9] Market Position
If you imagine that your product/service is for sale in a store, on a shelf, which products would you be next to the luxury items, or the cheap and practical items. A good way to look at it would be to create an inspiration board of the products that you're attracted to and see if you can emulate them in their perceived quality.
I, for example, am drawn to Benefit makeup - they have a quirky sense of humour that really appeal to me, they also have a strong sense of nostalgia which will, hopefully, make them last for a really long time. The quality and hard work in marketing themselves is then reflected in the price category and puts them on the same shelf as Urban Decay and Mac and also appeals the a similar audience.
By comparing my business to a set of products that have nothing to do with my business, I can objectively analyse how they are the perceived experts in their field, so how do they do it and how can we learn from our favourite products and take confidence in applying those rules to marketing ourselves:
Brand Personality – Benefit definitely know who they are, they express their self realisation in their colour palette, style of typography and photography all emphasises that
Target Audience/Market Segmentation – Their confidence in that helps them to know who they would appeal to and that dictates their brand growth and trajectory when planning that growth. They probably won't appeal to the same people that buy Clinique products and that's ok
Price Category – Benefit are more expensive than grocery store make up and cheaper than high end cosmetics, this gives the perception that they dedicate themselves to ever improving their product, have done a lot of work to get to their current position and do a lot of laboratory testing to ensure their product is of a high standard. It sets the customer expectation of buying a high quality product and by matching that expectation it then validates the price category. Perception is more important than worth and is just as important as every other aspect of the business, price too low and customers wonder why, price too high and you alienate a market that cannot afford you. When researching cost, it's important to research your competitors price category so that you stay within your industry standard of pricing and then look into how you stand apart and have that reflected in your pricing strategy
Market Position – This is a process whereby you consider a few categories when 'positioning' your brand. Here's an interesting article I found while researching this blogpost: https://marketing6pack.com/5-steps-of-market-positioning/ - Is your product/service a luxury item? Does it enhance customers experience but not essential to their survival? This determines identifying their wants. - Is it practical? Does it solve a practical problem? This determines their needs. - Is it a transformational product/service? How does it transform customers lives? - What is your differential? How do you stand apart from your competitors? - Quality - are you a high quality (expensive) or low quality (cheap) product - Product Statement and Tagline will help to identify your market position internally and externally, you can read more about how to do this here: https://cultbranding.com/ceo/create-strong-brand-positioning-strategy/
Have a look at this helpful article by Guerrilla: Complete Guide To Building A Digital Brand they give some great advice about perfecting your digital brand and tips on how to market digitally that will really help your business.
This is a difficult subject to wrap your head around so hiring a Marketing expert will definitely make a difference but until you can afford that, these few tips should help you to at least identify your current market position.
There's so much more to know about your business, feel free to send specific questions for me to help you with or join my Facebook Group East Anglia Small Business Branding where we can all help each other to succeed. I'd also love to hear from you about anything to do with questions and you can find me at 07525 246 734 or caroline@mysteryhare.com