Abstract
That is the second weblog abstract for April Dunford’s ebook on positioning, “Clearly Superior: Methods to Nail Product Positioning so Clients Get It, Purchase It, Love It”. This abstract covers the 5 (plus one) parts that make up a robust positioning assertion.
By Sarah Threet, Advertising Advisor at Heinz Advertising
On this weblog, I proceed to summarize April Dunford’s ebook on positioning, “Clearly Superior: Methods to Nail Product Positioning so Clients Get It, Purchase It, Love It”. For half certainly one of this ebook abstract and learnings, please see my weblog written right here.
The Flaws of the Conventional Positioning Assertion
You probably have a advertising and marketing and/or enterprise diploma, greater than probably, 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 supplies [main benefits] in contrast to [competitor] which supplies [competitor’s benefits].”
The aim of this positioning assertion template is to get us to consider how our product brings worth to our goal consumers, and the way it could differentiate from substitutes available in the market. It supplies a number of the vital parts to get us conceptualizing our product’s worth to the market, however it’s flawed in that it assumes now we have all the solutions we have to create a robust 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 now we have about our goal consumers that will not be true!
- The template reinforces a default mind-set about our product and supplies no steerage as to considering outdoors of the field and reframing our product as one thing aside from what could also be most blatant (ex. Take into consideration the “weight loss plan 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 software 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 completely different fashionable positioning assertion templates, they’re usually troublesome to recollect in construction and components.
The 5 (Plus One) Elements of Efficient Positioning:
The positioning assertion template above continues to be in observe and schooling as a result of what it’s good at is itemizing the vital features wanted to speak our resolution’s worth. However for the reason that assertion itself is clunky and troublesome to memorize, Dunford encourages us to give attention to the parts that basically make the assertion highly effective:
- Aggressive Alternate options: What our target market would use/devour if our resolution didn’t exist.
- Distinctive Attributes: The options and capabilities that our product/service has that options don’t.
- Worth (and Proof): The advantages of these options to our goal consumers and the way they deal with their ache level(s).
- Goal Market Traits: The attributes of a bunch of consumers (together with their ache factors) that make them care in regards to the worth of our resolution.
- Market Class: The market we outline our resolution as becoming to raised assist illustrate the worth to our goal consumers.
- Related Developments (Bonus): Developments that our target market could pay attention to/keen on that will have an effect on the way in which they view our resolution, and what could assist or hinder our resolution’s relevancy.
Let’s talk about additional…
Aggressive Alternate options
Dunford reminds us that there are regularly many options to our resolution that aren’t different merchandise/opponents per se, however relatively instruments which can be extra simply at their disposal: resembling hiring an intern or doing budgeting in a spreadsheet. In B2B, the aggressive various could even be budgetary and strategic priorities inside the firm.
Typically occasions, our goal consumers will not be 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 resolution, as a result of they haven’t any foundation for comparability.
It’s vital that we all know what our goal consumers evaluate our resolution to in order that we all know tips on how to re-educate them and reframe our resolution.
Distinctive Attributes
Distinctive attributes are the capabilities and options that make your resolution distinctive by comparability to the options; they’re additionally known as “differentiators”. These could possibly 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 probably a number of distinctive attributes to our resolution, Dunford reminds us that it doesn’t matter what makes us completely different, once we are concentrating on, we have to be aware of THIS distinctive purchaser’s comparative resolution, in order that we’re sure to speak probably the most related differentiator.
Worth (and Proof)
What makes our resolution distinctive by comparability to the options must have demonstratable worth. Qualitative information solely will get us thus far (though good opinions are all the time a profit); we want irrefutable information that has been collected by our personal resolution’s efficiency and ideally backing from third events as nicely.
Worth ought to all the time be as fact-based as potential.
Goal Market Traits
Our resolution could probably be one which brings worth to many individuals, nonetheless, we have to 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 resolution; that’s who we give attention to concentrating on. These are the sort of consumers who will purchase rapidly, with out low cost, and can champion our resolution.
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 an excellent buyer.
Dunford’s instance is of IBM’s database. They had been concentrating on any firm with a considerable amount of information, but it surely wasn’t simply that IBM’s database may retailer a considerable amount of information, however that it may additionally course of the information rapidly. They started eager about who would need information processed rapidly and why, and that’s after they started concentrating on banks, due to their want for safety.
Market Class
The market class is a body of reference to your target market; classes are shorthand for the way prospects could group options collectively. With so many options in market, it is extremely overwhelming for the typical purchaser to shift by so many choices.
Categorization aids in resolution simplification, however we have to be cautious about how we label our resolution, as a result of framing any such approach presents a bevy of assumptions. These assumptions embrace how our resolution features, pricing, our objective, and so on. If we select a market class correctly, then the categorization already aids in framing, and we don’t want to coach. In any other case, most of our advertising and marketing efforts could also be spent battling incorrect assumptions.
Typically we find yourself within the incorrect 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 Developments (Bonus)
When used fastidiously, leveraging related developments can present further context to our goal consumers why our resolution is efficacious – and why it’s one thing they need to take note of proper now. Developments are vital as a result of prospects wish to be within the know in regards to the latest, hottest, most disruptive applied sciences and approaches. As entrepreneurs, we wish to first categorize our resolution and THEN take a look at related developments in our business.
I really like that Dunford included this part in her ebook and I feel it’s usually neglected. We get so engrossed in our product, service, resolution, model that we grow to be clouded by bias and we pigeonhole ourselves. The “weight loss plan muffin” versus “paleo snack” is an instance that may follow me; sure, the muffin is suitable for these on a weight loss plan, however the relevancy is that folks don’t wish to consider themselves as being on a “weight loss plan”. “Weight loss program” has numerous unfavourable 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+ parts collectively in her 10 Step Positioning Course of. Within the meantime, you’ll be able to start to suppose extra about your resolution’s positioning by making a easy positioning card and brainstorming bullet factors below every part. There could also be ache factors that your resolution addresses that you simply haven’t but considered, and people ache factors could belong to focus on consumers you haven’t conceived of but both.
