Promotion for B2B companies has become multi-faceted, given the attention paid by marketing experts to SEO, social media, and mobile technology. These promotion discussions tend to revolve around how companies can get more exposure and traffic. However, there is an important aspect of promotion that some B2B companies tend to overlook: how a company is positioned.

The Question All Businesses Must Be Able to Answer

To position themselves in the minds of their prospects, companies must be able to answer a straight-forward question, why would someone make a purchase from us? The question could be asked another way. If a company has not yet made a purchase from our business, why should they? How you answer this question determines how your company will market itself .

Turning the Answer to a Statement

Companies can convert their answer to the "why should people buy from us" question into a positioning statement that will define for its prospects how the company has chosen to compete in the marketplace. The positioning statement gives prospects a reason to make the choice for a particular business.

Elements of a Positioning Statement

To craft a successful positioning statement there are three main components for management to consider. First, the statement should describe the void that a company is filling that its competition is not. Whether it is a niche, average price level, or additional value, the difference between the company and its competition should be obvious.

Second, the statement's content should truly matter to prospects. To differentiate on the basis of something that prospects do not care about will not attract new customers to the business. And third, the company must be able to deliver on what its statement says. There is nothing worse than building a promotional campaign around something the company cannot do.

Positioning Statement..A Warning

A positioning statement should not be thought of as a tagline or a marketing alternative. It is the core principle around a company's purchasing, staffing, and selling. In fact, when it is done correctly, it should be integrated into the entire fabric of a company's promotions. The positioning statement should be as helpful to those within the company as it is to those who are considering a future purchase.

B2B Positioning vs. Referral

Since a number of leads to B2B companies comes through referrals, there should be no conflict between what a referring customer shares about a business and the company's positioning statement. Savvy managers will go one step further to find out the main reasons that former customers purchased from the company. If it is inconsistent with the positioning statement, effort should be made to find out why and adjustments to your statement should be made.

The positioning statement gives prospects a reason to consider a business apart from their competition. The differentiation should be obvious upon hearing the statement and experiencing a purchase. However, management should wok to assure that the positioning statement matches a client's experience.