In today’s crazy business world, communicating your product’s unique value is key to success. While product positioning is the strategy to highlight the specific benefits and features of a product, brand positioning focuses on defining a unique set of traits, values, or practices to influence how the target market perceives the brand as a whole. Let’s get into what product positioning is, why it matters and how to do it.

What is Product Positioning?

Product positioning is the process of deciding and communicating how you want your target market to think of your product. It’s about saying:

1. How your product solves your customer’s problem

2. Why it’s better than the competition’s offerings

In essence, product positioning is the foundation of your marketing story. It helps you decide where your product fits in the market and why it’s the best choice for your target market. A well-defined product positioning strategy is crucial for creating a distinct and desirable space for your product, communicating its benefits and unique selling proposition to a defined target audience, and differentiating it from competitors.

Why is Product Positioning Important?

Very few products are the perfect solution for everyone. Trying to appeal to everyone often results in messaging that resonates with nobody. Effective product positioning lets you:

• Focus on the market segment that will love your product

• Say your product’s value in a way that resonates with your target market

• Differentiate your offering from the competition

• Guide your marketing and sales efforts with consistent messaging

• Create a competitive advantage by offering a unique value proposition that stands out from competitors, helping to better target customers and increase sales and market share

Product Positioning Elements

To do product positioning, consider these:

1. Vision: The overall direction for your product

2. Mission: What you’ll do to make your vision a reality

3. Market category: Your key customer segments

4. Tagline: A phrase that sums up your product

5. Customer challenges: Major pain points for your target market

6. Differentiators: Unique value your product creates

7. Brand essence: What you want to be known for

8. Brand identity: Creating a distinct and recognizable brand identity that aligns with your target audience's preferences. This helps improve brand recall, loyalty, and long-term revenue potential, and reflects the values of your brand to potential customers.

How to do Product Positioning

Know Your Customer Through Market Research

Know your potential customers. Go beyond demographics and get into their worldview, goals, fears and influences. Use surveys, focus groups and market research to build out persona profiles.

Analyze the Competition for Competitive Advantage

Look at the competitive landscape and identify where you can win by focusing on market positioning. Market positioning is crucial in analyzing the competition as it helps establish the image of your brand or product in the consumer's mind. Look for emotional triggers or needs that the competition is missing.

3. Assess Your Product

Do a SWOT analysis to objectively evaluate your product’s strengths and weaknesses. Assessing your product's unique value proposition is crucial as it highlights the promise made to customers to solve their problem or meet their need, thereby differentiating your product from similar offerings in the market. So your positioning lines up with what your product can actually deliver.

4. Write Your Positioning Statement

Create a short product positioning statement that sums up your product’s value. A product positioning statement is a concise announcement that communicates how your product fulfills the needs of a specific target market and differentiates it from competitors. Use this as a template:

For [target market] that [need/want], [your product] is a [category] that [unique to this] by [key benefit].

5. Test Your Positioning

Test your positioning through social media, content marketing, or advertising as part of a successful product positioning strategy. This strategy is crucial for differentiating your business from competitors, delivering exciting customer experiences, and maintaining a distinct brand identity. Use A/B testing to see which features or benefits resonate with your audience.

Now you have your positioning strategy

1. Align your marketing strategy with your positioning statement

2. Consistent messaging across all channels

3. Train your sales team to talk your product’s value

4. Gather feedback and adjust as needed

Remember product positioning isn’t set in stone. As markets change and customer needs evolve, be prepared to adjust your positioning to stay relevant and competitive.

By doing product positioning you’ll be able to articulate your product’s value, stand out from the competition and connect with your target market. This will underpin your marketing and ultimately your product’s success.