Positioning Your Company or Product to Succeed

You’ve probably heard the expression that “you can’t be everything to everybody.” Never has that statement been truer than when it comes to marketing your business. To achieve success and maintain it, today’s businesses can no longer afford to take the marketing approach of trying to be all things to all people. To truly stand out from the crowd, you need to position your company and differentiate yourself from your competition.

How positioning works
The objective of positioning is to influence your customers so that your product or service is in some way perceived differently compared to your competitors’ on an important benefit valued by the market. Think about the old Avis campaign of “We try harder.” Most people have had a bad rental car experience. By creating the impression in the minds of its customers that Avis will go the extra mile for them sounds like someone they’d probably like doing business with. You immediately know what Avis stands for and what to expect from them.

Analyzing your business
To develop your position, you need to try and objectively compare your business to your competition. Were you the first one in your field or in the neighborhood? People always remember the first one of anything. For example, most people could tell you that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon. But who was the second? (The answer is Buzz Aldrin.) If you aren’t lucky enough to be the first then you have to dig a little deeper. Does your product or service feature more benefits than the competition? If so, you might want to position yourself around that. If your features are about the same as everyone else, then maybe you can beat everyone on price. Do you serve higher-end buyers or lower-end buyers? You can’t be a discount retailer and want to sell at a luxury price point or vice versa. Other positioning attributes to consider would be market share, product user, quality, customer service, application and as a solution to a specific problem.

Analyzing your target audience
The next thing you’ll want to consider is your target audience. Who is your primary target audience? Again, it probably isn’t everyone. Are your buyers mostly women, men, families, seniors, yuppies? Now consider what they’re looking for and what they need most from your business. Informal surveys or, if you have the budget, focus groups can give great insight into your consumers’ mindset. If you have a couple of ideas of positioning directions for your company, this would be the ideal place to bounce it off of your customers and see what resonates best with them. Read and listen closely to their responses, and oftentimes your positioning will present itself loud and clear.

Going forward with your positioning
Hopefully, between analyzing your business and your customers, you’re able to find a niche that you can fill and that your competition isn’t already saying. You’ll want to reinforce that positioning throughout all the elements of your marketing campaign. But a word of warning: once customers’ minds are set on who they think you are, it can be difficult to change that. If you don’t position yourself favorably, your competition will likely position your company for you. And odds are they won’t position you advantageously. They’ll tag you as the expensive provider or a bad customer service company.

Another thing to remember is that positioning is always changing. If a new competitor moves in and starts featuring something new and stealing your market share, you might need to adjust your position. Or if technology or your customers’ needs change, you’ll need to stay current and adapt to those as well. Above all, make sure your positioning is truly unique in your field. If you try to be an “us, too” type, you’ll get lost in the crowd. You can’t be everything to everybody. But if you choose a smart position and make a stand for something, customers will eventually know exactly who you are and what you can do for them.

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