How to determine positioning of your product so that people want to buy it

First, you need to broadcast the positioning everywhere — through product design, ads, images, tone of voice. Moreover, positioning should be at the core of the product. You should not only emphasize and promise emotional value, but give it and prove it.

Let’s look at an example. Emotional value represented by Volvo lies in focus on safety, modern environmental care and reliable functionality.

Watch this commercial. Volvo shows how easy it is to lose a human life if you don’t think about safety.

Just look at this promotional poster.

It is true that Volvo cars are some of the safest on the market. They have consistently proven themselves in safety testing. Moreover, Volvo is highly focused on accident prevention through features and handling.

You need to not only define product positioning, but also prove it and make people believe you.

4 steps to positioning your product:

1. Determine the product emotional value.
2. Determine rational features that will prove the product emotional value.
3. Make up positioning.
4. Determine how to broadcast this positioning.

Step 1. Determine the product emotional value

Emotional value is emotions that user buys. Buying an expensive bag, we buy elitism, buying a bottle of water — feeling concern for health.

Emotional value depends on three factors: motivation to buy, perceived risk, customer’s values. The Rossiter-Percy grid determines customer purchase motivation and perceived risk.

It divides all products into four groups:

1. Low perceived risk when necessary buying: detergents, over-the-counter medicines, food.
2. Low perceived risk when pleasure buying: body cream, T-shirt, book.
3. High perceived risk when necessary buying: insurance, real estate, household appliances.
4. High perceived risk when pleasure buying: expensive clothes, jewelry, expensive cars, rest.

Low-risk purchasing decisions are easy for people to make. You don’t have to google and read reviews to buy breakfast cereals. Because you practically don’t lose anything in case of ‘bad’ purchase.

It takes much longer for people to choose high-risk products: comparing different options, looking at reviews. People get more selection criteria, so they want to get more value in form of convenience, emotions, time saving.

Step 2. Determine rational features that will prove the product value

Emotional value makes people desire to buy a product. However, human brains block and control such desires consciously. That’s why we need to give people a rational reason to buy a product.

Rational reason is the key features that distinguish your product from the competitor’s one. Let’s figure out what features can be:

1. Must-have features are “vital” functionality. It’s a base that people will not use a product without. For example, workout programs and manuals in a Fitness App.
2. Performance features are responsible for unique functionality that competitors don’t have. For a Fitness App — storytelling while running, step tracking, calorie calculation, meal plans, etc.
3. Wow-features are functionality that evokes pleasant emotions. For a Fitness App — workouts from sports stars (like Cristiano Ronaldo at Nike Training Club).

The rational reason to buy is given by Performance and Wow-features. They sort of signal to the brain that everything is in order and emotional value is allowed to be obtained.

Step 3. Make up positioning

We already have everything to make up positioning: target audience, emotional value, and rational reason. Let’s combine it into one statement:

FOR [emotional segment]
WE ARE A BRAND IN [category]
WE OFFER [emotional value]
BECAUSE ONLY WE [rational reason, key functional advantage]

Step 4. Determine how to broadcast this positioning

You can broadcast your positioning through different channels: product, social networks, advertising, text, sellers, sales points…anywhere. Every time you interact with the user must be associated with positioning.

No one wants a product without its unique positioning.

Positioning is just emotional value backed up by rational reasons. A team needs to bring the positioning to customers at each stage of the funnel.