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There is a lot that you would need to do to be able to position your product properly \u2060\u2014 market research, user persona creation, competitor analysis, and so on.
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That might seem like too much work, but it is worth your time.
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Why does product positioning matter?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In this hyper-digital tap-to-skip era, blind marketing efforts do not yield results.
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Consumers are bombarded with a lot of advertisements and choices on an hourly basis which have made them very dismissive of poor messaging.
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If your product\u2019s explainer does not tell them exactly why they should care, they won\u2019t.
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This is where product positioning comes in.
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Keeping your target audience in focus at all times, product positioning helps you to formulate initiatives, strategies, and solid messaging that is bound to drive clicks.
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It also helps your overall marketing efforts become more cost-effective and accountable.
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Catch-all marketing like billboards is expensive whose value can hardly be tracked.
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But with a well-positioned strategy, you spend less and also track how many people it has reached.
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Components of product positioning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of it all, let\u2019s have a look at the basic components.
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Product Vision<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A tool that helps with internal alignment, having a product vision helps you foster innovation and camaraderie among your employees.
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It gives them a shared sense of purpose and also informs them why they are building the product in the first place. After all, there are so many other products on the market. Why another?
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Product Mission<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
An offspring of the product vision<\/a>, it takes the aspirations of your product vision and turns them into trackable, assignable goals. A product \u2018mission\u2019 is also what it sounds like \u2060\u2014 it pinpoints the exact reasons your product should be built. Having a concrete product mission and an aligned team is very important, because, without internal harmony, external positioning becomes a hellish task. Product ideas are meant to solve problems. But conducting research and interviewing users can help you skim the imaginary from the actual ones. Pinpointing every issue your user has when they try to do something also brings in relevancy to your developmental efforts. This is why building MVPs and validating product-ideas make so much sense. Even if you get the needs right, you might miss the mark with your solution. Once you narrow down your users\u2019 needs, the obvious next step is to figure out your \u2018market category\u2019, or where you fit in the grand scheme of things. Your product does not and should not solve every problem out there. Instead, it should focus on catering to a few needs with precision and quality. Identifying your market category does two things. It makes your product vision more realistic, as it shows you market-gaps that you can fill without failing. It also helps you identify your exact<\/strong> competitors. This is where you would merge the users\u2019 needs along with the market-gaps to segment your customer base into multiple categories. Simply put, a user persona is a representation of a specific group of people who would use your product. Say, \u201ctop product managers who love automation\u201d instead of just \u201cproduct managers\u201d. To cater to each persona, you can have a different set of complementary features on top of your core product. The first step in crafting an effective product positioning plan for yourself is getting to know your users intimately. This means that you would have to look beyond the standard demographic details \u2060\u2014 age range, geographic locations, etc. You would have to step into their shoes and understand how they see the world. You would need to understand their goals and the motivations behind those. Surveys and intimate focus group interviews are not that expensive and get you the basic answers that you need. But rather than just a one-off thing, your market research needs to go on and on. Because there is always something new that you can learn and utilize in your product positioning. Effective marketing happens when you know your customers\u2019 needs and wants as specific facts. It is not about every female UX designer; it is about women above 30 who are in senior-level positions and need something to track their daily workout routines. (Just an example.) To reach that level of intimate understanding, you need to ask the following questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This overall exercise needs to be repeated for every specific \u2018persona\u2019 within your target audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For every product, there are hundreds of others running on the track, side by side. Weighing in every competitive factor is a must when it comes to product positioning. An effective plan tells consumers why they should prefer your product. This can happen only when you know what your competitors are up to, and use that knowledge to do something different than them. After all, you gain nothing if you are a complete clone of your competitor. But what do you do if there is not much to differentiate between you and your competitor? With Slack taking up the popular vote for the workplace app, there is not much that a similar product can do to stand out. However, Chanty differentiates itself by being more chirpy. As opposed to the get-work-done attitude of Slack, Chanty tries to bring out the fun aspect in working at an office. They even call it out directly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n A similar example is that of Milk Duds. As opposed to M&Ms\u2019 peanut-sized confectionery, Duds take longer to eat. Essentially, your sweet tooth has a longer experience \u2060\u2014 a key differentiator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n With proper analysis comes proper insights. While Hotjar thought that their competitors like Mouseflow, the truth was that their biggest competitor was Google Analytics. In hindsight, it was obvious \u2060\u2014 Google Analytics was free and had a brand reputation that they did not. To differentiate, they decided to ditch the numbers and instead tell users that they can provide insights without any clutter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the above examples are simple but powerful differentiators \u2060\u2014 Milk Duds are bigger than M&Ms and Hotjar is simpler than Google Analytics \u2060\u2014 they do not really shine until they are paired along with the benefits. For every feature that solves a user-need, there is a benefit that can be articulated. Let\u2019s take a look at how Slack does it: Non-features such as intuitive UX, faster loading speeds, and others can also be benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have made a list of all of these, you can use them to supplement your product category.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n A separate topic of its own, most product categories end up in either:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A prime example of frenemies is Intercom versus Drift. At the core, they have the same product: a chatbot that lets users talk to you directly. Instead of waging a cultural war like Coke and Pepsi, these SaaS products have chosen to differentiate themselves via smart messaging. Intercom takes a more \u2018professional\u2019 approach whereas Drift goes for \u2018conversational marketing\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Even without their logos, which product is which is quite obvious \u2060\u2014 product differentiation done right. Also, Drift focuses on being immediate (\u201cnow\u201d) whereas Intercom talks about the bigger picture (\u201clifecycle\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the most important and most complex part of your product positioning. Taking all the user personas along with your market analysis and differentiating benefits, you would now think of how you can hit an emotional note with your audience. This is quite hard to get right because it is more than just stating the unique value proposition over and over again. The simplest way to kickstart this complex process is to think up a narrative. Every company has a successful narrative woven around its standout product. There are three general ways this can be done. Out of all the three, this one is the most universally applicable. If there is a product, there is a passionate story behind it. What inspires you to build it could become your narrative to persuade your audience. Take a look at Notion: they have written \u201ca story of tools and the future of work\u201d. In that, they talk about how visionaries like Douglas Engelbart dreamt a future where computers could augment intellect. But all that has happened is a virtual replication of the same cabinet-file-folder, huge-storage-disks that need the human on every point to connect everything. Their desire \u2060\u2014 to blend \u201cmuch of your workflow into an all-in-one workspace\u201d using \u201cdozens of LEGO-style building blocks\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time you reach this section, your product positioning engine would have been set into motion. Now, with this brief statement you would ensure that your entire team has something to align itself at all times. Your product positioning statement should have the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is the commonest template: For [group of users] that [need\/want], [company\/product] is a [category\/solution] that uniquely solves this by [benefit]. With this final step, you have put a working product positioning strategy in place. When Amazon was primarily an online bookstore, this was their positioning statement \u2060\u2014 \u201cFor World Wide Web users who enjoy books, Amazon is a retail bookseller that provides instant access to over 1.1 million books. Unlike traditional book retailers, Amazon provides a combination of extraordinary convenience, low prices and comprehensive selection.\u201d The \u201cinstant access to over 1.1 million books\u201d is the biggest differentiator for Amazon as no other bookstore can claim to have such numbers. They also highlight key benefits such as \u201cconvenience\u201d and \u201clow prices\u201d. While Dropbox focuses on being a \u2018modern\u2019 workspace, Box goes for two key differentiators \u2060\u2014 simplicity and security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not that Box is any more secure than Dropbox, but their marketing copy and direct statements make users that they indeed are. A pillar to most SaaS products out there, AWS is just a smorgasbord of benefits. There is nothing more that we need to say \u2060\u2014 they put it all out there elegantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Their previous front page messaging was an almost-product-positioning statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n It implicitly states their target audience (teams) and the benefits (people get work done, together). It is just an almost-statement because it lacks the differentiators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Their SERP description is also an almost product positioning statement…<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 And their homepage brings out the emotional narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These help you create a visual representation of your market analysis, clearly showing you where each product fits in the overall continuum of users\u2019 needs. For your Saas product, you could either go for differentiating criteria like this or create your own. Developed in 1957 by H. Igor Ansoff, this allows entrepreneurs and analysts to identify and categorize ideas and insights during the product positioning process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simple, elegant, actionable, and most of all, it helps you see both your product current potential and future growth\/risk at the same time. An offspring of the Business Model Canvas, the Lean Canvas brings together all the components of product positioning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Restating our point from earlier, figuring out your product\u2019s USP and its key differentiators and so on materialize only when you build something resembling a product-market fit<\/a>. But a Lean Canvas helps you visualize the whole action plan for achieving product-market fit. On the left, you have the core components that your product needs to have to address the customer segments. On the right, you have your unfair advantage that helps your product shine. At the centre, you have the binding agent \u2060\u2014 the unique value proposition, which will also help you with your overall differentiation strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Product positioning is a make-it-or-break-it moment. Do it well, and you get a chunk of the market that likes your product and keeps coming back to it. If not, then\u2026 well, they would not have even heard of you or understood you.
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nUsers\u2019 Needs\/Customer Painpoints <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nMarket Category<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nUser Personas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow do you properly position your product?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Understand your customers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Understanding](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/What-is-Product-Positioning-03-1-1024x512.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnalyze the market and differentiate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Chanty](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Analyze-the-market-and-differentiate.png\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Chanty](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Chanty-2.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Milk](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Product-positioning-06-1024x576.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Hotjar](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Analyze-the-market-and-differentiate-3.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAssess your product and bring out the benefits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/What-is-Product-Positioning-11-535x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Product](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Frenemies-niche-1024x960.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Intercom](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/drift.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Drift](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Intercom.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFigure out how your personas should feel about your product<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nRomancing the origin<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Origin](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Romancing-the-origin.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWrite your product positioning statement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Coke](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/What-is-Product-Positioning-10-1024x512.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nProduct Positioning Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
B2C\/Cultural<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Amazon, circa 2001<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nSaaS products <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Box <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Box](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Box1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Box](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Box2.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Box](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Box3.png\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nAmazon Web Services<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Amazon](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/aws1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Amazon](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/aws2.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSlack<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Slack](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/slack1.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nTwilio<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Twilio](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/twilio1.png\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Twilio](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/twilio2.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Twilio](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/twilio3.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nMental tools for better product positioning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Perceptual Maps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Perpectual](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/perpectual-map.png\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnsoff Matrix <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Ansoff](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/ansoff-matrix.png\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nLean Canvas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Lean](\"https:\/\/www.crayond.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Product-positioning-04-1024x731.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nBottomline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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