Who am I and who am I selling to? Positioning and Target Markets
joe
“The core of successful marketing is being really clear of who you are talking to and where your product sits within your category. “
I heard this from an advertising guru who was talking about launching new products into supermarket shelves- fair enough. It’s a pretty fundamental statement.
What it means to us is that you need to know your position and who your target market is.
Positioning
Successful positioning is the culmination of determining what value your product or service is to your customers. In essence, when a consumer purchases a product, they are buying more than a set of physical attributes. They are buying satisfaction in the form of the product benefits.
Tangible
- This is the part of your product that you can physically touch - ie, the product itself.
Intangible
- on top of the tangible product itself are the intangibles that increase the value of your product. The intangibles can include guarantees, service, credit facilities, delivery, installation, training etc. The intangibles can be defined as anything that you can not touch or see but is valued by your customers.
ie, Service. Service is subjective and can only be defined by the customer who receives the service.
It’s the understanding of the tangibles and intangibles that make up your brand that will establish your successful brand positioning and your unique place in the market.
Who is your target market?
An organisation cannot satisfy the needs and wants of all consumers. To do so may result in a massive drain in company resources. Understanding and segmenting your target market is simply the process of dividing a particular market into sections, which display similar characteristics or behaviour.
The key benefit of identifying your target market and segmenting them is to maximise the value presented to each market. In segmenting a business into groups, the overall company values of the brand should filter throughout.
Benefits of segmenting your market
Experience has shown that many companies undersell their product/service because of a lack of clarity of position and value. This has a direct impact upon the brand value and ultimately price. By understanding who is your target markets and the different segments within your marketing, your business will ultimately benefit. Benefits of clear market segmentation include:
- Create separate marketing campaigns and offers
- Upsell to your customers
- Improve customer retention by tailoring communications and offers to customers
- Put your resources into your most profitable areas
- Design products and services that closely match the demands of a particular group
KEEP IN TOUCH
