Strategic positioning: How to maximize your success

Reading time 10 minutes
Strategic positioning: How to maximize your success

Razor-sharp strategic positioning is at the heart of your business model. Unfortunately, however, many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not taking a clear stance on potential customers. They don't define a target group, or they define it far too broadly; and they do so out of fear of excluding potential customers with a pointed positioning. Yet strategic positioning is, at its core, precisely about committing to a specific group of buyers. Only in this way can you bring products to market or create offers that are actually interesting and relevant to your desired customers.

If, on the other hand, you formulate your advertising as generally as possible, you will address a large mass on a quantitative level, but on a qualitative level no one will really feel addressed. Because you will never find a wording, an image or a hook that goes down well with everyone. For example, you can motivate a 20-year-old student to buy with different methods than a 70-year-old pensioner. Let's remember: If you address everyone without restriction and lump all customer groups together, you won't reach anyone in the end. The solution is strategic positioning with a crystal-clear target group definition.

What is positioning?

A positioning literally reflects the position of a brand or a product. It describes the unique selling proposition and the strengths with which you distinguish yourself from other products or from the brands of competitors. Thanks to good positioning, you stand out positively from the competition and manage to convince your target group of the uniqueness and benefits of your service or product. By the way, it is never too early for positioning: Even if you are still at the very beginning of your self-employment or are considering starting a business, you should already deal with it now.

Find your niche

Unless your product or service is absolutely innovative or even revolutionary, there will always be someone who already offers something similar. Strategic positioning is not only about defining your target group, but also about differentiating yourself from the competition. Because somehow you have to convey to your customers why they should definitely buy from you instead of your competitors. The only way to do that is to differentiate yourself from the competition and stand out in a positive way.

The solution: Find a niche and become an expert and pioneer within that niche. Specialize in a specific area to differentiate yourself from the competition. The better your positioning differs from the existing market, the less you will be confronted with the competition. Position yourself sharply rather than broadly and address customers who have a problem in a broader sense. Offer them added value and an exactly fitting solution for their problem. This way you become irreplaceable. If you can make your customers see your products or services as solutions to their problems, you can also justify higher prices. So it pays off twice to focus on a strategic positioning and a clever niche.

What do you need positioning for?

It's simple: you need a sophisticated positioning to shape the image of your brand, to positively differentiate yourself from your competitors and to stay in people's minds for as long as possible. Your positioning also determines how your customers perceive your (future) business and what they are willing to pay for your product or service.

Difficulty in positioning oneself

Finding the right positioning is not that easy. Because countless possibilities and approaches lead to the fact that one quickly loses the overview. And especially at the beginning of a start-up, you often don't know where to start and how to start at all. Dr. Stefan Frädrich, founder and owner of Greator, knows: "A good way is to look at well-positioned personalities and analyse how these people manage to make themselves clearly audible with their offer. And you can read books on the subject or watch YouTube videos. There's a lot of stuff on the topic. But is it systematic?" We think so: There's more to it.

Your goal: Become the market leader

You are still not quite clear why you can win more customers with a niche position than with a broad positioning? Then we have a figurative comparison for you: Imagine that your market positioning is a tree. The trunk of the tree represents the industry and the overall market you are entering with your company. The branches and twigs of the tree form different subcategories. They divide up further and further and at best lead to a specific market position in a niche. That is exactly where your target is. Because once you have found your niche, your leaf, you can focus on it 100%.

On the other hand, if you always stay with the tribe, you will never find customers who depend on your product. You will always have an extremely large number of competitors and have to constantly fight for customers. But it could be much easier: Define your target group, differentiate yourself from competitors and convince with expertise! Once you've done that and added a few more success parameters like quality, reliability and customer loyalty, you're well on your way to eventually becoming the market leader within your niche.

Your positioning checklist

Got everything? Great, then we now have a practical checklist for you. Go through the points step by step and answer all the questions again to optimize your strategic positioning:

  • Have you defined a crystal clear target group?
  • Do your products or services offer added value?
  • Do your products or services solve a problem for your target group?
  • Have you formulated specific offers that are aimed precisely at your top target group?
  • Are you the first in your market segment?
  • Are you specifically different from other competitors?
  • What makes your products or services better than the competition?
  • What mistakes are your competitors making and how could you avoid them?
  • What strengths do your competitors have and what can you learn from them?
  • With which story could you inspire potential customers for your company?

Answer the questions as thoroughly as possible and maximize your entrepreneurial potential. success. And maybe you want to expand your business even further now? Then simply test Greator Business free of charge and sei part of Germany's largest online platform for founders, self-employed and entrepreneurs.

You are self-employed? Are you interested in setting up your own business or would you like to work as a freelancer? Then we have a crucial tip for you: If you want to cleverly distinguish yourself from others and profitably stand out from the competition, you need a clever positioning. To put it briefly and succinctly to the point: No matter in which area you want to start your own business and whether your work takes place online or offline - only with a successful positioning will you make the most of your Potential completely off.

Positioning in 7 steps

How you can position yourself systematically, tactically and cleverly on the market can be summarized in seven steps. In the following we have formulated the procedures for you.

1. personal motives

Achieve your goals: What is your life story and what tricks do you use to outsmart your inner bastard? What motivates you? Your life motives and your life vision are of great importance for your self-employment. Get to know your personal motives, because they are the basis for everything else.

2. personality types

What personality types are there and what makes these types tick in business? People skills is enormously important for addressing your target group correctly. And targeting is in turn a relevant point for your positioning. That's why you should analyze how certain personality types in business. Train your knowledge of human nature!

3. important competences

There are important core competencies that you should absolutely master as a self-employed person. What else could be important besides your education and professional qualifications? Think about it and define your strengths and weaknesses. What do your skills and potential have to do with good positioning? Quite a lot.

4. your business

Your products, your services and the market in which you operate are decisive factors for the success of your self-employment. Think about which economic principles and business models you should consider before, during and after your start-up. Find out which business really suits you.

5. profitable niche

Competition? No, thanks! Granted, it would be easiest if there were no competitors. But that is not very realistic. Therefore, only one thing is useful: become an expert and get to know your target group! Set out to become an expert. Find your profitable niche and soon be one big step ahead of the competition!

6. win customers

Mission, identity and brand: A clever positioning involves more than just a nice claim or slogan. The design, your website, classic media and social networks also play an important role. Create content that fits your brand and learn to magically attract dream customers! Even if you haven't started your business yet, but are about to, you should start thinking about it now.

7. peak performance

Performance is also important for your positioning. Do you already know the productivity equation and how your personal Time Management works best? If not, you should definitely look into it before taking the step into self-employment.

The success of your self-employment stands and falls with your Positioning. Because positioning is not just a nice story about your products, but the heart of your marketing. It highlights your strengths and qualities and communicates what you do, for whom and why. With a good positioning, you skillfully stand out from the competition and easily explain to potential customers why they should buy from you and nowhere else.

That's why we have something very special for you: With our free online seminar, we will now accompany you on the path to your perfect positioning. You don't know your target group yet, are looking for a profitable niche or want to learn how to create a real brand? Then you can't miss the free online seminar.

Advantages of your positioning

But why exactly would you take the time to be so strategic? After all, you could be out canvassing or discovering new sales channels instead. True, but all of these activities are also based on a sophisticated sales strategy that should convince your counterpart of your goods or services - and here the circle closes. Or in other words: With a targeted positioning it sells better in any case; no matter whether you are doing social media marketing or cold calling.

Positioning is therefore the be-all and end-all for every self-employment and every company. In the following three points you will learn which concrete advantages it offers you and why you are miles ahead of your competitors with a clever strategy:

1. be unique

If you're not an insane innovative business idea there will be someone somewhere whose offer overlaps with yours. Now it's up to you to find the Business model to market your product uniquely and outdo the competition. For example, you can focus on a specific niche or on a specific target group. In this way, you reach fewer people than if you set yourself up broadly, but you can target them very specifically. Needs of your target group. Tailor your offer exactly to this target group, offer added value and solve a problem with the help of your products or services. Become unique and indispensable! This way, your customers are usually willing to pay higher prices.

2. inspire your customers

Marketing is important, but nothing is more important than your product or service being met with a positive response. Because if you disappoint your customers' expectations, your business won't last long. This is another area where top positioning will benefit you: thanks to it, you will be able to create a high-quality offering that will completely wow customers within your niche. This puts market leadership within reach for you.

3. protect yourself from competitors

The better and more pointedly you position yourself, the less you have to worry about strong competition. Ultimately, there are an infinite number of niches, so that every brand, every product and every service can find its individual niche. And if a direct competitor does enter the market, at best you'll already have a big experience advantage that's hard to catch up with.

Support from the expert

As you can see, a strategy is hugely important to position your brand as professionally as possible. But beware, Dr. Stefan Frädrich knows: "Only when you assemble all the pieces of the positioning puzzle does the whole picture emerge." To do that, it's important that you properly apply the seven relevant steps of positioning. Don't worry, we won't leave you alone in the positioning jungle, but will accompany you step by step. Convinced? Then sign up for the free online seminar and take your self-employment to a whole new level.

Click here now & register for free!

Efficiency, systematics and speed are the keys to successful positioning. It is not about acquiring as much theoretical knowledge as possible. Successful implementation is much more important. True to the motto: Stop dreaming, start doing! That's why we want to accompany you in the best possible way during the first step of your implementation and have developed just the right thing for you: The free online seminar, in which you learn all the steps to position yourself optimally.

Bonus: 3 tips to get into the action

Basically, it is better to start imperfectly than to wait perfectly. You shouldn't put off positioning your brand for too long, because it's an essential building block of your entrepreneurial success. Therefore, here are three tips to finally get into action:

  1. Be specific: Our brain loves clear guidelines. Therefore, plan firmly when you want to take time for your positioning. Set a timing that is as close to the future as possible.
  2. Fix your goal: Put it in writing and write the date in your calendar. This way, a loose idea becomes a binding date.
  3. Look forward to it: Positioning your brand can be really fun. Don't look at the process as a tedious to-do, but as a great option to get even more out of your business. With the right mindset it works.

Stay true to your values!

With so much strategy, tactics and calculation, do you think your personal values and those of your company? Of course! Positioning doesn't mean imposing a role on you or imposing an image on your brand that doesn't suit you. Quite the opposite: positioning means working out special characteristics and emphasizing them as a unique selling point.

Thanks to good positioning, you feel even more connected to your brand. You know what it stands for, you know your target group and you learn how to win new dream customers and retain them in the long term. A crystal clear positioning is therefore a great asset for your self-employment, your brand and your success.

Free workbook for your positioning

Professional and personal development are closely linked. Changing one's life, getting involved in something new - these steps are harder than it looks at first. 

Would you like to acquire skills to help you advance in your current professional position? Of course, we don't want to leave you alone with that. With our free workbook "Ten Business Coaching Tips for Your Career", you'll receive ten practical tips that you can apply immediately in your everyday work. With simple Coaching methods and tools that business coaches also use, you will be able to shine in front of your colleagues and superiors with your new leadership and management skills tomorrow. Get your copy now here Workbook!

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Reviewed by Dr. med. Stefan Frädrich

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