Do you have a marketing plan? I know, I know, you’re too busy to work on one.
That’s like the woodcutter who was wearing himself out chopping wood with a dull ax. A friend came along, watched him working, and finally said, “Why don’t you sharpen your ax?” Exasperated, the woodcutter said, “I don’t have time for that! I’ve got all this wood to chop before nightfall!”
To put it bluntly, the difference between success and failure in marketing is often the plan and nothing else.
A Marketing Plan in One Word
Still thinking you don’t have time to plan? Okay, I’ll boil the marketing plan down to one word for you: positioning.
You may already be familiar with this term; it’s a critically important idea. If you don’t do anything else about planning, you should at least determine how to position your product or service.
Positioning means determining exactly which niche your product or service will fill. How will you position your product or service in the minds of your target audience?
Does your target audience think of your product or service as the most expensive? Least expensive? Do they think of it as a bargain? Or as something they would splurge on? Do they think of you as the big name in your category? Or the small name that offers better service? How do you want them to think about you?
If you can position your product/service in a way that makes sense to consumers, appeals to them and plays to your strengths, you’ll be building on a strong foundation.
Two Classic Positions That Work
For example, there are two classic positions that have worked well over the decades.
First, there is the Bargain Position, which says, “We’ll sell you exactly the same stuff you could get from others, but for a little less.”
Walmart uses this position very effectively. Their argument is: “We’re able to sell brand name stuff for less because we buy in mass quantities.”
The Bargain Position makes sense to people because they think, “As long as I’m getting the same stuff, why shouldn’t I get it for less?” It’s a no-brainer.
But to use the Bargain Position, you have to be working in an industry where the standard price is widely known and understood. For example, people know what a gallon of milk costs, so they know when they are getting a bargain. It’s more difficult for people to know what the standard price would be for, say, repairing a heating system. So in that industry, it’s harder to make the Bargain Position work.
The second classic, tried-and-true position is something I call the Bundle Position, which says, “We’ll charge you a little more than the standard price, but we’ll give you a lot more with it.”
This makes sense to people too. They think, “Okay, I pay a little more for my favorite plumbing and heating guy, but I know him and know how much care he takes and how good he is, so it’s worth paying a little extra.”
A local hardware store might say, in essence, “We can’t meet the low prices of the big box stores, so you’ll pay a little more here, but we’ll be so much more available to help, give advice, provide personal service, etc. We’ll even know your name when you come in.” When they operate this way, they are using the Bundle Position.
Cutting Through the Marketing Jungle
There are other positions, but these are the most tried-and-true ones.
So think about how you want to position your product or service in people’s minds. What part of their brain do you want to own? What position would play to both your greatest strength and to what consumers are really looking for?
Your “position” is the ax that will help you cut through the marketing jungle and deliver a clear, sharp message that tells everyone exactly what they can expect from you and why they should buy your product. Even if you don’t have time to develop a complete marketing plan, developing a clear, compelling position will take you a long way.
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