Brand positioning for your startup will lay the foundation for solid brand strategy, a memorable brand identity and ultimately, business success. 

Starting up is an exciting adventure for every entrepreneur, but it can also be daunting. One of the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make while starting up is not giving enough importance to developing their brand. 

Brand positioning is the process of setting your business apart from the rest in the mind of your customers. There are three questions in customers’ minds — consciously or subconsciously — that they’re seeking answers to while making a buying decision.

• Why does your company exist?
• What can your company do for me?
• What makes your company different from the others?

The foundation for effectively positioning your startup rests on the answers to these three questions.

Why is brand positioning important for startups?

While getting your startup off the ground feels like you’re being pulled in a hundred different directions, and everything else feels more essential to operations, brand positioning is incredibly important for grabbing the attention of customers, bringing your team together under a set of values, and improving the chances of growth and ultimately, business success.

Your startup is going to gain a reputation of its own among your target audience, whether you do anything to cultivate it or not. Taking the time to think about the positioning of your startup early on will put you in control of how your target audience perceives your business.

Positioning allows a startup to set itself apart from competitors. This differentiation boosts brand awareness, helps to clearly communicate value, and justifies premium pricing.

Business owners who invest time and effort in their brand positioning at the time of launching their startup get a huge headstart over those entrepreneurs who wait until a later stage in their startup journey. Here’s why.

Brand positioning sets you apart.

Your brand positioning works in tandem with your visible brand elements like your name, logo, website and marketing messages to paint a picture of your startup personality.

By defining a clear, strong brand positioning, you’ll increase the effectiveness of your marketing investments, and make your brand easier to remember. 

Thinking about brand positioning helps you to understand and define your competitive playing field. 

To know what sets you apart, you have to understand what’s out there. Without conducting a competitor analysis, you wouldn’t be fully equipped to define your own brand positioning. But this research exercise and the insights it brings up won’t just help you craft your positioning.

This competitor analysis data can guide you on a variety of business decisions  — from product lines to geographical markets and more  — and could mean the difference between success and starting over.

Entrepreneurs who invest the time and resources in researching the competition will get a clearer picture of the playing field they are vying to get into, and can make more decisive choices in running their business.

Solid brand positioning will get more investors interested in your company. 

Although investors won’t be swayed by slick branding if your offering is not up to the mark, there’s a lot to be said about the power of making an impression with a clear, powerful positioning statement that sets you apart from all the other players in the market.

Good investors will see the value in a vision and positioning statement that will improve the likelihood of success for your startup.

Working on brand positioning encourages long-term thinking.

When you think about your brand positioning, part of the exercise includes thinking about where you want to see your company go as it grows.

When you start asking questions about where you would like to see your company, how you want to scale up, and how you can stay relevant to your customers over time, you set yourself up for long-term success.

And though the answers aren’t the most straightforward, and more likely than not, will change as you grow, having a roadmap and a direction to work towards is essential for your business success.

A startup with a strong strategic foundation has a better chance of withstanding the ups and downs of running a business, than one where decisions are taken reactively, without a long-term plan or a big-picture perspective.

Branding and marketing for your startup — when is a good time to start?

When you’re just getting started, branding your startup might not seem like a priority, but it is important. Once you’re past the early formation stage of setting up your business, and you have a little momentum going, it might be a good time to think about a brand strategy.

If you need some help understanding the steps you need to take to equip your startup for success through positioning and branding, our experts will be happy to work with you.

We invite you to schedule a no-obligation discovery call with us to understand how we’ve helped businesses like yours set themselves up for unmatched growth.

Pick a time that works for you. 

Paul Bies
President
MYSTIQUE BRAND COMMUNICATIONS

416-441-2666 Ext 14.

Follow us on social media

Schedule time to review your current situation with us and discuss possible ways to optimize your brand experience to overcome your business challenges and reach your goals. Even if you choose not to use us, you’ll walk away with some great ideas to implement in your business today.