I’m on a mini mission to make foundations sexy.
They are core elements that can make a huge difference in helping you grow your business with more ease and confidence.
Positioning and messaging are two of those core elements.
They’re often lumped together but while they’re complementary, they are distinct.
Here’s how.
Positioning vs. Messaging
What’s the difference?
Positioning
Positioning makes clear why someone should choose to work with you.
It’s how you define the value you provide to the people who care most about that value.
As you work with those people, you will shift your position based on what you learn about what they love most about working with you.
So how do you come up with your positioning?
I use a process that combines existing expert frameworks.
This includes mapping out:
👉 your unique attributes (the confluence of your expertise, approach, and business model)
👉 what specific value those attributes provide (the special sauce only you have)
👉 who will get the most out of that value (based on what they’re looking to fix)
👉 where you want people to place you in their minds (the market niche that appeals to them)
Well-defined positioning is a springboard for clear and specific communication – internal and external – in all aspects of your business.
Which brings me to:
Messaging
Messaging is how you talk about your business and convey your value.
Your messaging strategy is your particular approach to communication based on your positioning.
It includes your main content pillars/themes, your key points of view on matters that affect your clients, and your own story (if relevant).
When it comes to marketing, your messaging can help people at different stages of purchase interest to understand what you’re about, what you can do for them and to feel understood.
When it comes to sales, your messaging comes through in your calls, your offer, and your follow-up. It helps people decide if you’re the right person/solution for them.
So what’s the best way to define your messaging?
One of the best things you can do is establish your positioning before you tackle messaging.
Then create two main matrices to guide your content creation and communication.
The first matrix includes your messaging themes on one axis and the type of content (entertaining, educational, inspirational, decision-helping) on the other axis.
The second matrix includes the stage of interest on one axis (awareness, consideration, desire, action) and on the other axis their particular issues/concerns (aka pain points) and your solutions to those issues.
What should I work on first?
Work on positioning when you feel stuck, unsure about your unique value, and how you can stand out. Also, start with positioning when you’re struggling to communicate these things.
Work on messaging when you are ready to commit to your position. You’ll feel more grounded and your messaging will be that much better for it.
Having helped a number of small businesses and solopreneurs with their positioning, here are a few insights:
💡 Your positioning may not feel exactly right at first because there is an element of guessing but having something solid to start from gives you an anchor to improve as you get feedback
💡 Defining your positioning doesn’t have to take a long time. But you do need to give it time to figure out if it’s resonating and working.
💡 If you’re not willing to let go of helping everyone, there’s no point in positioning.
💡 Your positioning not only helps you with your messaging, it helps you be more specific about what you need to do in your business to fully express your position. So you can then better provide the value only you can provide.
Final Thoughts
Over my 10 years of working with founders, I can tell you that it’s possible to succeed without clear positioning but it is more expensive, more reactionary, more stressful, and challenging. It feels messy AF.
Life is already messy and hard.
Let’s not do business the harder, messier way.
Consider whether your positioning might be keeping you from growing your business and connecting meaningfully with the people you can help most.