For a sustainable growth it’s extremely important that companies define the correct positioning and adjust it over time. Positioning is the space that a product owns in the mind of the consumers: what they offer and how they differentiate themselves among the other competitors. A strong brand positioning distinguishes your product from the competition and helps attract your target audience. A wrong positioning can mislead customers or attract the wrong target, impacting your business.
A strong positioning should include 3 fundamental elements:
1. Clarity: market research and analysis are the preliminary steps in the strategy for a correct positioning. Through an accurate market analysis, you can clearly define your positioning statement, answering several questions: what benefits do you offer, what values do you deliver? What is so unique about your product that competitors don’t have? Who are your competitors? Where are they located? Who is your target audience?
Many companies focus their attention on their products’ features and ideal customers. It’s great, but not enough, it’s really important to spend a good amount of time to understand the competition and gather more insight of the market. Do all your research and don’t develop a marketing strategy before you have well-defined where you stay in the market.
2. Uniqueness: in a hyper competitive world, if companies want to survive, they have to find their market niche and offer something that others don’t offer: this is what is called in marketing unique selling proposition. It is anything that you are doing better than the rest. It can be a new feature, high quality, excellent customer service, or a great customer experience. Be aware that if you choose to compete on price, it might be a steep path, since you always need to keep up with prices to stay competitive. On the other hand, differentiation strategies allow you to charge a premium and be more successful in the marketplace.
3. Fluidity: nowadays everything is moving very fast: new products, new competitors, new trends, new consumer behaviors and habits. When you decide to design your brand positioning strategy, challenge the existing situation, apply a forward thinking approach, and project your brand in the future. Markets are dynamic, and what is true today might be different tomorrow.