Market Strategy

Essence of a business market strategy

A business market strategy seeks to focus a business on the competition for customers through better meeting their needs. Often customer needs are treated narrowly and this regularly results in missing the target. Here four elements of a market strategy are aligned to progressively meet customer need.

Positioning > > > > > Perception

Branding > > > > > Attitude

Acquisition > > > > > Action

Retention > > > > > Belonging

Positioning

This of all four elements of a market strategy is the most difficult and most important. It is an integrated quality that permeates through an organisation. Positioning is also present whether your business is a aware of it or not. How? Because it is the way consumers perceive you verse the competition. So positioning is about researching and understanding how you are perceived. If you are wondering why your business seems to struggle then researching consumer perception is a must do. And note, this is not your customer's perception or what you think it might be. 

Branding

Moving from a logo to a brand is a sign that you are starting to achieve positive traction in terms of your positioning. Branding is a substitute description for the personality of your business. Positioning and branding work to differentiate you, establishing your philosophy for dealing with consumers and determines the possibilities for your level of success. But not always. If you are unaware of your positioning and branding, don't for a second think they don't exist. Once a consumer has a perception of you they start to brand you in this light. Perception becomes attitude and attitude leads to behaviour.

Acquisition

There is not a lot you can do here. Your work is back positioning and branding your business. What can be done is to understand your customer through profiling and market segmentation. Really, the job is to find more consumers who have the same desires and values of your current customers. At another level work on positioning and branding should produce a mind map of consumer perception and this can lead to gaining market share in new niche segments. Now you can see that without a strategy for positioning and branding that consumers are left to think whatever they like. If your are not actively and continuously positioning and branding your business you can loose market traction and push potential customers away.

Retention

Retention is the result of a well balanced and managed customer relationship. Like all relationships customers need attention and maintenance. Here, established marketing systems and programs in CRM , EDM, subscription and membership activities, and annual maintenance plans are the stuff that makes for good customer relationships.