This assessment exposes you to several ways to determine the effectiveness of a position including an understanding of how the brain makes decisions. Another way is perceptual mapping that makes it easy to see how the leading Project Portfolio Management (PPM) companies position their products. This perceptual map tells you whether a PPM company’s position is unique or not:
I determined each company’s product position by evaluating their websites to determine if a position stands out on home pages, product pages, solution pages, why pages, and about pages. Then I input my findings into an Excel application that automatically creates a perceptual map that makes it easy to see how each company is positioned.
What is positioning?
Positioning is the mental space in your target audience’s mind that you can occupy with an idea that has compelling meaning to the recipient. It’s in this mental space where your solution to the target’s pressing problem meet, stick together, and form a meaningful relationship.
While most companies appear to have unique position except those claiming “success,” two stand out well above the crowd – Cerri and WorkOtter. Cerri because its position is easy to understand, and WorkOtter because its position offers a sharp contrast to its competitors. Both are effective because they get through to the decision-making portion of our brain.
According to “Neuromarketing,” the decision-making portion of the brain is primitive and barely understand words. Keep it simple and your position will be understood. Cerri’s position – “project management made simple” – meets this criterion plus, as you can see, it is unique. That’s the best of both worlds!
Making Gartner designation matter
WorkOtter is the first software company I’ve encountered that uses Gartner in its position, and does effectively unlike companies in all B2B software markets who just tout they made the Magic Quadrant.
“Most affordable and easy-to-use in Gartner PPM Magic Quadrant” gives WorkOtter credibility while providing contrast the brain needs to make a decision.
According to “Neuromarketing,” the decision-making portion of the brain “responds favorably to clear, solid contrast. It is hard wired to pay attention to contrast which helps prospects make decisions more quickly and easily. Contrast is often needed to trigger our brain to make a decision.”
Without clear-cut choice, our brain enters into a state of confusion. The absence of contrast – especially when a prospect has difficulty understanding the differences between your product and others – will bring the prospect’s decision-making ability to a halt.
Use your position more
All PPM companies have a problem – some less than others – because they aren’t using their position enough on their websites. They aren’t taking advantage of the power of consistency and repetition. Without them, it’s not possible to claim a position, and with no position, marketing and sales effectiveness suffer.
A position should be the theme for everything you do in marketing, and especially throughout a website. More importantly, it needs to be repeated over and over because the brain notes words that are repeated and earmarks them as important.
My latest blog – “No consistency. No repetition. No position!” – explains why consistency and repetition are so critical in claiming a position and giving it staying power.