Creating a Unique Marketing Position for Your Start-Up Online Business

March 2nd, 2010 by admin

If you are in the process of starting an online business, the last thing that you want is to add to your “to do” list. However there is a topic that requires your attention during these early stages of business development.

While the term positioning sounds like just another example of marketing jargon, its importance can’t be emphasized too much. Positioning is identifying what there is about your business that makes it stand apart from all of your competitors.

-Service – Nearly any business you can think of claims to have good service. However, remember how many you’ve patronized who don’t live up to those promises. The first step in making quality service a part of your unique position is to fulfill everything you promise (and more). However, you still must identify for the customer what it is that makes your service special. Perhaps you have 24 hour live help available; perhaps you have next day shipment or they receive their shipping free. Find something that makes your business stand out in this way.

-Extraordinary Features and Benefits – Identify what it is that you stress in your business operations or with your products or services. Maybe you are a “full service” attorney or you specialize in problems just like theirs. Possibly you offer more size options of your clothing lines than any other online store.

-Price Point – This doesn’t necessarily mean you have the lowest price. You may be the most expensive in town, and that’s OK if you convince your customers you’re worth it.

-Negative Features – People probably find some things at your competitors annoying. Maybe they feel that they have to wait too long to get an answer to their questions. If that’s a good angle for you, try not phrasing it as a special positive feature, but frame it as a negative that they don’t have to worry about with your business. For example, you might say, “You’ll never have to wait for an answer to your questions with us.”

-Authority – Many companies tout how long they’ve been in business. All of these things build trust in the mind of the consumer. What trust-building factors do you have that the competition does not?

-Etc. – Whatever you can think of that allows you to demonstrate that you are different from your competitors (in a good way, of course) is useful. That’s really all positioning is. Spend some time thinking through each phase of your business to see what you can point to in order to stand apart.

Proper and effective positioning is critical from the first day that you open your site for business. Traffic to your website is a precious resource. You must be certain that your unique position is evident as soon as that first potential customer shows up. After all, you need that person to return time after time, because returning customers are the best kind to have. You’ll have time later to worry about other types of your continuing online business development, but the time is now for clear positioning.