When you have a business, you need to market it correctly. With position marketing, you have the opportunity to establish your brand’s position within the marketplace. Either accomplished by SEO or traditional marketing.
If you sell luxury vehicles, you may use a luxury status symbol to help consumers connect your brand to luxury. On the other hand, if you offer a service, you may establish your position within your niche as reliable and on-time.
The position you occupy in the marketplace can be established through proper position marketing. From the visual aspects associated with your marketing materials to the actual message, good position marketing will place your brand right where you want it.
What is Position Marketing?
A type of marketing used to establish a position in the local, national, or global market is known as position marketing. According to StrageticCFO.com, “market position refers to the consumer’s perception of a brand or product in relation to competing brands or products.”
Position marketing is used to help establish the perception of the consumer concerning your brand. It’s also known as market positioning or just positioning.
Expanding on what position marketing is, Wikipedia defines positioning as, “the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the customers and how it is distinguished from the products of the competitors.” With the right marketing, a position can be established within your niche or industry.
While traditional marketing strategies may focus on reaching a target market, position marketing focuses on establishing the way your brand is viewed in the eyes of the consumer. For some companies, marketing will focus more on a specific location, such as New York City or Los Angeles.
Elements of Your Market Position
Establishing the correct market position matters for your brand. The space you’re able to capture will answer the question, why do consumers purchase our product or service?
As you build your position marketing strategy, you’ll want to consider specific elements and how you’re communicating your brand’s message. Some of the most common elements helping to establish your market position include:
- Brand Identity – Mission statement, logo, vision, culture, and reputation
- Brand Recognition – How well you’re known to your target market.
- Your Customers – The type of customers you attract will help establish your market position
- Cost – The cost of your goods or services is a significant element used to establish your marketing position.
- Features – How your product or service performs compared to the competition will help you establish the right position within the marketplace.
- Quality – The perceived value or quality of your product or service is an important element used in position marketing.
- Channels – Where you advertise and how you reach your customers will help establish your marketplace position.
These elements, along with many others, will be used in marketing to help establish your brand in the proper position. With a strong marketing plan, you can place your brand in the exact position you prefer within the local, national, or global marketplace.
Top Position Marketing Strategies
Each of the elements listed above can be used within your position marketing strategy. Choosing a few specific qualities of your product, service, or brand to help you stand out will determine your positioning strategy.
Focusing on Features
If you have a product or service with better, more beneficial features compared to your closest competitors, you may decide to focus on the features. A pivotal marketing strategy designed to highlight the features you offer and how they are better than the features of your competition will help position your product or service as a leader in the industry.
A Price Strategy
A very common position marketing strategy, letting price drive your marketing means you likely have a better price than your competition. This type of strategy is used in the Fast-Food market since Fast-Food Restaurants offer meals for a lower price compared to other types of restaurants.
A Quality Position Marketing Strategy
Maybe you make a product very similar in features to your competition, but the quality is superior. A position marketing strategy can be created to highlight your better-quality materials or ingredients. This is a common strategy used in the food market, especially with food products made with organic or natural ingredients.
One of the main benefits of a high quality marketing strategy is the ability to charge a higher price and still make a profit. Since the product or service you offer is higher in quality than the competition, consumers are less likely to focus on the price.
A Product/Service Use Strategy
When you have a product or service that solves a problem, you can use position marketing to highlight the problem solved. This type of positioning strategy is common with a newer product without much competition.
Creating an Effective Position Marketing Strategy
Determining the type of position marketing strategy you want to use depends on many key factors. You have to decide how you want consumers to see your brand and communicate that message clearly.
For example, within the car/truck industry, each manufacturer uses a different position marketing strategy. Lexus wants consumers to view them as a luxury choice and uses the slogan “The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection.”
On the other hand, Honda uses the slogan, “The Power of Dreams” helping to establish its brand as the “fun” choice.
Some of the main factors to consider when developing a position marketing strategy include:
- Figure out the uniqueness of your company compared to the competition
- Identify your market position currently
- Identify the positioning of your competition
These factors will help to develop your marketing strategy. After figuring out what makes your company unique, how you are positioned now, and the position of your competition, you can develop a position marketing strategy.
Strong position marketing will help you control how consumers view your brand. Whether you’re the least expensive option, the highest quality option or you offer features nobody else offers, you have to communicate your unique message to consumers.
The right position marketing strategy will drive consumers to buy your product or service for the right reasons. You’re in control of how your brand is viewed when you use good position marketing.
