4.03 – Understanding Your Marketing Positioning
Understanding Your Market Position: The Birthplace of Your Brand
Brands live in consumer minds. To embed your brand in your customer’s brain, you need to find an empty mind space – much like finding an empty lot to build a home.
Positioning is about identifying a meaningful and available niche in the market, and in your customer’s mind, that your business can fill. Once identified, you need to perform so well that customers have no reason to consider anyone else in that space.
Seeing How Positioning Happens
When people learn about your business, they subconsciously slot you into one of the following business categories:
Me-Too Businesses
If the position you want is already taken, you need to persuade consumers to switch allegiances, which is challenging. To stand out, find a way to become a “similar-but-different” business by targeting an unserved market niche or offering a unique benefit.
Similar-But-Different Businesses
These businesses highlight a meaningful difference in a crowded field. Your distinction might be based on pricing, inventory, target market, service structure, or company personality. For example, instead of just another pizza shop, offer something unique like New York-style pizza by the slice or recipes from Southern Italy in a trattoria setting.
Brand-New Offerings
Being the first to fill a market need gives you an advantage, but you still need to educate consumers about your new offering and promote it effectively before competitors catch up.
Being first in the market isn’t as crucial as being the first to seize a positive position in the consumer’s mind.
Determining Your Positioning Strategy
To determine your position, figure out what your business offers that customers can’t find elsewhere. Consider these questions:
- How is our offering unique or difficult to copy?
- Is our unique offering something consumers really want?
- Is our offering compatible with economic and market trends?
- How is our offering different – and better – than available options?
- Is our claim believable?
Avoid aiming for a position that requires consumers to make a leap of faith. Build your position around the attributes that have made your business successful. Here are a few positioning examples:
- Skyliner: A community offering families the finest view in town.
- Treetops: An inn hosting the most pampered ski vacationers in the East.
- Everything Entrepreneur: An education platform for entrepreneurs ready to start, grow, or manage a business.
A positioning statement is easy to construct using this formula:
Your Name + Your Business Description + Your Point of Distinction + Your Market Description = Your Positioning Statement
Avoiding Common Positioning Traps
When developing your positioning statement, avoid these traps:
- Don’t duplicate a position in a crowded category. You need more than location and announcement to stand out.
- Don’t base your distinction on a pricing or quality difference that a competitor can easily surpass.
- Don’t rely on factors you can’t control. For example, instead of vaguely promising the “best service,” provide a specific, verifiable guarantee like Alaska Airlines’ 20-minute baggage service guarantee.
- Don’t settle for a generic statement. Ensure that no other business could make the same claim.
By carefully crafting your positioning strategy and avoiding these common traps, you can establish a unique and memorable brand position that resonates with your target market.
