I wanted to focus on one of the first things you need to consider when contemplating your marketing.
Size matters.
The entire approach to marketing depends on budget.
It also depends on the size of the market and your share of it.
Proctor & Gamble, with almost infinitely deep pockets, has a many times repeated pattern of success with new products. They don’t trade on their name. They do heavy market research, then develop a positioning to exploit what they determine to be a hole in the market. That dictates the product name, ads, everything. They then test it all in a few representative areas, with heavy advertising expenditures. If it works out, or after refinement, they roll it out nationally – again with heavy exposure.
Now contrast that to the common small business situation. First of all, you don’t have the budget. Secondly, you are probably competing in a business where there is no market leader to position yourselves against. Quick, name the three most well-known website design companies in your town. Or dentists.
So you can’t and don’t try to position yourselves in relation to competitors. You have to find something to compare to that makes sense, that will be immediately familiar to your prospective customers, is memorable and will instantly react on them with the desirable association. In that case, the position is often not “against” (as in “7-up, the Un-Cola” or “We’re No.2, We Try Harder”), but is more often “like” what you are comparing to.
We’re positioned using Mona Lisa – which expresses the aspects of class, beauty and unforgettableness we try and achieve with our work.
We positioned a client of ours, who sells computer backup and recovery software, with EMT’s – the guys who roll out with lights flashing and sirens screaming when someone is having a heart attack.
It’s worth thinking about.
Positioning – Size Matters
