Nail Your Positioning

Positioning isn’t what you say you are—it’s what customers already believe about you. Your job is to make sure they believe the right thing. You can’t just declare it; you have to shape it strategically. Get it wrong, and your product or service gets lumped into a category where you can’t win. Get it right, and suddenly, your value is obvious, your marketing works better, and your sales cycles get shorter.

Let’s walk through a piece-by-piece positioning framework so you can define where you shine, why customers should care, and how to embed this thinking into every customer touchpoint.

Here’s your blueprint:

“Wait what?! I thought we were going to make this simpler!”

Let’s break this down step by step.

1. [Benefit] – What’s the outcome customers really care about?

People don’t buy products or services—they buy results. Instead of listing what you do, think about what changes for your customers when they use your service.

Ask yourself:

• What’s the most valuable outcome we create?

• How does life or business improve for our customers?

• What words do our happiest customers use when they describe how we helped them?

👉 Example: "Helping small businesses grow their audience" (Mailchimp)
👉 Example: "Making it easy for teams to work together, no matter where they are" (Slack)

2. [Persona] – Who is this really for?

Your service isn’t for everyone. The more specific you are about your ideal customer, the more effective your positioning will be.

Ask yourself:

• Who gets the most value from what we do?

• What kind of customers love us and stick around?

• Are there any customers we don’t want because they aren’t a good fit?

👉 Example: "For small business owners who don’t have a marketing team" (Mailchimp)
👉 Example: "For product teams designing digital experiences" (Figma)

3. [Capability] – What’s the unique strength that makes this possible?

This isn’t about listing everything you offer—it’s about pinpointing the one or two things that make your service stand out.

Ask yourself:

• What can we do that competitors can’t?

• What’s the real reason customers choose us over alternatives?

• If we had to describe our magic in one sentence, what would it be?

👉 Example: "An easy-to-use marketing automation platform" (Mailchimp)
👉 Example: "A fully remote-friendly design tool" (Figma)

4. [Problem] – What pain or challenge are you solving?

People don’t wake up thinking, "I need a new tool/service." They think, "I need to fix this frustrating problem." Positioning should make it obvious that you understand and solve that problem.

Ask yourself:

• What pain points make customers seek us out?

• What’s annoying, time-consuming, or inefficient about how they do this today?

• What’s the emotional side of this problem? (Frustration, stress, overwhelm, confusion?)

👉 Example: "Struggling to keep your audience engaged?" (Mailchimp)
👉 Example: "Tired of using outdated design tools that don’t work online?" (Figma)

5. [Feature] – What’s the specific thing that makes the solution work?

This is where you highlight what you actually do, but keep it simple—customers only care about features when they understand how they help solve their problem.

Ask yourself:

• What’s the most important thing we offer that delivers results?

• How does this directly solve the problem we talked about?

• Can we describe it in a way that’s easy to understand?

👉 Example: "Pre-built email templates and automation to help you engage your audience effortlessly." (Mailchimp)
👉 Example: "A cloud-based, collaborative design tool that works anywhere." (Figma)

6. [Category] + [Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)]

Think of this as your big-picture positioning—where you fit in the market.

Ask yourself:

• What category do customers expect us to fit into?

• Are we creating a new category or leading an existing one?

• If a customer describes us in one sentence, what would they say?

👉 Example: "The leading email marketing platform for small businesses" (Mailchimp)
👉 Example: "The go-to design tool for digital product teams" (Figma)

Putting It All Together

Once you’ve worked through each section, use the blueprint to write your positioning statement:

[Benefit] + [Persona] + [Capability] + [Problem] + [Feature]
[Category] + [Ideal Customer Profile]

Here are some quick examples:

👉 Mailchimp: "Helping small business owners grow their audience with an easy-to-use marketing automation platform that solves engagement struggles through pre-built templates and automation. The leading email marketing platform for small businesses."

👉 GTM marketer: "Helping deep-tech founders launch successfully with GTM strategies that break through niche adoption barriers. The GTM consultancy for early-stage startups."

👉 Small Marketing agency: "Helping startups scale with full-suite outsourced marketing, no in-house team needed. The one-stop outsourced marketing partner for startups ready to scale."

By filling in your own details, you’ll create a crisp positioning statement that makes it clear who you serve, what problem you solve, and why you’re

Next Steps: Test, refine, rollout

Before embedding your positioning everywhere, test it:

• Run it past friends, family, and customers. Does it make sense to them instantly? Do they get excited?

• Say it out loud. If it feels clunky or unnatural, simplify it.

• Ask someone to repeat it back to you. If they can’t, it’s probably too complex.

• Refine based on feedback. Adjust wording until it lands clearly and consistently.

Once you’ve nailed this, use it across:

• Your website 

• Your sales materials 

• Your marketing campaigns 

• Your customer onboarding 

Positioning isn’t a one-time exercise. It’s a foundation for everything you communicate. Refine it, test it, and use it everywhere to make sure customers instantly see why you’re the best choice for them.

Want to go deeper? Here are some good reads:

• April Dunford Obviously Awesome 

• Andy Raskin The greatest Sales deck I’ve ever seen

• Al Ries & Jack Trout The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing