Brand positioning in email marketing starts with this
Positioning is one of those words that marketers use that have coaches and service providers scratching their heads. At least at first. If you haven't had this explained to you yet then essentially it's your brands 'place in the market'. It's about how you're seen, felt and valued in the marketplace by your target audience. That last bit comes with time and can be achieved through many marketing tactics including email marketing.
To stake your spot in your ideal client's mind you need to understand what they care about and how your service helps them with that.
A coaches guide to simple brand positioning
I'm going to skip the marketing theory. Let's be honest you'll find it boring. I've gone into more detail on the how below if you haven't got that nailed down yet.
What you need to know is:
Who: Who are you targeting, and what do they desire?
What: What do you offer that fixes their problem (desirable) and that you do best?
Why: Why should they choose you over your competitor (differentiation and competition). Were the best at [your service] is not enough.
How: How do you prove this?
How to use email marketing for your brand positioning
I've noticed quite a few people on Threads recently saying 'email doesn't work'. But there are a lot of people that respond 'Um yeah it does, email marketing is the biggest revenue driver in my business.' And not just the people who offer it as a service.
Email marketing has many benefits. Often clients focus on conversions (duh) and the high ROI (return on investment) of email marketing. But there are so many other benefits.
- Brand awareness
- Positioning
- Differentiation
- Nurturing (or building connection and trust that helps to get them to the next step).
Email marketing helps you avoid clients that are not a great fit
If you're attracting the wrong clients then your positioning could be off. The result is clients that don't see your worth and you're both unhappy. Clients should be delighted after working with you. Without you having to create bespoke services that aren't really in your wheelhouse.
Positioning is part of your brand strategy (your map) that should guide everything you do and the messaging (let's call it your words). It outlines the space you want to occupy in your client's mind compared to competitors. Positioning defines what makes the coach the only choice for a specific problem.
Messaging is the vehicle that gets you there. It's the words that tell people why they should care. When you're messaging is working it takes your uniqueness and translates it into a story that feels personal.
The human brain likes to put people in boxes and tie them up with a little pretty bow. That's really annoying if you don't fit in a box socially (like me). But when it comes to positioning you can use that to your advantage. Without clear messaging your subscriber doesn't know where to categorise you as the coach or service provider. See how important it is?
I've come unstuck with this myself. When I tell people I do email marketingn they assume I write their newsletters for them. But I've done my research and while we love a doer that's something someone else can do cheaper for you. Me I'm the one you call on for the tricky stuff. Like email marketing strategy and email sequences. So I've had to go through this process myself to make it crystal clear what I do and don't do.
One of the reasons it takes time to grow your freelance or sole trader service business is missing foundations
When clients come to me they often don't have their branding foundations setup. Including positioning, brand identity, messaging etc. My preference is to work with brands that have a that sorted. Because the results will be better, quicker and it's easier.
However, with New Zealand being a small market where 97% of businesses are small businesses, I understand that few have the foundations sorted, yet. So I offer email services that help bridge the gap until you can. That way even if you haven't worked with a brand strategist, you can still get results from your email marketing.
A coaches guide to brand positioning for better email marketing that attracts great fit clients
This is a mini-marketing class so I've put it at the end for those that want to know more detail about how to action this. I'm partial to practical tips, if that's you too then, enjoy.
Who are you targeting and what do they truly desire?
Understanding your target audience involves talking to them, research and reviewing the data. I suggest you look at these sources:
Data:
Email click maps: Look at your recent sequences. Which links got the most traction? If a link about "burnout recovery" got 10x more clicks than "productivity tips," your audience is telling you they are in survival mode, not optimization mode.
The "search bar" hack: If you have a search bar on your site or use Pinterest/YouTube for research, look at the exact phrases people type. They often use "how to stop feeling like a failure" rather than "how to improve self-esteem."
Google Search Console queries: In Google Search Console go to your performance tab (left) and then scroll down to view the queries (questions or phrases that brought people to your site). Some will not be super relevant (like I've got Tiffany NZ showing up). This is what people are searching for and finding your site with.
Polls with a twist: Instead of asking "What do you want to learn?", ask "What is the one thing you tried that didn't work?" This reveals their past "trial and error" and you can use that in your marketing but also your positioning in your email marketing.
Client interviews:
The "magic wand" question: Ask your best clients If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about your morning/workday/health right now, what would it be?
Voice memo research: Ask a few trusted clients if they’d mind sending a 60-second voice note answering one specific question. This provides better "data" than a written survey and they already trust you.
Call out the enemy: During your initial assessments or discovery calls you probably ask this question. What they feel they are fighting against. Is it the clock? Their own inner critic? A specific expectation by parents, colleagues or other mums?
Research:
Review mining: Go to Amazon or Audible. Look up the top-selling books in your coaching niche. Read the 3-star and 4-star reviews. These are the most honest. They’ll say things like, "The advice was good, but it didn't account for the fact that I have three kids and a full-time job." That’s your goldmine.
Social listening: Spend 15 minutes in Quora, Reddit threads or Facebook groups related to your niche. Look for the phrase "I just wish…" or "Does anyone else feel…" These are the rawest expressions of their inner conflicts.
Check the comments: If you know a competitor in your niche that has an engaged audience on social media then you can check their comments for questions and phrases. TBH this isn't something I do as it's too time intensive and so few people ask questions these days. They're more likely to ask AI privately.
AI (e.g. Claude): Now word to the wise, validate anything it says before sinking your time or staking your reputation on it. AI makes things up. I've caught it, you've probably caught it, or heard about the strawberry has three r's drama. But you can use it to give you ideas for client interviews, polls, and subject line A/B testing.
You can also use many of these methods to understand where your competitors gaps are and what their strengths are. SEO tools can also help (SEMRush, Moz, and Ahrefs, ).
Get uncomfortably familiar with your brand
You can get a brand SWOT analysis done (I include these in my email marketing strategies with a focus on email marketing). That's the ideal. Or if you can't do that then try these:
- List down why clients say they choose you.
- Review the challenges, objections and weaknesses of your brand. If you've had unhappy customers then include that.
- Differentiation. What's something you do that your competitor doesn't or even better can't? If someone tells you about the nightmare experience they had with your competitor then include that in your marketing without name-dropping. Get specific about the problem not spreading gossip.
- Map out your mission, vision, values and make sure they show up in everything you do.
Here's an example with my Brand DNA:
Mission: To help professional service businesses and coaches work smarter, not harder, with email marketing. By combining a scientific approach with strategic email automation, I help you build deep connection and trust with your audience so you can spend less time on the tools and more time on what matters.
Vision: To create systems and awareness that email is a space for trust, connection and empathy. Showing business growth doesn't come at the cost of personal well-being or human connection.
Values: My values are scientific approach, connection, and trust. These include: Integrity, family and people-first, authenticity, and consent.
These are evolving now that I've been in business 2 years helping NZ business with email marketing services.
Avoid being one of many and become the only you
Feeling like a commodity? You're probably giving tips. If you're a health coach these may sound like: "5 tips for weight loss", or "Avoid bloat with these supplements in perimenopause". Helpful yes, but it's not showing that you're a trusted advisor, that you're the best person to help them with the very specific problem that is plaguing their waking hours.
Not a health coach? All good. I've got an example for a Finance coach. You don't want to be known as the "a tax expert," but a "coach for ambitious women who want to take control of their finances. Without filling out spreadsheets and coding transactions in your spare time". Why because it's specific about you and how you're different. So you don't sound like every other wealth or finance coach.
Practical template for your brand positioning statement
Your coaching clients aren't looking for just a results. They're buying into your philosophy and your ability to lead them through an identity shift. Your coaching needs to guide them from their before state to their after state in a way only you can.
Here is a formula based on your philosophy and the transformation you offer. "I help [Specific Niche] who are tired of [Surface-Level Pain] to achieve [Deep Desire/Identity Shift] through my [Signature Framework/Philosophy], so they can finally feel [Core Emotional State]."
Here's an example:
Now I'm not a fan of cookie cutter, that's the exact opposite of what we're trying to achieve with positioning. So you don't have to follow this. It's something you can use to get started. Or even better, work with a brand strategist, to get something unique for the biggest impact.
Actually, let's do even better, here is a NZ coach example:
Natalie Tolhopf (Business Coach). Here homepage header says "I help women who feel stuck or unsure about what’s next - in their career, relationships, or sense of purpose.
Through personalised coaching, you’ll reconnect with what matters most, gain clarity on your direction,
and take confident, practical steps to create meaningful change."
Natalie Coombe (Agency profit expert and pricing strategist). Her about section on LinkedIn says "I help entrepreneurs running client-serving businesses to nail your pricing so you can pay yourself what you’re worth, doing what you love, only working the hours you want!"
Your brand positioning statement should be visible on your website, echoed in your email messaging, and in all your other marketing assets.
FAQ's about brand positioning for email marketing
Marketers and brand strategists like to talk about positioning by referring to the seven P's. Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence. New Zealand copywriter Kristine from Write as rain wrote a great article on the 7P's for more detail. In a service business swap product for the a specific description of what you do (eg. the asset or outcome you provide). Include this in your email messaging in a natural way when you're telling stories about clients you helped.
The four C's of positioning are Consumer, Competitor and Company analysis. For coaches and service-providers that's your clients, your competitors and your company. Studying your these allows you to identify opportunities and gaps in the market, create services your ideal client desires and grow a strong brand that achieves your professional and personal goals. These three things are an essential part of your business, marketing and email marketing strategy. When you write emails keep a very specific client in mind, use their language, point out how you did something differently, and share your frameworks.
Once you've done the research on your ideal clients, competitors, and your brand you need to develop your brand positioning statement. This pulls it all together into messaging that articulates your unique value and position in the local market so you don't blend in. I've outlined a template for this in this article. You can then use that in your email marketing messaging. But avoid sounding stiff. Keep it natural.
Key takeaways about using email marketing for brand positioning
Email marketing isn't just a sales channel. If you want to make sure you avoid those clients that are a terrible fit for your brand then email marketing can help. Make sure you know your target audience, how you are different, and how you can be seen as the leader in your market.
I've done plenty of marketing strategies for NZ service providers but email marketing is my specialty. My email marketing strategies cover the foundations based on data. If you have a brand strategy then that's ideal. I can use that to get the job done faster.
But if you don't my email marketing strategy will give you a good grounding until you can get that sorted (or even better I can recommend some people to help with that). My area of expertise is email marketing strategy and sequences. So if you need someone that knows email marketing strategy from the perspective of an experienced marketer then I can help with the email strategy part.
