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Reverse positioning is a marketing strategy where developing and maintaining customer relationships is the primary goal, rather than focusing on selling a service or product. This strategy follows the idea that the best kind of marketing doesn’t actually feel like marketing at all. It’s an unconventional tactic that relies heavily on building brand awareness and cultivating lasting relationships with your customers. Here are a few ways reverse positioning can benefit your marketing company’s branding.
Reverse positioning puts customer relationships first
Unlike traditional marketing and branding strategies, reverse positioning is centered solely around the customer—much like inbound marketing! You aren’t marketing with the sole intention of making a final sale. Instead, you build relationships with your audience slowly over time. A relationship is formed naturally, as you continue to provide helpful solutions to their challenges and nurture them with valuable content. As a result, they spend more time getting to know your marketing company better—what its values are, how it speaks to their needs, etc.
With a relationship built, your marketing company will need to show continuous value and nurture existing customers and clients. This is where your content strategy can enter the picture—providing the right content at the right time (an inbound best practice!) The more you get to know your audience and the kind of solutions they are looking for, the more you will be able to cater relevant content to them. It helps to focus on specific buyer personas so you know which content will resonate with each persona.
Educational content truly thrives here, and you should be sharing advice to those interested in the solutions or services your offer. This is especially important for SaaS companies who can communicate with their audience how their services can meet their expectations, solve a specific challenge they are experiencing, and how to get the most out of the service.
Customers are given more freedom over how they engage with your brand
Here’s an example that puts this concept into a relatable perspective. Let’s say you’re hungry one evening and decide to make a call and order food. As the customer, you recognized a problem (that you were hungry) and a potential solution (to order food). After researching for local delivery options, they find an option that best fits their preferences and needs, and they make a call. A representative of the company helps make the order process as smooth as possible, giving you control over your order while offering suggestions based on your input.
Now imagine if the roles were swapped. The company delivering the food recognizes it hasn’t made enough sales this week, so it reaches out to you over the phone instead. A representative proceeds to list off several menu items and specials without giving you the chance to share your preferences—or ask if you even wanted food in the first place!
The difference in these examples comes from the perspective of you as the customer. In the first example, you made the conscious decision to seek a solution and make a purchase. This follows closer to a reverse positioning approach, unlike the second example where the company pushes for a sale and neglects the customer’s personal preferences and immediate needs.
Reverse positioning establishes trust and cultivates brand loyalty
By using a reverse positioning strategy, you allow your audience to naturally feel more connected to your marketing company, without needing to actively drive them to a sale. In return, the more engaged and connected a customer or client is with your brand, the more likely they are to recommend it to others. This is where your marketing company can see not only repeated business but new business as well.
Satisfied, loyal customers and clients are more likely to recommend your brand to others and can play a role similar to a brand ambassador. In fact, word-of-mouth marketing is one of the top sources of referrals for businesses. According to Referral Rock, marketers have noted that the quality of a lead referred from word-of-mouth was around a 4.28 on a scale of 1-5. When you give your audience the opportunity to progress through the buyer journey at their own pace, providing value along the way, you help ensure that they can trust your brand and continue to support it. As a result, they will be more likely to share their appreciation and support for your brand with their colleagues and, for b2b marketers, other companies.
Reverse positioning may seem a bit unconventional compared to traditional marketing strategies, but its benefits on your company’s brand are worth giving it a try. If you’re looking for additional marketing and branding insights, check out our blog! Thinkdm2 is a New Jersey digital marketing and branding agency that specializes in the professional services and technology industries.
