By M. Isi Eromosele

Marketing is a broad, challenging and often misunderstood function. Ask several people  from various parts of the world to define it and you’ll probably get very different answers.Yet marketing is much more than brochures and websites and numbers; it’s an investment that generates revenue, profit and opportunity for growth.

Good marketing is essential for every company. It can make a company with a mediocre product successful, but poor marketing can send a good company out of business. Yet even business-to-business (B2B) marketing is often seen as a soft creative field instead of the engine that drives company revenue.

The Strategic Marketing Process can be organized into three categories:

Competitive Positioning

The first major step a company has to take in developing its Strategic Marketing is to establish its competitive positioning.

What sets your product, service and company apart from your competitors? What value do you provide and how is it different from the alternatives? Competitive positioning is about defining how you’ll differentiate your offering and create value for your market.

It’s about carving out a spot in the competitive landscape and focusing your company to deliver on that strategy. A good strategy includes:

 When your market clearly sees how your offering is different from that of your competition, it’s easier to generate new prospects and guide them to buy. Without differentiation, it takes more time and money to show prospects why they should choose you; as a result, you often end up competing on price, a tough position to sustain over the long term.

One of the key elements of your positioning strategy is your value proposition. There are three essential types of value: operational excellence, product leadership and customer intimacy.

Rather than leaving your positioning and value proposition to chance, establish a strategy. Think impartially about the wants and needs of your customers and what your competition offers. You may find an unmet need in the market or you may realize that you need to find a way to differentiate from your competitors.

As a result, you may decide to promote a different attribute of your product, or you may find entirely new opportunities to create new products and services. Either way, you’ll strengthen your business in both the short and long term.

Key Concepts and Actions

Your competitive positioning strategy is the foundation of your entire business - it’s the first thing you should do, particularly if you’re launching a new company or product. It’s also important when you’re expanding or looking for a new competitive edge.

Profile your market

 Segment your market

 Evaluate your competition

 Stake a position

 Define your value proposition

There are three core types of value that a company can deliver: operational efficiency (the lowest price), product leadership (the best product), or customer intimacy (the best solution & service). Determine which one you’re best equipped to deliver; your decision is your value proposition.

Brand Strategy

Develop a brand strategy to help you communicate your positioning and value proposition every time you touch your market. Together, these strategies are the essential building blocks for your business.

Your brand is the entire experience your prospects and customers have with your company. It’s what you stand for, a promise you make and the personality you convey. And while it includes your logo, color palette and slogan, those are only creative elements that convey your brand. Instead, your brand lives in every day-to-day interaction you have with your market, including:

Branding is crucial for products and services sold in huge consumer markets.  It’s also important in B2B because it helps you stand out from your competition. It brings your competitive position and value proposition to life; it positions you as a certain “something” in the mind of your prospects and customers.

Your brand consistently and repeatedly tells your prospects and customers why they should buy from you. If you want to capture significant market share, start with a strong and unique brand identity or you may not get far.

Successful branding also creates brand equity, the amount of money that customers are willing to pay just because it’s your brand. In addition to generating revenue, brand equity makes your company itself more valuable over the long term.

Together with your competitive positioning strategy, your brand strategy is the essence of what you represent. A great brand strategy helps you communicate more effectively with your market, so follow it in every interaction you have with your prospects and customers.

M. Isi Eromosele is the President | Chief Executive Officer | Executive Creative Director of Oseme Group - Oseme Creative | Oseme Consulting | Oseme Finance

Copyright Control © 2012 Oseme Group