Positioning is an important concept for all entrepreneurs to understand, as it helps define their product or service in the eyes of potential customers, build recognition and trust in the marketplace, and make all other business decisions easier down the line by providing clarity and focus. Arielle Jackson, a veteran marketer at Google, Square, and several startups has shared some helpful exercises that entrepreneurs can use to nail their positioning – understanding what it is, crafting an effective position statement, creating a tagline to support that position, and analyzing competitors’ strengths and weaknesses compared to yours – so let’s dive into each step!
Crafting a Position Statement
Positioning is essentially a statement that defines the problem you’re trying to solve, why it’s important, and why people should listen; it should be easy-to-understand by humans rather than bots or jargon-filled statements (i.e., written in plain English), so think of your audience before you start writing anything down; this will also help you craft your tagline later on (more on this below). You can also use a formulaic approach when writing your position statement to ensure that you’re addressing all of these points clearly. For example: “[Product/Service] helps [target customer] [achieve desired result] without having to [overcome problem].”
Creating a Tagline to Support Your Position
A good tagline can help bring your positioning statement to life by adding emotion and clarity. It should be short (preferably fewer than seven words) but powerful enough to communicate your message quickly. This could mean focusing on how your product or service makes your customers feel (e.g., “Live Life Without Limits”), how it solves their problems (e.g., “The Problem Solver”), or how it stands out from competitors (e.g., “The Future of Workplace Technology”).
Analyzing Competitors’ Strengths and Weaknesses
It’s also important to analyze competitors’ strengths and weaknesses when nailing your positioning; not just so you know where they stand in the market but also so you can identify any gaps they may have left open for you to fill with your own product or service offering. For example, if one competitor focuses on low cost while another prioritizes convenience, there could be an opportunity for you to provide high quality at an affordable price point with fast delivery times.
Conclusion:
As project founders and CEOs embark on building new products or services for their customers, understanding positioning is critical for success. It allows them to define their product or service in the minds of potential customers quickly; build recognition and trust in the marketplace; create a powerful tagline that supports their core message; differentiate themselves from competitors; understand competitors’ strengths & weaknesses; make all other business decisions easier down the line by providing clarity & focus; and more! With these steps as guidance project founders & CEOs will be able to nail their positioning effectively!
