What are the most common mistakes when positioning products in the digital space?

Not knowing your audience or market often results from insufficient time spent understanding the problem, leading to prematurely jumping into the solution phase. Key questions include: 1. What is the problem, and have extensive consultations been conducted? is it new or existing? 2. Who is most affected, and what are the existing workarounds or pain points? Is the issue impacting a broader or narrower audience than initially intended? 3. Is there an existing solution or competitive presence in the same industry, or can a solution be repurposed from another industry? 4. How significant is the pain point, and what is the likelihood of investing in change? 5. Is this your problem to solve or build, and do you have a stake in addressing it?

Plusieurs erreurs courantes peuvent nuire à l'efficacité de la stratégie : - Mauvaise Connaissance du Public Cible - Manque de Différenciation - Positionnement Incohérent

There's this thing about product marketing. The name itself is misleading. In product marketing, you connect the value of your product with the cares, wants and needs of an audience. That means you gotta become the expert in the product and an expert in--YOU GUESSED IT--the audience. Who are they? What is/are their role(s)? What are the jobs they must do? What are the outcomes they are looking to achieve? What are the barriers to achieving those outcomes? What are are effects of those outcomes? What happens if they don't adequately address the barriers? How do all of these things make them feel? How do they articulate those feelings? And many more. Not knowing your audience when you wanna connect with them is kinda silly, eh? ????????

Much like the memorable line from 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding,' where Toula's mom remarks, 'The man may be the head of the household, but the woman is the neck and can turn the head any way she wants,' understanding your entire audience is crucial in product marketing. Marketers need to astutely guide their strategies to resonate not just with the primary audience but also with the entire buying committee and key decision-makers. By creating detailed personas, they can tailor messages to each market segment's unique values and needs. This strategic approach deepens audience connections, ensuring that the messaging aligns precisely with their specific desires, thus avoiding a generic appeal.

If your audience doesn’t feel understood or catered to, engagement rates (like click-throughs, shares, and conversions) can plummet. This lack of engagement is a missed opportunity to build a loyal customer base.

If you try to talk to everyone, you will talk to no one. Identifying your ICP is just as much about understanding who your customer is AND who your customer is not. Targeting everyone with generic messaging will never let you build a position in the market as a leader. Some ways to bring this to life is better targeting and specific headlines for your marketing collateral, driving traffic to customized landing pages, focusing on social proof that is relevant to your audience, highlighting case studies for your ICPs use cases, and connecting with sales reps that understand your ICP's industry and nuanced problems. Do the upfront work to carve out your part of the market to stand out in a crowded digital space!

Remember that nowadays attention spam is probably 2 or 3 seconds. You need to grab people's attention in that tiny timeframe. It happened to all of us, scrolling in some social media and then --> Boom, something that caught your eye. If it caught your attention is because the messaging and positioning was clear.

don't get me going on this one! The way companies (and the space I focus on is B2B SaaS) position themselves is embarrassing. Yes - it starts with not being specific i.e. being vague. But what's more damaging - is not TAKING position at all. Here's why that is important: 1 - While 100% of your SaaS product matters to you, only 5% matters to your customers. 2 - Standing out is about daring to claim your position. That means killing your darlings and getting rid of all the things people already expect. 3 - If you do not clearly explain how you stand out, your competitor will happily take advantage of that. Positioning is not only about attracting the right customers. It's also about repelling the wrong ones. That takes guts

Understanding your target audience is crucial in digital marketing. Too often, businesses miss the mark by not fully grasping who they're speaking to. This is where AI and internal data become game-changers. By analyzing customer interactions and behaviors, AI helps create detailed buyer personas, offering a deep dive into what drives your customers. These insights are invaluable. They allow you to tailor your marketing strategies effectively, ensuring your message hits home every time. This approach leads to higher engagement, better conversion rates, and a stronger connection with your audience. Embrace the power of data and AI to truly understand and engage your audience.

Understand the ideal buyer and what they need, understand the product and how exactly it addresses that need and use these specific benefits to make the connection. Use language that is understood and commonly used by the ideal buyer. If you can't connect the value proposition to the ideal buyer then something is amiss.

This underscores the importance of a positioning and messaging framework. This document can include everything from: - Your key messages and value props – distilled in various lengths 60 words, 210, etc. - The product(s) that support them and their proof points. - Details on your core persona(s), their challenges/pain points, and how messages may be tailored to them. - Client successes or stats that offer further support. - A glossary of key terminology This document should: - Include feedback and buy-in across product, brand, sales - Be communicated and enabled across those areas - Be maintained on a regular basis. Creating, maintaining, and enabling such a doc can serve as a foundation of consistency across the board.

When there is a lack of consistency, customers find it hard to identify your brand. All content should have a similar look/feel. Examples of this include fintech payment platforms. While each is running in a similar fashion, honing in on user requirements, look and feel that those users relate to (font size, fields, colors, merchant acceptance, etc) will differentiate as the platform is marketed and launched.

In the fast-paced digital landscape, understanding and quickly adapting and being consistent to audience needs is key to staying competitive. Not doing so can leave your product lagging behind more audience-aware competitors.

All too many companies have the “ivory tower” syndrome, spending hours internally on pitch decks and messaging with no testing whatsoever. Speak with industry leaders, customers, prospects, those who you’ve lost deals to, and those using competitor products more than you speak to internal stakeholders, then test and iterate..and iterate again

Gain feedback from sales teams and marketing teams. How is the current positioning landing? Often it takes numerous iterations to get it right but only by working to get that feedback will you be able to improve. Positioning is something that will change and evolve over time too, so even when you think you have nailed it, it is still important to review, test and validate.

Marketing efforts can become inefficient, targeting the wrong demographics or using channels that do not reach the intended audience. This can lead to a waste of both time and budget, with little to no return on investment. Testing for both the channel and messaging is crucial for any tangible returns.

A common mistake in positioning products in the digital space is not testing and validating strategies. Many businesses launch marketing campaigns based on assumptions without sufficient data. This overlooks crucial insights that A/B testing, market research, and customer feedback provide. Validating strategies helps refine messaging, target the right audience, and optimize marketing spend. In the fast-evolving digital world, what worked yesterday might not work today. Continuous testing and adaptation are key to ensuring your product positioning remains effective and resonates with your intended audience.

From a clinician perspective, the most important consideration is to clinically validate that the solution actually does what the company says it does. Clinical validation is critical. Like David Nash says "No outcome, no income"

Digital markets are fast-paced and constantly evolving. What works today might not work tomorrow. Regularly iterating your positioning allows you to stay relevant and competitive as market trends, technologies, and consumer preferences change. Over time, you gather more data about your audience. Iterating positioning lets you refine your strategies based on deeper insights into customer behavior, preferences, and feedback, leading to more effective and targeted marketing.

You need to update and evolve your positioning overtime with the feedback you are getting. For eg. Are people clicking in your AD and not converting? Are they spending less than 2 seconds when they enter your website? Is your cost per lead higher than you expect it? All questions you will see answered when you launch your product, and with that data you need to fine tune your messaging and positioning.

In digital product positioning, a frequent oversight is failing to update and evolve strategies. The digital landscape is dynamic, with consumer preferences and market trends constantly shifting. Sticking to a static positioning approach can render your product irrelevant or out of touch. Regularly revisiting and tweaking your strategy, based on current data and trends, ensures your product stays relevant and appealing to your target audience. Adapting to new technologies, platforms, and consumer behaviors is crucial for maintaining a strong and effective online presence.

Digital spaces evolve quickly, and failing to adapt to emerging trends can result in outdated positioning. It's important to stay informed about industry trends and incorporate relevant digital strategies to remain competitive.

7. Mistake 7: Inconsistent Branding Across Channels Inconsistencies in brand messaging, visual identity, and tone across digital channels can confuse customers. A cohesive and unified brand presence is crucial for effective digital positioning.

A lot of companies provide solutions looking for a problem rather than the other way around. The correct approach is to identify a problem and then design the solution.

Beyond these common mistakes, it's important to consider the competitive landscape. Assess how your competitors position their products and identify opportunities to differentiate. Additionally, continuously gather and analyze data to stay attuned to shifting customer preferences and market trends. Embrace innovation and agility in your positioning strategy to adapt swiftly to changing circumstances. Finally, foster a company-wide understanding of your brand's positioning, ensuring everyone from marketing to customer support is aligned in conveying a consistent message.

Have you done any research? If not, please do before you position your product in the digital space. Run a smaller campaign get your stats and see if it is worth to spend bigger money? Don’t blindly burn your money w/o testing the stats.

Make sure your customers know your position in the market, be persistent and repeat your positioning messages. Have in mind the saying: “Repetition builds reputation, and reputation builds customers.”