Market Positioning
For the first phase in your business, answer 2 questions:
1- In what industry you are working?
2- What sorts of interactions you have?
As a business owner or a marketing manager, better to know and analyze the business before any action. Thereafter it would be much easier to choose or create strategies for the target market and customers. There are 3 sorts of industry and 2 most common models of interaction any organization should take into consideration.
Interactions
Although there are many types of interaction (B2G, C2C, B2M …), we focus on B2B and B2C because more than 90 percent of business interactions are summarized in these 2 types.
B2B (Business to Business): is a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another.
B2C (Business to Consumer): refers to the process of businesses selling products and services directly to consumers, with no middleman.
Industries
There are 3 types of industry: FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), DCG (durable consumer goods), and Services. Organizations stir in one of them and may choose another as supplementary. However, We first recommend considering 2 of them as elements of a matrix.
1- B2B FMCG:
FMCG Factories: toiletries, foodstuffs, beverages, brick and mortar, stationery, detergents, over-the-counter medicines, cleaning and laundry products, plastic goods, cosmetic, personal care goods, packaging, consumables for vehicles, as well as consumer electronics, including headphones, mobile phones, and their maintenance requirements.
B2B Marketing properties: customization, power of negotiation, innovation, flexibility, rational buying, mid- to long-term strategies, deep customer analyzing, the complexity of products, fewer segmentation, personal relationship, fewer buyers vs. more sellers and power of branding.
2- B2C FMCG:
FMCG Intermediaries and retailers refer to any sales process that sells directly to consumers. It tends to refer specifically to retail sales. Supermarkets, shops, and online markets are examples.
B2C Marketing properties: General STP (segmentation, Targeting and Positioning), social media and online tools, membership program, customer classification (20/80) and RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary), less loyalty, short- to mid-term marketing and advertising strategies, offer management and sells strategies.
3- B2B DCG:
DCG Factories: refers to consumer goods that have a long life span (e.g. 3+ years) and are used over time such as different types of machinery, medical and sport equipment, raw materials, automobiles, books, jewelry household goods (home appliances, consumer electronics, furniture, tools, etc.), firearms, and toys.
B2B Marketing properties: approximately like what we consider in B2B FMCG. Customization, power of negotiation, campaign innovation, flexibility, rational buying, long-term strategies, middleman trend strategies, deep customer analyzing, fewer segmentation, personal relationship, fewer buyers vs. more sellers, and power of branding.
4- B2C DCG:
DCG Intermediaries and retailers refers to any sales process that sells directly to end-users. It tends to refer specifically to retail sales for durable goods. Shops in different industries and online markets are examples.
B2C Marketing properties: Accurate and thorough STP (segmentation, Targeting and Positioning), social media and online tools (not as important as being useful in FMCG), campaign innovation, end-user analyzing, customer relationship, membership program, customer classification, customer needs, customer loyalty (more practical than what is in FMCG), short- to mid-term marketing and advertising strategies, offer management and sells strategies.
5- B2B Services:
Service companies: The service business provides intangible products, such as insurance, transportation, and logistics, consulting, accounting, banking, education, cleaning, landscaping, online distributors and treatment.
B2B Marketing properties: Niche-driven Strategy, referral marketing, pull marketing, customize service, 7p analyses, service segmentation, branding (high efficiency), professional negotiation, CRM automation, deep understanding of customer needs, campaign innovation, long-term strategies, personal relationship, alternative and supplementary services.
6- B2C Services:
Service companies: approximately the same as what we consider in B2B services; insurance, transportation, and logistics, consulting, accounting, banking, education, cleaning, landscaping, online distributors and treatment.
Note 1: In the Service industry, the difference between business and customers is not being End-user or not, it depends on repetition and monetary quantity of interactions.
Note 2: More than one cell could be involved in a company. As an example: only 10 percent of corporations who produce durable goods, have not dedicated services included.
Note 3: Do not forget, Service is the hardest thing people tend to spend money for. Remember your mobile bill payment due date 😉
