Message Positioning

Positioning Your Product or Service for Success

Businesses today must leverage the features, benefits and qualifications of their products or services to gain a competitive advantage. Factors such as competitive pricing, value-added services and unique functionality can often make a difference in a competitive situation.

But these factors are meaningless unless customers believe them to be important enough to influence their purchasing decisions. That’s why any positioning exercise should begin by evaluating your differentiators in relation to the products and services your target audience is using or considering.

Create Lasting Differentiation

Unfortunately, there may be little or no difference between your product or service and that of your competitors. Maybe the functional differences are easily copied and short-lived. Or maybe they are just difficult to communicate in a way that’s meaningful to your audience.

If you’ve developed a unique selling proposition (USP) for your product or business, you’ve already begun your positioning process. But if this value proposition does not resonate with your target audience, it may be time to refine it.

First, how important are these collective differences to buyers? Are these differences measurable and meaningful? Do they address an important or urgent problem? Are you framing the problem or solution in a unique way?

Successful Positioning

Positioning involves putting together a specific marketing mix to develop a specific image of your brand in the minds of consumers. To do this effectively, you must communicate a meaningful difference about your business idea to the people who would be most interested in buying your product or service.

There are a number of ways to create and communicate meaningful differences. These can involve anything from packaging, pricing, features and benefits to product design, colors, advertising and promotional media, public relations events and speaking engagements.
In the end, your positioning strategies should be fully integrated to promote a consistent image for your product or service.