What is product positioning?

Product positioning is a type of marketing in which you offer your product’s advantages to a specific target audience. Marketers can select which audience to target based on favorable product responses through market research and focus groups.

Products are placed in the marketplace through product positioning, a strategic marketing process requiring teams to determine how they want their product to fit into the market.

Product positioning is all about how you want the market to perceive your product — and it necessitates communicating how your product is superior to the consequences of your competitors in solving your consumers’ concerns.

 

The Importance Of Product Positioning

Product planning is an essential part of any marketing strategy, but it doesn’t have to be restricted to a single target market.

A product, for example, may have a primary target audience and a secondary target audience who are both interested in the product but different ways.

Each audience will find the product appealing for various reasons, so you should tailor marketing messages to emphasize the benefits that each audience values the most.

The Benefits of Product Positioning

Its cost-efficient

While more established and large-scaled corporations may afford to conduct comprehensive market research, small businesses may find the time or funds challenging. Rather than holding focus groups and conducting extensive research, a small business owner can simply ask their network for feedback.

It based on actual behavior rather than supposition

As a company owner or a manager, you can find future product positioning strategies on real sales data if they collect information on clients and their purchases. This positioning is based on actual behavior rather than supposition. It may be even more effective than basing product positioning on potential buyers’ opinions, such as a focus group.

To summarize, a significant marketing expenditure is not required to benefit from market research and successful product positioning. The first step toward a great marketing plan is to understand the target demographic and how to communicate the benefits of a product to them in a compelling way.

 

Example For Product Positioning

Nike is one of the most well-known brands globally, and its goods have earned a reputation as competitive sportswear for people of all ages and abilities (not just elite athletes).

Nike presents itself as a firm that serves athletes from all walks of life with high-quality, attractive clothes, rather than simply as a maker of shoes and sportswear. Even better, these items operate admirably under the most adverse conditions and serve as inspiration for sportspeople to achieve greater heights.

You can also Consider the IT industry, where we see excellent examples of characteristic-based positioning everywhere: “For three years, the brand has been recognized as having the best-performing laptops. A product positioning matrix and map (as well as a PPT template) are included with the purchase of the notebook.

How To Use Product Positioning

A product positioning matrix or map is employed when comparing your product’s position to your competitors. The matrix or map visualizes the critical distinctions between competing brands across critical dimensions, and it is used to measure and compare your product’s position. These models are utilized in product positioning strategy work and are typically presented in a matrix style, which visualizes competitive differences along two axes of the work.

Companies might use communication channels, pricing, or product quality to stand out and be known to adopt product positioning. We’ll go through the necessity of product positioning, its benefits, a few techniques, the processes for positioning your product, and some examples in this article.

As we discussed above, there are various distinct sorts of product positioning to pick from; the one you choose will be determined by the demands and needs of your target audience.

The following are the most often employed positioning strategies:

Positioning based on price

Customers use the price of a product as one of the first tools they employ while evaluating their options. Pricing is critical in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer spaces, but the price of a product also communicates a great deal about its place in the market.

Price-based positioning refers to the practice of presenting your items at a competitive or cheaper price than those of your competitors.

Most of the time, buyers choose these things solely based on merit — without considering or comparing the alternatives. It is in the grocery store that the best example of price-based positioning can be found, as promotions enable businesses to compete against one another on a cost-savings basis.

Positioning depending on a person’s lifestyle

The association of a product with a specific usage or lifestyle is another way brands can define their market position.

Suppose you want to develop your wealth through high-risk trading and investments. You may advertise it as appealing to people who live a fast-paced lifestyle, or you can present it as a savings aid for families who wish to put a little money aside each month.

Product features may be the same or comparable across different products, but the benefits of using those features will be conveyed (positioned) differently.

Positioning based on characteristics

A product’s unique positioning is influenced by various factors such as dependability, performance, efficiency, sustainability, aesthetics, and innovation.

Using these attributes to position your goods enables consumers to form an image of your company based on what your product can do for them. Take, for example, how automobile manufacturers position themselves: Volvo is known for safety, Toyota for dependability, etc.

Positioning based on quality or prestige

Don’t forget what we said about how pricing can be used as a positioning tool. Prestige positioning is the practice of brands refraining from competing on price instead of charging extra fees to represent a product of better quality or status.

Even though a watch is always just a watch, Rolex has established and will continue to preserve its position in the luxury watch industry in perpetuity.

Conclusion

To be successful, every product must have a distinct positioning; yours may be that it is less expensive than the next rival, faster, more feature-packed, ethical, luxurious, or reinventing the space, among other things.