Positioning – how you deliberately shape perceptions of your brand in the minds of your target customers – is crucial for success. But a brilliant positioning strategy is useless if it doesn’t resonate. As we move into 2026, with increasingly fragmented media and sophisticated consumers, validating your positioning *before* a full launch is more important than ever. It’s about minimising risk and maximising your return on investment.
Traditionally, this meant large-scale quantitative research. While still valuable, we’re seeing a shift towards more agile and qualitative methods, combined with smart use of existing data. Here’s how Australian SMEs can effectively validate their positioning strategy with target audiences.
- Concept Testing with Focused Groups: Forget broad demographics. Recruit small groups (6-8 people) representing your ideal customer profiles. Present your proposed positioning – not as a marketing campaign, but as a core statement about what you offer and why it’s different. Observe their reactions, listen to their language, and probe for genuine understanding.
- Jobs to be Done Interviews: This framework focuses on the ‘why’ behind customer choices. Instead of asking “would you buy this?”, ask “what job are you hiring a product like this to do?”. Understanding the underlying motivations reveals if your positioning addresses a real need.
- Social Listening & Online Communities: Australian consumers are highly active online. Analyse conversations on platforms like Facebook groups, Reddit (specifically Australian subreddits), and industry forums. What language are they using to describe their problems? Does your positioning speak to that language?
- A/B Testing Value Propositions: Use simple landing pages with different value propositions (derived from your positioning). Drive targeted traffic (even small amounts) via social media ads and measure conversion rates. This provides direct feedback on which messaging resonates.
Don’t underestimate the power of combining these methods. For example, use social listening to inform your focus group questions, then use A/B testing to validate the insights gained. Remember, the goal isn’t just to confirm your existing beliefs, but to genuinely understand how your target audience perceives your brand and its value.
The outcome of this validation process should be a refined positioning statement, backed by evidence, that clearly articulates your unique value to the Australian market. Your next step? Develop a concise messaging framework based on this validated positioning, ready for implementation across all your marketing channels.
