One of the most important aspects of marketing your company or product is its position in the market. This is often overlooked because positioning isn’t as sexy as getting Facebook Fans or Twitter Followers. However, it’s the best way to separate yourself from the competition, especially if you are in a crowded space. I have seen far too many companies build their product or service, and then leave the product’s positioning to the marketing department. People rarely pay attention to each of the features and functionalities, but strong positioning always stands out. Below are some ways any company can position their product in an ultra-competitive marketplace.

“The right message needs to repeatedly reach the right customer in the right market to validate the startup’s existence.” 

• Target A Specific Group Of People. Email marketing and list managing services have long been dominated by the likes of Mailchimp, Aweber, and Constant Contact. Those are just three of the dozens of services to choose from when beginning an email marketing strategy. The industry is flooded with highly competent and well funded companies. However, that didn’t deter the folks at Campaign Monitor from building their own solution. They didn’t build the product and then try to sell it to designers. They positioned the product by building specific features designers would love.
• Technique: If the competition is selling to one niche, you can build your product or service so that it is perfectly suited for a niche that the competition is ignoring.

• Do One Or Two Things Very Well. When everyone seems to complain about the 800 pound gorilla in your industry, find out why. If it is because there are too many features, and it takes too long to learn, make sure your product or service focuses on doing one or two things very well.
• Base it On Your Unique Intelligence. Statements like “we’ve forgotten more about xxx than you will ever know” which clearly show that your knowledge and experience in an area is far superior than competition can create a unique position.
• Tell A Unique Story. A third way to position your company is to tell a unique story. If your competitors are all telling the same story, whether that is that they have the lowest price, or are the most innovative, then you need to be telling a different story. Do you offer the best service? Or are you the easiest to use? Or are you like 52Teas and welcome product suggestions?
• Be More User Friendly. Focusing on making the life of your customers easier and not trying to milk them for every last dime will have a huge impact on your success.

In order to find sufficient demand in the market, a company not only needs to solve a real pain for target customers but it also needs to find an effective approach to communicate its product’s value. Product/market fit does not exist without message/customer fit. The right message needs to repeatedly reach the right customer in the right market to validate the startup’s existence. This positioning can set you apart.