Audience Needs
You can figure out your audience’s needs and wants by asking them to tell you. I do this at the end of every email by simply linking a survey asking what you’d like me to talk about in this newsletter.
But this isn’t the only way to understand what your audience is thinking & feeling. You can send out testimonial forms when you finish working with someone, search forums like Reddit, or join Facebook groups where your target audience usually ask common questions. Getting this kind of insider information will give you a good look at what the common problems are and where you can start building your positioning.
Once you understand these problems, you need to focus on which ones you can actually solve - and solve well. For example, if your audience consistently expresses a need for quick turnaround copywriting for urgent projects, you wouldn't want to offer them a service that takes 4-6 weeks to complete. Your audience would immediately be turned off by such a long timeline when they need something urgently. You could offer something like a 48 hour sprint but if that turnaround doesn't work for your process, maybe a 5 day sprint would be a better fit - the key is matching your solution to their actual needs.
Stick to what you're good at but also what you like. If you already have a service that fits these needs then that's great, if not, maybe you can tweak an existing service/product to fit what people are asking for.
Competitors Analysis
After you figure out what you’re good at, you’ll need to look at what your competitors are doing. And yes, before you even start, I’ve heard all of the common objections before: “I don’t want to copy anyone”, “I want to stay focused on my own business”, or my personal favorite “ My business is unique so I don’t need to”.
Be so serious.
The goal isn’t to copy but to understand what your competitors are doing in your market.
Let me paint you a clearer picture on why monitoring your competition is important:
Imagine you're an apple seller in a small town. Your stand sits at the north entrance, while your competitor runs their stand at the south end. You've taken the "mind your own business" approach, focusing solely on your own operation.
Months pass, and your sales keep dropping. One day, a customer from two towns over asks if you're "the other apple stand." Confused, you learn that your competitor has been hustling - distributing flyers in neighboring towns, partnering with local businesses, and offering bulk discounts to restaurants. They've even set up eye catching road signs and started a loyalty program where every 10th apple is free.
Meanwhile, you've been sitting there wondering why people are driving right past your stand. Tourists and locals alike are bypassing your location because they've already seen marketing materials for your competitor's stand. Your competitor has essentially expanded the market beyond your town, while you're still relying on local foot traffic.
Here's the kicker, if you'd paid attention to your competition, you could have:
Noticed the expanded marketing reach and adapted your own strategy
Understood the changing market dynamics (it wasn't just about local customers anymore)
Developed competitive pricing or unique offerings to maintain your market share
This isn't about copying their exact approach - it's about understanding market trends and consumer behavior. Maybe you could've differentiated yourself by specializing in rare apple varieties or creating value products like fresh pressed cider. The point is, you can't make informed business decisions if you're wearing blinders to what's happening in your market
This kind of competitor analysis isn't just nice to have - it's essential for your business to grow and survive. By watching what your competitors do, you can find your own sweet spot in the market. For example, if they sell basic apples in bulk at cheap prices, you might become the fancy apple stand with rare varieties and better customer service. Or if they're mainly selling to restaurants, you could focus on families who want a fun apple buying experience.
This same scenario can be applied to any business you have. The key is using the knowledge you gain from your competitors to spot what's missing in the market and fill that gap, instead of fighting over the same customers. Your competition's moves will impact your business whether you're watching or not - so it's better to stay informed and act proactively rather than be caught off guard.
Finding Your Sweet Spot
After looking at both your audience needs and what your competitors are doing, it's time to find your sweet spot in the market (this is the tricky part for most). Think of this like a Venn diagram where three circles overlap: what your audience desperately wants, what you're genuinely good at, and what your competitors are missing.
Let's break this down using our copywriting example from earlier. Say your research shows that your audience needs quick copy for product launches, you've got a knack for writing punchy product descriptions, and your competitors are all focused on long-form sales pages. Your sweet spot might be becoming the go to copywriter for "launch ready product descriptions in 5 days or less." This positioning works because:
It serves a real audience need (quick turnaround for launches)
It plays to your strengths (writing product descriptions)
It fills a gap your competitors aren't addressing (they're focused on different types of copy)
It's specific enough to stand out but broad enough to be sustainable
The key is finding something that isn't just a temporary fix, but a position you can own and maintain long term. For instance, you might be able to write social media copy, but if you hate doing it and your competitors are already dominating it in that space, it probably shouldn't be part of your positioning - even if clients ask for it.
Remember, your sweet spot should be something you actually enjoy doing. You could be great at writing technical manuals, and there might be a gap in the market for it, but if you dread doing it, it's not sustainable. The best positioning is one where you're excited to deliver on your promises every single day.
Next Steps
Now that you understand the basics on how to find your positioning sweet spot, here’s what you should do next:
Brain dump everything you know about your:
Audience’s common pain points (check emails, DMs, and social)
Skills your clients constantly praise
Competitor’s main offerings and gaps
Services/products you actually like delivering
Look for patterns in your research:
Which problems keep coming up in your audience research?
What do people consistently thank you for?
Where are your competitors dropping the ball?
Test your positioning ideas:
Run it by your favorite clients
Try it out in casual conversation
Test it out on one or two clients
Notice if it energizes or drains you (this one is important)
Remember, positioning isn't set in stone - it can (and should) evolve as your business grows. The key is starting somewhere intentional rather than letting the market position you by default.
That’s it for this week. If you’ve found this helpful, I’d love to hear what positioning ideas you come up with or have tried. Hit reply and let me know what patterns you’re seeing in your research or what questions come up as you work through this process.
If you missed other parts of The Strategy Fix, you can find them here:
Until Next Time,
Melissa 🫡