Market Positioning

Posted by Matthew Boxsell in Sep, 2015

Definition of Market positioning

Market positioning is a strategy that aims to sway the consumer’s view of a particular brand or product to gain competitive advantage in a particular target market in relation to competitors.

What is the purpose of setting a market positioning?

By positioning a business offer different from our competitors gives the business a greater chance of building a financially sustainable enterprise

What are the different types of Market positioning?

Brands and Products are positioned in the market based on different types of strategies that business use to find a particular consumer market such as

• Competitors: who else supplies that product and what advantage do they have
• Use: What is the use or application of the product being sold
• Price: What price is the product high or low price
• Quality: The amount of quality service the product requires such as low or high customer interaction
• Place/Position: whether its online, social media or a retail shop front
• Location: where are the competitors and is the product being sold in the ideal target market.

Where does setting the market positioning fit into the process of conducting e-commerce marketing?

The application of e-commerce to the setting of market positioning allows us to identify customer needs through online surveys as opposed to manual face to face interviews, allows us to identify gaps in the market through website analytics with keyword searches as opposed to a physical competitor analysis and also allows us to understand the profile of our current customers with the use of google analytics rather than manual interview analysis or suggestions.

How does setting the position impact on e-commerce marketing?

E-commerce is a great tool to use when doing market positioning research by allowing a business to more accurately understand their customer’s profile. E-commerce has greater cost efficiency rather than pay a staff member to do manual competitor and customer research a business can use free tools such as google analytics or survey monkey to achieve competitor and customer analysis and by using these tools the results are quickly gathered and updated automatically over great periods of time. By using e-commerce analytics your business is also able to obtain a greater variety of data that a business would not normally obtain trough a face to face interview and allows a business to have a wider reach with customers and are able to pin point where the customer came from and what they searched to find your business.

What specific terms are used when setting Market Positioning?

• Target Market – A specific group of consumers at which a company aims its products and services
• Competitor analysis – Strategic technique used to evaluate outside competitors.
• Market Segment – An identifiable group of individuals, families, businesses, or organizations, sharing one or more characteristics or needs in an otherwise homogeneous market.
• Brand – Unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combination of these, employed in creating an image that identifies a product and differentiates it from its competitors.
• Differentiation – Result of efforts to make a product or brand stand out as a provider of unique value to customers in comparison with its competitors.

Where can I find more information about Market Positioning?

http://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/business-in-wa/about-sbdc/corporate-publications/business-guides/marketing-product-strategy/
http://www.business.gov.au/business-topics/business-planning/marketing/Pages/positioning-your-business.aspx
http://www.business.vic.gov.au/marketing-sales-and-online/increasing-sales-through-marketing/marketing-mix-strategies-and-tactics