B2B Branding vs Positioning: Best Ways To Win at Both

Does your business-to-business (B2B) company need branding, positioning, or both? Although many use the terms interchangeably, they differ.

Branding focuses more on eliciting emotions, shaping visual identity, and defining personality. Positioning involves achieving industry leadership and differentiating the brand from competitors.

Either way, you benefit from both, and this article shares how to combine them:

• Involve your leadership team.
• Begin with positioning.
• Adopt an external perspective.
• Incorporate a unifying theme.
• Map out a plan to execute the strategy.

Read below to learn the optimal strategies to improve B2B branding and positioning. Let’s go!

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What Is the Difference Between Branding and Positioning?

Branding and positioning are crucial marketing concepts, each holding distinct importance in B2B marketing.

Branding entails crafting a personality for a product, service, or company. It strategically shapes the desired perception through elements such as product, price, distribution, and promotion.

In contrast, positioning focuses on showcasing the distinctive features of your offerings, identifying target markets, and establishing differentiation. 

The table below further explains their differences:

Despite the differences, they complement each other. Effective branding establishes core values and cultural attributes influencing positioning strategies and messaging. On the other hand, sharpened positioning gives tangible shape and customer relevance to more abstract brand identity elements. 

Five Strategies To Unify B2B Positioning and Branding

When aligned, branding and positioning foster connection and spur engagement across a buyer’s journey. The brand’s emotional pull and the position’s logical appeal motivate purchases and build loyalty over the long term.

But how do you combine them? Here are five effective strategies:

     1. Involve Your Leadership Team

To effectively shape your brand positioning and branding strategy, bring together key individuals from critical areas such as sales, marketing, and product or business units. A collaborative approach promotes diverse perspectives and fosters a sense of ownership. It transforms the initiative from a marketing-centric effort into a company-wide endeavor.

Here are a few steps to do it:

• Articulate the objectives of your B2B branding and positioning strategy. Engage leadership in setting specific, measurable goals that align with overall business objectives.
• Diversify participation across roles, seniority levels, functions, and business units to generate multifaceted perspectives and holistic understanding during goal setting.
• Organize workshops involving the leadership team to discuss the unique value proposition, competitive differentiators, and desired brand image. Encourage open dialogue and idea exchange.
• Establish a communication plan to keep the leadership team informed and engaged. Regular updates and feedback sessions help maintain alignment and enthusiasm throughout the process.
• Encourage the leadership team to regularly assess effectiveness and adjust strategies based on market dynamics and feedback.

     2. Begin with Positioning

Commencing the process with positioning is vital for establishing a clear and unique identity, guiding a unified narrative, and providing a strategic foundation for branding decisions. It also efficiently allocates resources and helps develop a brand that resonates with the target audience. 

Follow these steps to implement this strategy: 

• Conduct market research to understand the competition, customer needs, and underlying market trends.
• Clearly define your ideal customer profile, mapping their pain points.
• Develop a compelling positioning statement and core brand messaging.
• Ensure that all graphic design elements such as logo, typography, imagery, and color palette align with and reinforce your unique positioning.
• Infuse the positioning throughout every customer touchpoint, from websites to sales presentations.

The goal is to enable prospective buyers to instantly grasp your exceptional value and understand why you are decidedly better suited to address their needs than alternatives. 

     3. Adopt an External Perspective

Ground your branding and positioning strategy in the outlook of customers and potential clients. Strive to reveal the logical and emotional factors influencing their choices, fostering a deeper understanding of their decision-making process.

These ideas help you adopt an external perspective:

• Conduct thorough research to understand B2B customer needs and preferences.
• Gather deeper insights through surveys and direct customer feedback.
• Analyze competitors, focusing on customer perception, to identify market opportunities.
• Develop detailed user personas representing your target B2B audience.
• Establish continuous feedback loops to align branding and positioning with changing customer perspectives.

Adopting an external perspective is vital for B2B success. It enhances decision-making and grounding strategies to customer preferences and market dynamics, ultimately leading to a more competitive and resonant brand.

     4. Incorporate a Unifying Theme

A strong positioning statement is a compelling, unifying theme for branding efforts. This core message about standing out to customers seamlessly connects creative expressions across different media. It aligns visuals, messaging, content, and campaigns under one consistent brand. 

Create a unified theme for both positioning and branding with these tips:

• Identify core values. Define the fundamental values and principles that represent your B2B brand. These foundational elements serve as the basis for the unifying theme.
• Understand the target audience. Know the B2B audience’s needs, preferences, and pain points. Tailor the unifying theme to resonate with their interests and challenges.
• Integrate the theme across touchpoints. Implement it on marketing materials, website content, social media, and customer interactions for a cohesive and recognizable presence.
• Align internal teams. Communicate the unifying theme internally to align teams across various departments. Ensure that everyone understands and embodies the theme in their roles.
• Measure and adapt. Regularly assess the effectiveness of the unifying theme by monitoring customer feedback, engagement metrics, and overall brand perception. Adapt and refine it based on evolving market dynamics and customer expectations.

     5. Map Out a Plan to Execute Your Strategy

After determining what sets you apart from the competition, explore ways to strengthen these advantages in your products, services, and beyond. Picture the future and shape it into a platform demonstrating your innovative leadership.

Execute a branding strategy with these tips:

• Define the objectives. Outline the specific goals and outcomes that you want to achieve with your branding and positioning strategy.
• Develop actionable tactics. Break down your strategy into actionable tactics, outlining the steps and initiatives required to reach your objectives.
• Allocate resources. Identify and allocate the necessary resources, including budget, people, and technology, to effectively implement your branding and positioning plan.
• Establish a timeline. Create a detailed timeline with milestones and deadlines to track the progress of your strategy. 
• Monitor and adjust. Regularly assess the performance of your branding and positioning initiatives. Refine it based on feedback, market changes, or emerging opportunities.

Combining the outlined steps with robust B2B marketing strategies forms a powerful approach that helps you succeed in branding and positioning.

Summing Up

Positioning and branding work together to craft a narrative that converts leads to customers. Positioning involves defining the specific market category you aim to lead and outlining tangible evidence supporting your leadership claims. Branding centers on formulating an aspirational, identity-based story that forges an emotional connection with stakeholders.

Need help in defining your branding and position in the B2B industry? Contact Digital Authority Partners (DAP) today to schedule a free consultation with an expert.