Newsletter · 20 min read

The MKT1 Guide to Positioning

Emily Kramer · MKT1 Newsletter Freemium Intermediate

Kramer's four product types (vertical solution, new way, 10x better, buy versus build) tell you what you are positioning against before you write a word. She is also blunt that most positioning docs are research with no answer at the end.

  • Most teams overdo the research and never produce the actual answer, the positioning statement itself.
  • Positioning fills three blanks: who is it for, what is it, why is it better.
  • Nearly every B2B product fits one of four positioning types: 10x better, new way, vertical solution, or buy vs build.
  • If you are selling a new way, early competitors usually help you grow the category rather than steal from you.
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It answers 4 questions

  1. How do I write the one line that says what category we are in?
  2. How do I test whether a category name lands before we commit the whole website to it?
  3. Our competitor's category is bigger and better funded. How do I carve out a segment we can actually win?
  4. What do I actually change when we reposition? Website, deck, pricing, all of it?

Read with it

  1. Pierri has done this on hundreds of early stage homepages, so the advice is unusually concrete: say when someone would use the... Exit Five Podcast · 53 min How to Master B2B Positioning with Anthony Pierri (Fletch PMM) Dave Gerhardt with Anthony Pierri
  2. Deals with the four places positioning work actually stalls, including teams that cannot agree on their competitive... Lenny's Newsletter Newsletter · 18 min read A guide to advanced B2B positioning April Dunford
  3. The clearest short explanation of why market category is one of five interdependent positioning pieces, with a real... aprildunford.com Article · 12 min read A Quickstart Guide to Positioning April Dunford
  4. Splits competitors into the hordes, the giants and the ghosts and gives a different move for each. The giants section is the... The Marketing Meetup Article · 15 min read Positioning Jujitsu: How to Win Against Powerful Competitors April Dunford
  5. Makes the distinction between competitors and competitive alternatives, and points out that the status quo wins roughly one... aprildunford.com Article · 8 min read Positioning and Competition April Dunford
  6. Their public teardowns and positioning strategies are the fastest way to see the same product framed four or five different... fletchpmm.com Tool · Browse FletchPMM: Homepage Positioning for B2B Software Startups Anthony Pierri and Robert Kaminski
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