How to Position Your Consulting Brand in the Market

Most agencies think they can outwork the competition. The truth? You can’t win a battle of attrition if you’re fighting on the wrong front. Too many agencies waste time trying to be the jack-of-all-trades, but let me tell you something: If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll end up being nothing to anyone. Here’s the positioning playbook that will never go out of style. ➝ Own Your Niche Everyone wants to serve everyone, but if you want to stand out, pick a specific niche and dominate it. Whether it’s eCommerce, SaaS, or B2B lead generation, when you own a niche, you’re not just another agency—you’re the agency. ➝ Differentiate or Die What makes your agency different? If your answer is vague or the same as every other agency out there, you’ve got a problem. Focus on your unique process, your unmatched results, or your killer approach to client relationships. Make that your battle cry. ➝ Simplify to Amplify Your message should be clear, concise, and so simple it sticks in your client’s mind. Don’t overcomplicate. If you’re not talking about the core benefit that directly solves your client’s problem, you’re wasting time. ➝ Create a Consistent Experience Your brand isn’t what you say it is—it’s what your clients say it is. Make sure every touchpoint—from your website to your emails—reflects the position you want to hold in the market. ➝ Proof Over Promises Forget telling people how great you are. Show them. Use client testimonials and case studies as your proof of concept. Let your clients’ success stories position you as the go-to expert. ➝ Adapt or Get Left Behind The market is always changing, and if you’re not evolving, you’re dying. Regularly reassess your positioning. Stay relevant by adapting to shifts in the market, your competitors, and most importantly, your clients’ needs. The Bottom Line: Positioning isn’t a one-time thing. It’s a process that never ends. If you want to win in the long game, you need to carve out your space in your client’s mind and hold onto it like your business depends on it—because it does. When your clients think of your niche, they should think of you. That’s when you know you’ve won the positioning game.

Brand positioning is not:  ❌Investor pitch ❌Vision statement ❌Grandiose message ❌Nice-to-have It’s how you frame the universal value of your product(s) shared across all segments and associate your brand with distinct emotions and buying triggers so future buyers remember and consider you when they move in-market. The truth: B2B has turned positioning into an exercise in framing the rational and functional attributes of our products. It’s less positioning and more clear articulation of the value you deliver and how it varies from one segment to the next. MASSIVELY important. But there’s a problem… Nobody cares about the hyper-specific rational and functional nuance of your product until they’re in-market and ready to buy it. Humans are not willing to exert massive loads of energy exploring the depths of every use case, feature, benefit, capability, problem or outcome. Not until real risk enters the equation if they don’t. Our brains don’t work like that. Therefore, a large part of positioning work is about creating perceptions in the minds of FUTURE buyers. That means you have to frame your value in a way they’ll listen and remember. How? By zooming out on your brand’s core and universal value shared across all segments, not the hyper-specific details of every persona. By looking beyond rational and functional attributes (which everyone in your category will replicate in 6 months) and associating yourself with emotional attributes not easily copied. By connecting your brand to relevant buying situations that trigger a move in-market (AKA “category entry points”) so you can future buyers think of you when it matters most. Brand positioning and product positioning need to work in harmony from the start. There is no right time to do one over the other. Because guess what… The market is going to create a perception of you with or without your influence. And the longer you live in the rational, functional realm of product positioning and ignore the fundamental tenets of brand positioning, the longer it will take to build a defensible position in the minds of the 95%. 

I've worked with dozens of accomplished executives who should be commanding premium positioning. Instead, they're competing on price and explaining their value to prospects who should already recognize their expertise. Here's the brutal truth most won't tell you: Corporate authority and market authority operate by completely different rules. In corporate, your authority comes from: → Your title → Company name on your business card → Years of experience → Organizational hierarchy But in the market? Authority comes from your unique method, distinctive perspective, and ability to articulate insights others can't provide. The problem? When you lead with "I'm a former VP at a Fortune 500 company" or "I have 20 years of strategic leadership experience," you're positioning yourself as one of many executive-turned-consultants. Your credentials get you in the conversation. But they don't win business. Here's what actually wins business: Your unique angle. Your distinctive method. Your proprietary framework. The specific insights that only someone with YOUR particular journey could have developed. The advantages you have that most consultants don't: ✅ Credibility Debt - You've operated at the level your ideal clients operate at ✅ Strategic Perspective - You've solved complex challenges from the inside ✅ Peer-Level Positioning - Your clients want a strategic partner, not a teacher But none of these advantages matter if you don't know how to communicate them effectively. The shift that changes everything: Stop leading with what you did. Start leading with what you discovered. Stop talking about your responsibilities. Start talking about your insights. Stop emphasizing your experience. Start emphasizing your unique perspective. Your corporate experience isn't your differentiator. What you learned from that experience that others didn't—THAT'S your differentiator. The market reality: Your ideal clients aren't looking for more corporate experience (they have that themselves). They're looking for insights, methods, and perspectives they can't get anywhere else. You already have those insights. You just haven't learned how to position them in the market. Ready to translate your corporate authority into market authority? Listen to the complete framework: https://lnkd.in/ewZ7baG8 What's one insight you've developed through your corporate experience that others in your field haven't discovered? 👀

A small tweak to your positioning priorities could have a big impact. The essence of your positioning is to know which points of value: ✅ Your customers care about most in their buying process ✅ You can deliver at a high level ✅ Allow you to create separation from other competitive offerings But even when you’ve done the hard work to narrow in on those points you still have to get the priority right. The order of emphasis that you put on each point – and knowing what to lead with has a huge impact on how customers perceive your brand. I’ve been going through some of this with Map & Fire. Our positioning has always centered on brand strategy built on research and insights. Supporting that we: ⦿ Work with small teams of founders and marketers ⦿ Have a very structured process ⦿ Keep the work lean and efficient But there’s always been a hurdle of coming into a relationship with the goal of defining a company’s entire brand strategy. You need teams and leaders who are invested in that full process. And you also have folks who are mainly interested in the visual aspects of the brand as opposed to the actual strategy. I spent some time thinking about our best engagements as well as our biggest strengths. Where I think we make a unique impact for companies is when we’re able to provide research, insights, and strategy to companies to help them get clarity on where they can stand out and win in their market. For a lot of these companies they’ve never had access to do this kind of work. It really opens their eyes to a new view of their brand’s differentiation and how to grow their business. What it helped me realize for Map & Fire is that we didn’t need a full pivot in what we do, we just needed to shift priorities of our positioning. Rather than being: ↳ Brand strategy built on research and insights We should be: ↳ Research and insights that drive your positioning and brand By flipping that order it puts the focus on our biggest strengths. It opens up more opportunities to work with brands without taking on *everything* right out of the gate. And at a time when budgets and belts are a bit tighter we can lean into research offerings with very concrete value, extremely high ROI, and very low risk. That’s a key way to build trust when starting out a new relationship. So far, I’ve seen some solid shifts around the volume and quality of opportunities it’s opened up. It’s made it easier for companies to say yes. It also just kinda clicks. That’s the signal to me that this new prioritization is on point. Take a look at your own positioning and see if you’re clear on the points of value that make your brand unique and can best differentiate you in the market. Sometimes a little shift can make a big impact. #positioning #competition #brandstrategy

When is it time to revisit your positioning strategy? → When it's not driving the right conversations with your ideal customers. I've refined my consulting positioning 3 times in one year. Learn how to think about your company’s positioning from what I did with mine 👇 Attempt 1: GTM Strategy Consultant What I learned: -GTM meant something different to every client -Projects routinely extended weeks beyond timelines due to corporate delays -Every engagement required custom scoping from scratch ↳ Result: Hard to predict, impossible resource planning Attempt 2: Fractional PMM What I learned: -"Fractional" often meant "try-before-you-buy FTE" (not my thing) -Market flooded with lower-cost alternatives with different skill sets ↳ Result: Misaligned expectations and unclear value proposition Attempt 3: Competitive Positioning Specialist What I learned: -My thought process of using competitive intel in positioning resonated immediately with marketing leaders -My experience is relevant (and rare) to address specific pain points in sales-led B2B companies -My frameworks I built during in-house roles work across industries in my ICP (post PMF sales-led companies) ↳ Result: Speaking opportunities, podcast appearances, and clients who loved the approach only I’m speaking about Or in other words: 🎰 The key difference was that I became a lot more specific. Generic consultants promise to "help when your team's busy." (when I started I did too) Now I deliver a specific outcome: buyer enablement that transforms how prospects understand your unique value—with measurable results to prove it. Is your current positioning generating the right conversations? If not, let's talk. (Fun fact: 83% of the people with ‘GTM’ in their LinkedIn headline are in sales)

Branding Without Positioning Is Like Building a House Without a Foundation Positioning is the unsung hero of branding. Without it, all the creativity, design, and marketing in the world won’t help your brand stand out. It’s the why behind your business, without a clear understanding of why you exist, how can you communicate your value? Key Talking Points: 1. Positioning Defines the "Why"; Marketing Defines the "How": Positioning sets the direction, while marketing executes the plan. It’s the foundation on which your brand stands. Without positioning, your marketing might be catchy, but it won’t resonate deeply with the right audience. 2. A Brand That Knows Who It’s For and Who It’s Not Wins: When you’re crystal clear about your target audience and the problems you solve, your messaging becomes stronger. Strong positioning is about deciding who’s in your tribe and who’s not. 3. Poor Positioning Killed Great Creative: A compelling case study is the story of New Coke. Despite its incredible advertising, it failed because it didn’t properly position itself against Coke Classic, leading to a backlash. Creativity alone can’t save a brand if the positioning isn’t aligned with the audience’s needs. The Positioning Model: 1. The Golden Circle Framework (Why, How, What): Why: Why do you exist? What’s your purpose? How: What makes you different from others? What: What products or services do you offer? This framework helps you position your brand to start with why, ensuring your message is rooted in purpose. 2. The Positioning Map: Create a visual map to compare your brand against competitors. This map helps define where you stand in the minds of your audience by focusing on price, quality, and the emotions you want to trigger. 3. Brand Archetypes: Identify your brand archetype (e.g., the Hero, the Magician, the Rebel). This framework helps you communicate a consistent, compelling story across every touchpoint. 5 Positioning Statements That Nailed the Message: 1. Apple: "Think Different"- Emphasizes innovation and creativity. 2. Tesla: "Electric cars, designed for the future"- Focuses on sustainability and innovation. 3. Nike: "Just Do It"- Positions as empowering and motivating. 4. Airbnb: "Belong anywhere"- Positions as a platform that connects people, regardless of location. 5. Uber: "Everyone’s private driver"- Offers convenience, accessibility, and personalization. Does Your Audience Know Exactly Why You’re Different? Positioning is your brand’s foundation. Without it, everything else crumbles. So, take a step back. Are you clear about why you exist? And more importantly, does your audience know it? P.S: If you want to dive deeper into the importance of positioning and how to effectively apply it to your brand, check out my book, "The Position Player", available on Amazon. It's designed to help you understand and implement the strategies that will set your brand apart.