We've segmented, we've targeted - now let's position ourselves for success. | Issue #15
In this week's Leadership Bulletin, we talk recruitment, becoming a charity trustee, technical education, and positioning yourself to appeal to key customer segments.
Welcome to the latest edition of The Leadership Bulletin.
We’ll start with some breaking news this morning: the latest figures from the ONS show that, for the first time ever, there are now more jobs available than jobseekers.
What does this mean for leaders? You will not be able to fill the gaps in your business by new recruitment alone. Even if, by some miracle, everybody matched every job perfectly, there still wouldn't be enough people to fill every job vacancy in the UK.
This means upskilling and new investment are more important than ever. So look for new opportunities to train existing staff for emerging senior roles and commit time to identifying efficient, productive, tech-led solutions to the gaps in your business. Read more from the BBC here.
PERSONAL NEWS: I’M STANDING TO BE AN MND ASSOCIATION TRUSTEE
I wanted to share with you the news that I've put my name forward to be a Trustee of the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association. The MND Association is a great charity that means a lot to me and my family and it would be an honour to be elected and to serve as a trustee. If you want to know more and get involved - fantastic. Click here to find out why I'm standing, what I think I can offer, and how you can support both me and the MND Association. Thank you.
WHAT ARE WE GETTING WRONG WITH TECHNICAL EDUCATION?
I read some staggering - and frankly depressing - statistics in a recent report on apprenticeships from the think tank Onward:
20% of students study courses at university that leave them worse off than if they did not go to university at all.
35.6% of UK graduates are currently in non-graduate jobs.
There were 200,000 fewer apprenticeship starts in 2019 compared to the peak in 2011.
So what are we getting wrong with technical education in the UK? And how should organisations and government respond? There is plenty of food-for-thought in the Onward report, including the interesting idea of ‘front-loaded’ apprenticeships, where recruits complete off the job training before they start. Click here.
IN FOCUS: POSITIONING YOUR ORGANISATION FOR SUCCESS
Over the last few weeks, the Bulletin has been focusing on the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) model. Firstly, we looked at how customers can be segmented by demographics, location or behaviours; next, we turned to what you should consider when choosing a segment to target (e.g. profitability, size, growth, your suitability to serve them). This week, for the third and final instalment on the STP model, we turn to positioning.
Positioning basically means how you will put yourself in the best possible position to appeal to the customers you want to target. As with so many things, this is easiest if you have a framework for thinking through the issues. For example, you could approach this is by looking at the Four Ps of Marketing - product, place, price and promotion:
Product. Which of your products are the key customer segment going to most want? It might be that you’re focusing on relatively few high-end, high margin sales; this will inevitably require a different approach to marketing than if you’re selling lots of goods across a range of price points. Research your customers and their buying habits and align your products with their known and revealed ways of purchasing.
Place. Where will people see your product? The most obvious distinction is often between whether they will find you online or in person, but there can be finer details you want to consider. Younger shoppers, for example, are more likely to buy via their phone than on a traditional PC or laptop, so successfully positioning yourself for the 18-30 market would require a website highly optimised for mobile sales.
Price. Next, consider - and research, wherever possible - what your key customer segment is willing to pay for your products or services. Ask yourself: (a) is there an industry benchmark that your competitors charge that you need to compete with? (b) is your product distinct in some way that means people will pay more, e.g. higher quality or speedier delivery? or (c) how price sensitive are your customers and how can you build this into your pricing model?
Promotion. Finally, how can you attract the key customers to your business? Where will they see you (if you’re advertising online, are they more likely to be on LinkedIn or TikTok, for example?). Might something more traditional, like a newspaper advert or a billboard, attract who you need? Consider how your competitors target their customers and determine what you can do both to match and then improve on what they do.
That brings this three-part series on the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning Marketing Model to an end. You can read the previous two features via the Leadership Bulletin archive here. I suspect this model didn’t necessarily tell you anything that, if you sat down and thought about it, you wouldn’t have determined yourself; but too often, as we’re working ‘in’ rather than ‘on’ our organisations, it’s easy to stay in the weeds and not consider the fundamentals of who our customers are, which ones we most want to reach, and how we can do so. I hope our exploration of this model has helped you to do just that.
17 May 2022