WHERE TO START
Start with the customer, not the tagline
A product doesn't have useful positioning in isolation.
It is positioned for someone, relative to something, because of something they care about.
Before writing messaging, establish five things.
FRAMEWORK
The five positioning decisions
- 01
Customer
Who is the positioning for?
Different customers can interpret the same product very differently.
Be specific enough that the rest of the positioning can make a meaningful choice — which usually means starting from a clear ICP.
- 02
Problem
What important problem puts the product into consideration?
Describe the situation from the customer's perspective rather than from your product architecture.
- 03
Alternatives
What would the customer do if your product didn't exist?
This could include:
- a direct competitor
- another category
- internal processes
- spreadsheets
- agencies
- hiring
- doing nothing
Your competitive context is determined by what customers actually compare you against.
- 04
Differentiated value
What can the customer achieve or understand because of your product that is meaningfully different from those alternatives?
Features can support this answer.
They aren't the answer by themselves.
- 05
Context
What category or frame helps the customer understand the product quickly?
The objective isn't necessarily to invent a category.
It's to give the customer enough familiar context to understand what they're evaluating.
THE DIFFERENCE
Positioning vs messaging
| Positioning | Messaging |
|---|---|
| Strategic choice | Expression of that choice |
| Defines customer and context | Communicates to the customer |
| Determines differentiated value | Turns value into language |
| Relatively stable | Can vary by channel/campaign |
| Comes first | Comes after |
If positioning is unclear, copywriting becomes an endless attempt to solve a strategic problem with different words.
A WORKING TOOL
A practical positioning statement
Don't treat a positioning statement as marketing copy.
Use it internally to force clarity:
For [customer] who [problem/context], [product] is a [category/frame] that [primary value], unlike [alternative], because [reason to believe].
The sentence itself isn't the objective.
The decisions required to complete it are.
EXAMPLE
From generic to specific
Weak
An AI-powered platform that helps businesses unlock growth.
Why it fails: almost any business product could say it.
Stronger
For B2B SaaS founders trying to establish a repeatable go-to-market motion, [Product] helps identify where GTM assumptions are breaking before teams scale execution.
Now we know much more about the customer, situation and value.
SIGNALS
How to know whether positioning is working
Look for comprehension before persuasion.
Can the right customer quickly explain:
- what the product is?
- why it's relevant?
- what problem it addresses?
- how it's different from alternatives?
- why that difference matters?
Strong positioning makes downstream messaging easier.
For a structured way to gather that evidence, see how to test your B2B positioning.
UPSTREAM
Positioning belongs upstream of execution
Positioning influences messaging, campaigns, sales conversations, website copy and channels.
That's why positioning sits inside the GTM Decision Layer, before execution.
HOAG
Thinking through positioning with HOAG
HOAG can help you examine the customer, alternatives, assumptions and differentiated value behind your positioning before you turn those decisions into messaging.
Think through your positioning