Positioning is the hardest marketing work to do well. It requires brutal specificity about who you are not for. Claude can accelerate the drafting and testing of positioning options — but the strategic conviction about what you are claiming has to come from you. Here is the workflow.
Positioning has 5 components: (1) competitive alternatives (what would customers use if we did not exist), (2) unique attributes (what we have that competitors do not), (3) value (what those attributes enable), (4) market category (the frame buyers use to understand us), (5) target market (who specifically gets the most value).
Sharp positioning means you have answers for all 5 that hold up under scrutiny. AI cannot manufacture conviction on these — but it can help you stress-test the variants you are considering.
We are positioning [COMPANY] in the [BROAD MARKET]. What we sell: [BRIEF PRODUCT DESCRIPTION] Our best-fit customers: [3-5 SENTENCES ON ICP] Our 3-5 best customer wins (anonymized): [LIST] Our 3-5 lost deals or churned customers (what went wrong): [LIST] Our differentiated capability (the thing we have that competitors do not): [HONEST ANSWER] For each of the following, generate 3 specific options and the reasoning: 1. Competitive alternatives (what would they use if we did not exist) — be specific, not "the status quo" 2. Unique attributes (what we have that competitors truly do not) 3. The value those attributes enable (in our customer's language, not ours) 4. The best market category to position into — 3 options and the trade-offs of each 5. The target market specifically (be willing to exclude most of the market) Then write a 1-paragraph positioning statement using the best options. Flag any answers that feel weak — places where we sound like every competitor.
The single hardest call in positioning: which segments to explicitly NOT pursue. Most companies refuse to make this call and end up positioned for no one.
AI can show you the trade-offs of different segmentation choices. It cannot make the choice for you. The CEO has to commit.
When the choice is made, every downstream decision (messaging, sales, product) gets easier. When it is not made, every downstream decision is contested.
1. Specificity test. Could a competitor truthfully use the same positioning? If yes, sharpen.
2. Conviction test. Would you commit headcount and budget for the next 3 years to this position? If not, you are not really positioning yet.
3. Customer recognition test. Would your best customers nod when they read it, and your bad-fit customers self-select out?
4. Sales test. Can a salesperson use this positioning to disqualify deals that should not be in the pipeline?