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BUSINESS SKILLS TIPS 12 – POSITIONING BUSINESS AND PRODUCTS
Yesterday I was talking about your unique selling point, and at risk to becoming too boring I wanted to look deeper today into the marketing strategy of positioning business and products. The concept of positioning relates to where you place your presence and your products in relation to others in the market, i.e. competitors, and how you use that to build your brand, get noticed and sell more product.
The term is used in Advertising and has been so for at least 30 years. However, it is just as relevant today as it ever was. Hence my insistence that you fully understand what it means to ‘position’ yourself and your business / products. You can gain great advantage by doing so.
Yesterday I mentioned a book which had great influence on me. I repeat the paragraph about this book here again because I feel that it still works now in 2015.
“Years ago I read a truly valuable book called Positioning – The Battle For Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout which is all about the world of Advertising and how to use less words to create more of an impact, even piggy backing on the 1st class position of your competitors. Marketing strategy is a minefield if you do not have good information to guide you. It is a worthwhile read even though it has been changed from the original for our era.”
So now, if you care to, do a little research into where your products stand in relation to other people’s. Ask yourself, can I put into practice any of the marketing or advertising ideas mentioned in this book? How would I use the position in the market of other competitors to gain leverage in the market? Is there someone who markets their products using a feature that applies to mine, and maybe I can borrow an expression which is recognised as being part of their campaign but alter it to add a statement of my own? Just an idea.
I think Angela positioning business and products understanding shows how important this is in gaining market share and building customer loyalty or increased sales.