Positioning. What is it? Why is it Important?
Say “Maytag” and people hear “reliable.”
Say “Disney” and people hear “family.”
Say “Rolls Royce” and people hear “luxury.”
Positioning on the Internet and in marketing in general refers to how you (your company, products or services) are perceived by customers. It is exactly that—a perception that people form.
Positioning is not something that you can touch. Positioning can be fragile and may require continuous tweaking. Your place refers to the position that your company, products or services occupies in the minds of others. For practical business purposes, it is how people rank your products, your firm, your service, etc. on a graduated good / bad perception scale against similar choices.
The name “Maytag” is a good example of positioning. For decades, this appliance manufacturer has put out a single message: reliability. As a result, when you ask people which washing machine is the most reliable, most will answer “Maytag.”
Is Maytag the most reliable washer? (See http://www.consumerreports.org.) Maybe, but not every model and not every year—however, that doesn’t matter in positioning. Maytag’s goal, which it set for itself very early in its competitive history, was to gain and keep the position of Number One in Reliability in consumers’ minds. As long as consumers keep thinking that way, Maytag maintains its positioning advantage over its competitors—even those who might make a more reliable washer.
Note that Maytag set out early to be positioned as number one in reliability. Being early is important because once you gain the number one position in people’s minds, dislodging you from that placement is very difficult. So, if at all possible, capture your distinct position early, before someone else does. Fortunately, because the Internet is still a relatively young phenomenon, you may still have a good chance to distinguish yourself from competitors and capture your desired positioning. Maytag is also an excellent example of branding, or building a well-recognized brand identity.
You and your Web site are, or maybe should be, relentlessly competing with other firms that provide the same or similar services or products. Don’t think that you can enjoy a friendly sharing of Web space; this is war. And on the Web, how quickly a company gains market share may spell its success or failure in the next few years. Paying attention to positioning is crucial if a company is going to get that market share on the Web.
Standing Out from the Crowd: How Do You Distinguish Yourself?
By the very nature of positioning, you must distinguish yourself as “something,” ideally, as something special. What can it be for you? What can you tell people about your firm, products, or service that will differentiate them from others in the minds of your Web site visitors?
Many firms “on the Web” today are not projecting any specific or distinct positioning whatsoever. Pages in their sites say and show basically the same things—a company logo, product photos, a list of services, a list of cities served, a general statement about “willingness to give 100%” or a profound belief in real customer service and ethics. (Yawn.) Site reviewers for Web directories like Yahoo! will categorize these sites as “Lookie Me” sites, that is, sites that appear to be most concerned with the company’s ego. These sites could be called “epitaphs for living companies,” and reviewers will rank them lower than sites that demonstrate sincere concern for the interests and priorities of their visitors.
Your site must focus on creating and reinforcing a particular identity, ability, characteristic, feature, benefit, or service—a position. Emphasize a single theme, and then let related points, information, graphics, and links to additional pages and/or sites support the position. Note that we say that you need a particular position, one that separates you from other companies and Web sites that operate in your field (your competitors).
The list below provides some examples of market position statements or themes that make some firms or their products or services stand out.
Real Estate
Buyer’s Agent, Exclusively—Buyers Need Representation, Too
Seller’s Agent, Exclusively
The Beach (or Lake) Property Specialist
The Horse Property (or Ranch or Farm) Expert
The Internet Realtor® for Buyers (or Sellers, or both)
LuxuryHomesforCountryLiving.com
The Luxury Property Realtor®
The “Fixer-Upper” Specialist
The Realtor® for First-Time Buyers
Let the Neighbor Pay Your Mortgage (Income Property Agent)
Historical and Other Older Homes
Which of the following phrases or statements do you think has the most effective positioning? Why?
(baby food) “You’d eat our baby food yourself!” or “for healthy, happy babies”
(toothpaste) “with the latest chemical discoveries to sanitize your mouth” or “when you want your mouth to feel fresh and clean”
(income tax service) “We attend 200 hours of training each year to master all the smallest details of changes in thousands of tax laws.” or “You can trust our fast and accurate income tax preparation.”
Identifying Your Position
How do you know what position to establish and capture through your Web site? Ask yourself several questions:
What are we best at?
Where do or can we excel?
What positions haven’t other firms in our field already taken?
Whom do we want to attract? (See “Audience” section.)
What do we want to accomplish? (See “Goals” section.)
Select something in which you excel—whether it is “everything for everyone” or something more defined if you were a medical equipment manufacturer, such as “We stock only the highest quality medical instrumentation in every category,” and then stake out the position for yourself. The last question is especially important, because it must be a realistic assessment of what you can achieve.
Use the checklists below to help you think about the position you might want to claim. Place a check next to the items that best fit you, your work, your company, product, or service. Thousands upon thousands of descriptions can be created or considered, of course. Do not be limited by the few examples provided here to give you ideas.
Checklist: Identifying a Market Position
PART 1: What are we? Where do we excel? Positioning a Company
q Getting new customers.
q Expanding our customer base.
q Retaining current customers.
q Getting referrals from current customers.
q Initiating frequent contact with customers even when they don’t contact us first.
q Ensuring on-time delivery.
q Advising buyers about which product best fits their specific needs.
q Explaining how to use each product so that buyers really “get” it.
q Helping buyers decide on the right price and the right time to buy a product.
q Getting business—actual sales—for our customers so that loyalty is developed.
q Helping customers expand their business.
q Helping buyers with a certain type of problem.
q Selling in large quantities. Selling in small quantities.
q Selling internationally or to a specific country or US geographic region.
q Helping customers sell older, outdated versions of products they bought from us.
q Integrating customers into our Customer Relationship Marketing programs.
q Assisting buyers with legalities of using our products.
q Helping customers obtain financing.
q Working with first-time buyers.
q Helping customers in how to get maximum profits from using our products.
q Helping franchisees open new territories.
q Responding fast to customer inquires, whether by phone, e-mail, fax, whatever.
q Helping customers make presentations to their customers to help them gain a sale.
q Negotiating unusual or creative transactions to help buyers.
q Understanding buyers’ specific priorities.
q Educating clients about the latest selling tactics.
q Ensuring that our customers always have sufficient tools to help use or sell our products.
q Being supportive of nervous buyers.
q Having a terrific inside sales department that is very responsive to buyer needs.
q Allowing customers access to our databases that might assist them.
q Providing exceptional content on our Web site to inform and educate buyers.
q Help buyers with their product selections.
q Communicating complicated information.
q Dealing with difficult people.
q Shepherding complex transactions through completion
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Bill Koelzer, CBC, APR
Marketing & Internet Consultant
PH: 949-496-4159 FAX 949-625-8622
2924-D Camino Capistrano
San Clemente, CA 92672
E-mail: mktg4u@cox.net
Web site: http://www.koelzer.com
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