--- name: positioning description: "Build or repair product positioning from evidence: best-fit customers, real competitive alternatives including spreadsheets and doing nothing, unique attributes with proof, value for the customers who care most, a deliberately chosen market frame (head-to-head, subsegment, new or adjacent category), an internal positioning statement and a test and rollout plan. Use whenever someone asks about positioning, product positioning, differentiation, choosing a category, who the product is for, why prospects compare you with the wrong competitors or repositioning a product." license: CC-BY-4.0 metadata: author: Afeez Adebayo author_url: https://afeezadebayo.com author_linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afeez-adebayo/ author_x: https://x.com/za_icon source: https://afeezadebayo.com/skills-md/marketing/product-marketing/positioning/ category: marketing subcategory: product-marketing version: "1.0.0" created: "2026-10-10" updated: "2026-10-10" --- # Positioning Positioning defines how a product is the best choice for a specific set of customers who care about specific value. It decides which market category buyers put you in, which alternatives they compare you with, which differences matter and who you are really for. When positioning is weak, everything downstream struggles: messaging turns into feature lists, sales cycles stretch, prospects compare you with the wrong products and pricing gets pushed down because buyers can't see what makes you different. This skill builds or repairs positioning from evidence, following the approach April Dunford popularised: start from your best customers, list the real alternatives, find your unique attributes, translate them into value, identify who cares most and choose the market frame that makes that value obvious. ## Operating principles 1. **Start with your best customers, not your product.** The customers who get the most value reveal what you're truly good at. 2. **Alternatives define your market.** What would customers use if you didn't exist? Often spreadsheets, an agency or doing nothing. 3. **Attributes become value.** A feature matters only through the outcome it enables for a specific customer. 4. **Choose a frame deliberately.** The category you place yourself in sets buyer expectations and competitors. 5. **Narrow beats broad.** Being the obvious choice for a segment beats being one of many options for everyone. ## The positioning components | Component | Question | Example (finance reporting tool) | |---|---|---| | Competitive alternatives | What would customers use instead? | Spreadsheets, BI suites, finance consultants | | Unique attributes | What do we have that alternatives lack? | Pre-built month-end templates, ERP connectors, audit trail | | Value | What do those attributes enable? | Month-end reporting in hours, not days, with fewer errors | | Best-fit customers | Who cares most about that value? | Mid-market finance teams with 3 to 15 people on major ERPs | | Market category | Which frame makes the value obvious? | Financial reporting automation (not "BI") | | Relevant trends (optional) | Why now? | Faster close expectations, smaller finance teams | ## When to use, and when not to Use it for new products, after pivots, when win rates fall, when prospects misunderstand the product, when entering new segments and before major rebrands or messaging rewrites. Don't use it to write copy (`messaging-framework`) or define detailed buyer personas (`ideal-customer-profile`), though both build on positioning. ## Inputs to ask for, in one message 1. Product description and key capabilities. 2. List of best customers (highest retention, expansion, satisfaction) with why they bought. 3. Win-loss data and common objections. 4. Competitors and alternatives prospects mention. 5. Current positioning, homepage and sales deck. 6. Customer interview notes or review quotes. ## Workflow ### Step 1. Identify best-fit customers List customers who bought fastest, retain longest, expand most and refer others. Look for shared traits. ### Step 2. List competitive alternatives Ask what those customers used before and what they would do without you. Include non-software options. ### Step 3. Find unique attributes Capabilities, delivery model, expertise or business model that alternatives lack. Be honest: shared features aren't differentiators. ### Step 4. Map attributes to value For each attribute, write the outcome it enables and the proof you have (customer results, data). ### Step 5. Define who cares most The characteristics of customers who value those outcomes most: size, role, situation, trigger. ### Step 6. Choose the market frame Options: an existing category (head-to-head), a subsegment of a category (big fish, small pond), or a new category (only when you can afford to educate the market). Pick the frame that makes your value obvious to best-fit buyers. ### Step 7. Write the positioning statement An internal document, not copy: "For [best-fit customers] who [need], [product] is a [category] that [key value]. Unlike [alternatives], we [unique attributes and proof]." ### Step 8. Test and roll out Test with sales calls, customers and landing pages; then update messaging, website, deck and enablement. ## Choosing a frame | Frame | When it works | Risk | |---|---|---| | Head-to-head in an existing category | You can win on the category's main criteria | Fighting established leaders | | Subsegment of a category | You serve a segment much better than general players | Segment may be too small | | New category | Buyers lack a frame for what you do and you can fund education | Expensive and slow | | Adjacent category | Your value resembles another category buyers already understand | Confusion if the analogy is weak | ## Positioning document template ``` # Positioning: , Best-fit customers: ... Competitive alternatives: ... Unique attributes (with proof): ... Value (outcomes for best-fit customers): ... Market category and why: ... Relevant trend (optional): ... Positioning statement: ... Who we are not for: ... ``` ## Testing positioning - Use the new framing in five to ten sales calls and note whether prospects understand faster. - Show the statement to best-fit customers and ask whether it describes why they bought. - Run a landing page or ad test comparing old and new framing on qualified conversions. - Check whether sales can explain it in one sentence without notes. ## Rollout checklist - Positioning document approved by product, sales and leadership. - Messaging framework rebuilt from it. - Homepage, product pages and pricing page updated. - Sales deck, demo flow and battlecards aligned. - Teams trained, with a one-sentence version everyone can repeat. - Review date set for six to twelve months, or after major market changes. Revisit alternatives and differentiators whenever a major competitor or technology shift changes what buyers compare you with. ## Edge cases and judgement calls | Situation | What to do | |---|---| | Few customers yet | Position from the problem and early adopters; revisit after 20 to 30 customers | | Several distinct segments | Separate positioning per segment, with a shared company story | | Platform with many use cases | Lead with the use case where you win most; expand later | | Founders attached to a category | Show win-loss and customer evidence; test both frames | | Market shifts (new entrants, AI features) | Revisit alternatives and differentiators at least yearly | ## Handoffs to related skills - Turning positioning into words: `messaging-framework` - Detailed ICP and personas: `ideal-customer-profile` - Evidence from customers: `customer-research-interviews`, `win-loss-analysis` - Competitor detail: `competitive-intelligence` - Pricing that reflects value: `pricing-packaging` - Overall review: `product-marketing-audit` ## Worked example A mid-market analytics startup described itself as an "all-in-one data platform". Best customers turned out to be finance teams on NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics who used it for month-end reporting; their alternatives were spreadsheets and expensive consultants, not BI suites. Unique attributes were pre-built close templates, native ERP connectors and an audit trail. The new positioning framed it as financial reporting automation for mid-market finance teams, explicitly not a general BI tool. Sales calls shortened, the homepage converted more qualified demos and losses to large BI suites fell because the company stopped competing for deals it couldn't win. ## Output format The positioning document above, plus evidence for each component, the frame decision with alternatives considered, and a testing and rollout plan. ## Common mistakes - Starting from features instead of best customers. - Ignoring non-software alternatives. - Claiming shared features as differentiators. - Choosing a category because it sounds big. - Treating the positioning statement as website copy. ## Questions to ask before you position - Which customers love the product most, and what did they use before? - What do you have that alternatives don't, and what proof exists? - Who would you be happy never to sell to? ## Self-check before you answer - Is positioning built from best-fit customers and real alternatives? - Is every differentiator unique and backed by proof? - Is the market frame chosen deliberately with trade-offs? - Is there a test and rollout plan? ## Further reading - April Dunford, Obviously Awesome (2019) - Al Ries and Jack Trout, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (1981) --- Created by Afeez Adebayo, Marketing, SEO & Growth Expert Website: https://afeezadebayo.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afeez-adebayo/ X: https://x.com/za_icon Source: https://afeezadebayo.com/skills-md/marketing/product-marketing/positioning/ Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). You may copy, share and adapt this skill, including for commercial use, as long as you credit Afeez Adebayo and link to the source URL above. Keep this notice in any copy or adapted version.