Brand positioning: The key to growing your small business

Ask most small business owners what a brand is and many will point to their logo, their colours or perhaps their website.

And while these things do play a role, they barely scratch the surface of what a brand truly is.

A brand isn't simply what you say about yourself – it's what your customers believe about you. In that sense, your brand is your reputation.

In this blog, brand strategist Matt Davies breaks down how small businesses – even with limited budgets – can develop a compelling brand strategy to drive growth and customer loyalty.

What is brand positioning?

Brand positioning is the strategic process of shaping that reputation to stand out, create value and build a lasting business.

Done well, brand positioning lets your business carve out a unique space in the market. It allows you to be more than just another option – you become the option for a particular type of customer. That's when real growth happens.

Moving beyond the logo

The first and perhaps most important mindset shift is understanding that a brand is not your logo, your colour palette or the design of your website.

These are visual expressions of your brand, but they aren't the brand itself. Your brand is the meaning people attach to you and your offering. It's the story they tell themselves about what you do and why it matters.

Every time a customer interacts with your business – whether it's a phone call, a social media post, a product experience or an invoice – they form an impression. All those little impressions build up to create your brand.

If you're not actively managing that meaning, you're leaving it up to chance. And in a competitive environment, that's a dangerous position to be in.

Brand positioning is the act of taking control of that meaning. It's about deciding, clearly and intentionally, what you want to be known for – and then consistently delivering on it in everything you do.

The challenge of the "sea of sameness"

Today's consumers are overwhelmed by options. In almost every market, from software to sandwiches, there are more choices than ever before.

This creates a phenomenon often referred to as the "sea of sameness" where everything looks and sounds the same.

Bombarded with messages and competing offers, customers struggle to distinguish one business from another. When faced with too many similar choices, most people resort to shortcuts: they pick the cheapest, the most familiar or the most convenient.

And that's precisely the trap many small businesses fall into. They look at the leader in their sector – the biggest or most visible competitor – and try to imitate them.

They adopt the same language, the same style, even the same offers, thinking that success will follow. But imitation is not differentiation. And in a sea of sameness, the imitator always loses.

The brands that succeed are those that understand how customers make decisions. When people are faced with complexity, they subconsciously simplify. They group brands into mental "boxes" – associating each one with a particular type of value or experience.

The goal of brand positioning is to dominate one of those boxes in the customer's mind – to become the first and only choice for something specific and meaningful.

What makes a brand strategy effective?

A powerful brand strategy sits between your commercial goals and your marketing activity. It informs what you say and how you say it.

But it also goes deeper – influencing what you offer, how you deliver it and who you serve.

At its heart, brand strategy is about value: what unique value does your business create, and for whom?

Many businesses skip the brand strategy stage altogether. They move straight from commercial planning to marketing execution – focusing on lead generation, sales and campaigns.

But without a clear positioning strategy, those marketing efforts can feel scattered and inconsistent.

Worse, they can attract the wrong type of customer – people who don't truly value what you do, and who are more likely to quibble on price or churn quickly.

A well-articulated brand strategy helps you align your entire business around a central idea. It gives clarity to your team (if you have one), confidence to your customers and purpose to your decisions.

And crucially, it gives you a filter – a way to say no to things that don't fit, and to double down on the things that do.

VIDEO: Why brand positioning matters for growth

In this webinar, Matt discusses brand-building fundamentals to help your business stand out, attract more customers and help you grow:

From "better" to "different"

One of the most common misconceptions among business owners is the idea that success comes from being the best. It's natural to want to outwork, outspend or outperform your competitors.

But in a crowded market, "better" is subjective. One person's better is another person's irrelevant. And when everyone is claiming to be the best, the customer can't tell the difference.

The most effective brands don't compete on being better – they compete on being different. They define a space that only they can own, and they focus relentlessly on serving a specific audience in a specific way.

This is where the concept of "onlyness" comes in – a term coined by brand expert Marty Neumeier. The idea is simple but powerful: complete the sentence, "Our brand is the only [blank] that [blank]."

The goal is to identify your unique place in the market – the thing you do that no-one else does, or at least not in the way you do it.

This positioning doesn't have to come from your product alone. You might differentiate through your:

• customer experience

• tone of voice

• pricing model

• company culture

• values

The key is to find something meaningful to your target audience – something they can't easily get elsewhere.

Brand positioning examples in action

Liquid Death

A great example of disruptive positioning is Liquid Death, a water brand that comes in a tallboy can and is marketed like a punk rock energy drink.

On the surface, it's just water – a product available almost everywhere. But the brand positions itself as rebellious, anti-plastic and unapologetically bold. That distinctiveness has earned it millions in funding and a fiercely loyal fan base.

Fiat

Another is Fiat, which announced in 2023 that it would stop producing cars in grey – the most popular car colour in Europe – because it didn't align with its brand values of vibrancy and Italian flair.

In doing so, it carved out a unique emotional space in the automotive market, standing for joy and colour in a sea of bland uniformity.

Cooper Parry

Even in professional services, you can set yourself apart. Cooper Parry, a UK-based accountancy firm, repositioned itself as the go-to adviser for maverick entrepreneurs.

It ditched the suits, redesigned its offices to look more like Google campuses and built a culture that reflected its clients' own irreverence and ambition.

The result was rapid growth, industry awards and a strong internal culture that matched its brand purpose.

Brand positioning on a tight budget

Don't assume that branding is only for big businesses with big budgets. The kind of strategic thinking described here doesn't require a rebrand, a design agency or an expensive advertising campaign. It starts with a conversation.

If you're a solo founder, set aside time to reflect on what makes your business unique, who you serve best and why you do what you do.

If you have a small team, run a workshop. Ask everyone to bring their own version of the "onlyness" statement mentioned above. Look for patterns, contradictions and insights. Distil it down to something you can all believe in and act on.

Consistency matters – but clarity comes first. Once you've defined your position, you can begin to show up more consistently across your website, marketing, customer experience, hiring practices and beyond.

That's when the magic happens: when every part of your business reinforces the same message, trust grows and customers start to spread the word for you.

The long-term payoff

A clear brand positioning isn't just about short-term sales.

• It helps build long-term equity. When people know what you stand for and why it matters, they're more likely to return, refer other people and pay a premium.

• You reduce your reliance on paid marketing.

• You attract people – customers, employees, investors – who genuinely believe in your mission.

But more than that, you make better decisions. When faced with an opportunity or challenge, you can ask:

• Does this move us closer to our purpose?

• Does it serve our ideal customer?

• Does it reinforce or dilute our position?

That kind of clarity isn't just good branding – it's good business.

Final thoughts

In a world of infinite options and shrinking attention spans, standing out is no longer optional – it's essential.

Brand positioning is the tool that helps you do it. It's not about being flashy or loud, but about being meaningful, different and consistent.

So take the time to define what you want your business to be known for. Find your "onlyness". Lead with purpose, not imitation. Because when customers see you as the only option – not just another one – that's when real growth begins.

Relevant resources

• How to build a brand for a small business

• How to create a strong visual identity for your small business

• Building a visual style guide for a consistent brand identity