HOW TO GROW YOUR ONLINE SALES BY POSITION YOUR PRODUCT TO THE RELEVANT MARKET
HOW TO GROW YOUR ONLINE SALES BY POSITION YOUR PRODUCT TO THE RELEVANT MARKET
Positioning of products is a process and there are steps that are used to come up with a specific position for specific product. Positioning is therefore the process of putting a product in a location in reference to the competition and the entire market. Positioning is a marketing process and for you to succeed in online business, you cannot afford to ignore it. Positioning go hand in hand with segmentation, hence you cannot position a brand without first segmenting the market.
The positioning process is carried out to achieve the following marketing objective:
• Exploiting market gap
• Targeting a specific segment
• Creating an identity
• Differentiating your brand from the competition
• To communicate core competences
• Drive market growth
• To create brand
• To create perception in the mind of the consumers and customers
Once a specific brand position is realized by the market, it is communicated to the consumers and customers, through advertisement and promotional activities. Furthermore a market posture taken by your brand in other marketing activities enhances your positioning. For example, if your brand position is for the health sensitive consumers, you cannot support a smoking activity. A position includes creating a philosophy, a culture and a theme that is right for that position; this is what the marketers call branding. Remember positioning creates identity to differentiate you from your competitors. Positioning is not only for products but is applicable to companies, organizations and other economic and social systems.
Positioning also determines the market posture a brand will take, i.e. do you want to become the market leader, or do want to become a market challenger. Such is the case of Pepsi, they are the market challenger and thus their strategies are market challenger’s strategies, they don’t want to take the leadership position of Coca-Cola, who is the market leader.
What are the processes of a positioning activity?
First and foremost market segmentation is undertaken. This involves identifying different segments based the following needs, demographics, psychographics or attitudes. Once one finish the identification of segments in the market, the current offers in the market are mapped out using perpetual mapping. Perpetual mapping is the way the market perceives different market segments and their offers. With perpetual mapping occupied and none occupied segments are identified. The market size of each segment is measured to identify the monetary potential of each segment. This way you are able to identify attractiveness of each segment and make a decision what posture you want to take. Once that is done, a market research activity to determine consumers’ preferences and perceptions is carried out. This type of market research is commonly referred to as a usage and attitude survey. This provides each segments market space, Techniques like mapping exercise during the qualitative focus groups or depth interviews are very ideal for this mapping exercise. This is followed by quantitative study, this measures the attributes generated in the qualitative stage. By doing this you are able to determine the following:
1. The different market segments,
2. Identifying different attributes associated to each segments, this way you identify the different product locations and dimensions plus the limits of each market segments,
3. Identify and understand the inherent characteristics of each segments and what the market players are currently offering
4. Determine the potential market in-terms of shares
5. Determine competitors location and offers
6. Position your product to the desired position through advertisements and promotional activities
For many years positioning of different products has always been done demographically, these are the physical attributes of a given target group, i.e. young versus old, women versus men, Mexican versus Brazilians, but with globalization, this has posed a great challenge and other positioning modules have emerged. The psychographics segmentation leading to positioning has been in use for quite a while now. As a marketer you can combine two segmentation types i.e. demographic and psychographics segmentation to come up with a more comprehensive positioning. Another thing that can make your positioning yield more is use the need based positioning. This is because needs, are the basic foundation that lead to any purchase decision.
I know by now your product may have taken a specific position in the market and you may either be contented with that position or you may be dying to change. There is something marketers refer to as de-positing and re-positing. De-positioning is changing the competitors’ products in your target consumers mind. This is done through advertisements and other promotional means. Re-positioning is changing your current position to fit a different position, or to make a brand or product appeal to different consumer segments. This can include making the product appeal to a wider market segment or to narrow it to appeal to less consumer segments.
Without carrying a positioning exercise your marketing has no direction and or your product will be a me too product standing for nothing in the market place and in the mind of the consumers. Differentiate and earn more by positioning your business or products. Start the branding exercise with positioning.
HOW TO GROW YOUR ONLINE SALES BY POSITION YOUR PRODUCT TO THE RELEVANT MARKET - To learn more about this author, visit Francis Kamau's Website.
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A position is a reference point determined in terms of time and space. For example USA is positioned between Mexico to the south, Pacific Ocean to the west, Canada to the north and so forth. A position can be a rank or a qualification i.e. China is placed 3rd in the world economy after USA and Britain. In marketing we use position the same way; we use positioning to refer to product relative to other competing products in the market, i.e. product A is positioned to appeal to middle income group. Brand B is positioned to appeal to the go-getters.
Positioning of products is a process and there are steps that are used to come up with a specific position for specific product. Positioning is therefore the process of putting a product in a location in reference to the competition and the entire market. Positioning is a marketing process and for you to succeed in online business, you cannot afford to ignore it. Positioning go hand in hand with segmentation, hence you cannot position a brand without first segmenting the market.
The positioning process is carried out to achieve the following marketing objective:
• Exploiting market gap
• Targeting a specific segment
• Creating an identity
• Differentiating your brand from the competition
• To communicate core competences
• Drive market growth
• To create brand
• To create perception in the mind of the consumers and customers
Once a specific brand position is realized by the market, it is communicated to the consumers and customers, through advertisement and promotional activities. Furthermore a market posture taken by your brand in other marketing activities enhances your positioning. For example, if your brand position is for the health sensitive consumers, you cannot support a smoking activity. A position includes creating a philosophy, a culture and a theme that is right for that position; this is what the marketers call branding. Remember positioning creates identity to differentiate you from your competitors. Positioning is not only for products but is applicable to companies, organizations and other economic and social systems.
Positioning also determines the market posture a brand will take, i.e. do you want to become the market leader, or do want to become a market challenger. Such is the case of Pepsi, they are the market challenger and thus their strategies are market challenger’s strategies, they don’t want to take the leadership position of Coca-Cola, who is the market leader.
What are the processes of a positioning activity?
First and foremost market segmentation is undertaken. This involves identifying different segments based the following needs, demographics, psychographics or attitudes. Once one finish the identification of segments in the market, the current offers in the market are mapped out using perpetual mapping. Perpetual mapping is the way the market perceives different market segments and their offers. With perpetual mapping occupied and none occupied segments are identified. The market size of each segment is measured to identify the monetary potential of each segment. This way you are able to identify attractiveness of each segment and make a decision what posture you want to take. Once that is done, a market research activity to determine consumers’ preferences and perceptions is carried out. This type of market research is commonly referred to as a usage and attitude survey. This provides each segments market space, Techniques like mapping exercise during the qualitative focus groups or depth interviews are very ideal for this mapping exercise. This is followed by quantitative study, this measures the attributes generated in the qualitative stage. By doing this you are able to determine the following:
1. The different market segments,
2. Identifying different attributes associated to each segments, this way you identify the different product locations and dimensions plus the limits of each market segments,
3. Identify and understand the inherent characteristics of each segments and what the market players are currently offering
4. Determine the potential market in-terms of shares
5. Determine competitors location and offers
6. Position your product to the desired position through advertisements and promotional activities
For many years positioning of different products has always been done demographically, these are the physical attributes of a given target group, i.e. young versus old, women versus men, Mexican versus Brazilians, but with globalization, this has posed a great challenge and other positioning modules have emerged. The psychographics segmentation leading to positioning has been in use for quite a while now. As a marketer you can combine two segmentation types i.e. demographic and psychographics segmentation to come up with a more comprehensive positioning. Another thing that can make your positioning yield more is use the need based positioning. This is because needs, are the basic foundation that lead to any purchase decision.
I know by now your product may have taken a specific position in the market and you may either be contented with that position or you may be dying to change. There is something marketers refer to as de-positing and re-positing. De-positioning is changing the competitors’ products in your target consumers mind. This is done through advertisements and other promotional means. Re-positioning is changing your current position to fit a different position, or to make a brand or product appeal to different consumer segments. This can include making the product appeal to a wider market segment or to narrow it to appeal to less consumer segments.
Without carrying a positioning exercise your marketing has no direction and or your product will be a me too product standing for nothing in the market place and in the mind of the consumers. Differentiate and earn more by positioning your business or products. Start the branding exercise with positioning.
HOW TO GROW YOUR ONLINE SALES BY POSITION YOUR PRODUCT TO THE RELEVANT MARKET - To learn more about this author, visit Francis Kamau's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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