5 Elements of Efficient Positioning: An “Clearly Superior” E-book Abstract – Half 2 | Heinz Advertising | Digital Noch

By Sarah Threet, Advertising Marketing consultant at Heinz Advertising

On this weblog, I proceed to summarize April Dunford’s guide on positioning, “Clearly Superior: The way to Nail Product Positioning so Prospects Get It, Purchase It, Love It”. For half certainly one of this guide abstract and learnings, please see my weblog written right here. 

The Flaws of the Conventional Positioning Assertion  

When you have a advertising and marketing and/or enterprise diploma, greater than possible, you’re conscious of the normal positioning assertion template. For these unfamiliar, the template beneficial for drafting your positioning assertion, is as follows: 

“For [target buyers], [your offering] is a [market category], which offers [main benefits] in contrast to [competitor] which offers [competitor’s benefits].” 

The aim of this positioning assertion template is to get us to consider how our product brings worth to our goal patrons, and the way it could differentiate from substitutes available in the market. It offers a few of the vital elements to get us conceptualizing our product’s worth to the market, however it’s flawed in that it assumes we’ve the entire solutions we have to create a strong positioning assertion.  

• The template doesn’t present any clues as as to whether our positioning assertion is efficient and even correct, and whereas it captures our present considering, it’s primarily based off of assumptions we’ve about our goal patrons that will not be true! 
• The template reinforces a default mind-set about our product and offers no steerage as to considering exterior of the field and reframing our product as one thing apart from what could also be most blatant (ex. Take into consideration the “food regimen muffin” versus “paleo snack” within the earlier weblog abstract).  
• We hardly ever come again to the positioning assertion template for our use in messaging. As a instrument or supply of reference, it’s usually solely used as soon as, and the positioning assertion must be an integral a part of advertising and marketing, messaging, and iteration.  
• Whereas there are a couple of totally different in style positioning assertion templates, they’re usually tough to recollect in construction and components.  

The 5 (Plus One) Elements of Efficient Positioning: 

The positioning assertion template above continues to be in follow and schooling as a result of what it’s good at is itemizing the vital features wanted to speak our answer’s worth. However because the assertion itself is clunky and tough to memorize, Dunford encourages us to give attention to the elements that actually make the assertion highly effective: 

1. Aggressive Alternate options: What our audience would use/eat if our answer didn’t exist. 
2. Distinctive Attributes: The options and capabilities that our product/service has that alternate options don’t.  
3. Worth (and Proof): The advantages of these options to our goal patrons and the way they deal with their ache level(s). 
4. Goal Market Traits: The attributes of a bunch of patrons (together with their ache factors) that make them care concerning the worth of our answer.  
5. Market Class: The market we outline our answer as becoming to raised assist illustrate the worth to our goal patrons.  
6. Related Traits (Bonus): Traits that our audience could pay attention to/keen on that will have an effect on the way in which they view our answer, and what could assist or hinder our answer’s relevancy.  

Let’s focus on additional… 

Aggressive Alternate options 

Dunford reminds us that there are often many alternate options to our answer that aren’t different merchandise/opponents per se, however relatively instruments which are extra simply at their disposal: akin to hiring an intern or doing budgeting in a spreadsheet. In B2B, the aggressive different could even be budgetary and strategic priorities inside the firm.  

Usually instances, our goal patrons should not conscious of all potential options to their ache level (tougher even is that if they’re not conscious of their ache level or the basis of its trigger). It’s additionally unlikely that they’ve heard of us, our opponents, or what, as Dunford wrote, “is cutting-edge” about our answer, as a result of they don’t have any foundation for comparability.  

It’s vital that we all know what our goal patrons examine our answer to in order that we all know the best way to re-educate them and reframe our answer.  

Distinctive Attributes 

Distinctive attributes are the capabilities and options that make your answer distinctive by comparability to the alternate options; they’re additionally referred to as “differentiators”. These may very well be technical options, our supply mannequin, our enterprise mannequin, and/or experience. For Heinz Advertising, as consultants, we place ourselves by our mixed experience and expertise. 

Since there are possible a number of distinctive attributes to our answer, Dunford reminds us that it doesn’t matter what makes us totally different, after we are concentrating on, we should be aware of THIS distinctive purchaser’s comparative answer, in order that we’re sure to speak essentially the most related differentiator.  

Worth (and Proof) 

What makes our answer distinctive by comparability to the alternate options must have demonstratable worth. Qualitative information solely will get us to this point (though good critiques are at all times a profit); we want irrefutable information that has been collected via our personal answer’s efficiency and ideally backing from third events as nicely.  

Worth ought to at all times be as fact-based as potential.  

Goal Market Traits 

Our answer could possible be one which brings worth to many individuals, nevertheless, we should be strategic about our advertising and marketing efforts. Our positioning wants to obviously determine who in our complete addressable market would get the MOST worth out of our answer; that’s who we give attention to concentrating on. These are the form of patrons who will purchase shortly, with out low cost, and can champion our answer.  

Take into consideration all the answer’s distinctive traits: is there somebody who meets on the intersection of the place all these traits overlap? Get as particular as potential when addressing who to focus on as a great buyer.  

Dunford’s instance is of IBM’s database. They had been concentrating on any firm with a considerable amount of information, nevertheless it wasn’t simply that IBM’s database might retailer a considerable amount of information, however that it might additionally course of the information shortly. They started desirous about who would need information processed shortly and why, and that’s once they started concentrating on banks, due to their want for safety.  

Market Class 

The market class is a body of reference to your audience; classes are shorthand for the way clients could group options collectively. With so many options in market, it is extremely overwhelming for the typical purchaser to shift via so many choices.  

Categorization aids in choice simplification, however we should be cautious about how we label our answer, as a result of framing any such approach presents a bevy of assumptions. These assumptions embody how our answer features, pricing, our objective, and many others. If we select a market class properly, then the categorization already aids in framing, and we don’t want to teach. In any other case, most of our advertising and marketing efforts could also be spent battling incorrect assumptions.  

Generally we find yourself within the flawed class as a result of who we constructed the answer for could not truly be the most effective viewers, and that’s why repositioning and taking an iterative method to your positioning assertion is vital.  

Related Traits (Bonus) 

When used fastidiously, leveraging related tendencies can present further context to our goal patrons why our answer is efficacious – and why it’s one thing they need to take note of proper now. Traits are vital as a result of clients need to be within the know concerning the latest, hottest, most disruptive applied sciences and approaches. As entrepreneurs, we need to first categorize our answer and THEN have a look at related tendencies in our business.  

I really like that Dunford included this part in her guide and I feel it’s usually ignored. We get so engrossed in our product, service, answer, model that we develop into clouded by bias and we pigeonhole ourselves. The “food regimen muffin” versus “paleo snack” is an instance that may follow me; sure, the muffin is suitable for these on a food regimen, however the relevancy is that folks don’t need to consider themselves as being on a “food regimen”. “Weight loss plan” has a whole lot of damaging baggage; it has much less affiliation with “well being” and extra affiliation with unhealthy undereating. 

10 Step Positioning Course of 

In my subsequent weblog, I’ll summarize how Dunford recommends placing these 5+ elements collectively in her 10 Step Positioning Course of. Within the meantime, you possibly can start to assume extra about your answer’s positioning by making a easy positioning card and brainstorming bullet factors below every part. There could also be ache factors that your answer addresses that you just haven’t but considered, and people ache factors could belong to focus on patrons you haven’t conceived of but both.