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Competitive Positioning Strategy

Overview

This skill covers how B2B marketers should approach competitive positioning strategy: from identifying ownable ideas and defining ICPs, to building brand narratives, differentiating in crowded markets, and aligning positioning across the organization. All practices are sourced exclusively from guests on the Exit Five podcast. Where guests disagree, those disagreements are surfaced explicitly rather than resolved artificially.

Foundational Positioning Principles

Start with the right inputs before writing a word of positioning

Positioning cannot be invented by a marketing consultant or AI tool—it must be grounded in three sources: the founder's genuine conviction, real buyer language, and competitive reality.

• Identify your central argument before building any ownable idea: map (1) what the founder believes is wrong or missing in the market, (2) what the market actually wants and needs to hear, and (3) what competitors are already saying, to find white space. The central argument is not extracted by asking the founder directly—it must be discovered by analyzing their founding story, market positioning, and competitive landscape. (Source: Katelyn Bourgoin, Episode #344)
• Ground positioning in founder vision. No consultant can create your differentiator—it must be embedded in your product, story, and vision. If the founder has no vision beyond the current product, positioning work will fail. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #184)
• Conduct buyer interviews to hear the language actual buyers use to describe what makes you different. This is upstream work that must happen before any positioning exercise. (Source: Kira Federer, Episode #254)
• Spend time understanding your product's job to be done before crafting messaging—what problem does it solve, what job is it doing for customers, what are the functional and emotional benefits. Without this, you risk misaligning messaging with what the product actually delivers. (Source: Kady Srinivasan, Episode #276)
• Develop deep knowledge of your category before writing stories. The test: you should know your category well enough to write a book about it. Without it, you'll resort to generic language and abstract verbs. (Source: Harry Dry, Episode #303)

Distinguish positioning from messaging—and from story

• Positioning is a strategic document that makes decisions about how to put yourself in the market and who you're up against. Messaging is the first manifestation of positioning—a handful of core sentences that articulate unique value to a specific set of customers and bring positioning to life in words. Messaging directs all copywriting and content that follows. (Source: Emma Stratton, Episode #234)
• Story is why you do what you do; positioning is what you do. The job of story is to make your positioning make sense by pointing at it and explaining the reasoning. Apply this across all marketing surfaces: homepages, hooks, offers, ads, social, email, sales decks. (Source: Harry Dry, Episode #303)
• Keep positioning and messaging simple. Think like a normal human: figure out what customers you serve, what you do for them, what benefit they get, and how you're different from competitors. Use simple, memorable frameworks because they're easy for the entire company to remember and use. The real work (80%) is getting people to actually use the messaging, not writing it (20%). (Source: Jeff Hardison, Episode #335)

Resolve go-to-market strategy before positioning multi-product companies

For companies with multiple products, positioning cannot be tackled until you answer: (1) Do you have a lead/wedge product with everything else as add-ons? (2) Are you selling a true platform/suite where all products are sold together? (3) Do you have separate company and product positioning, or are they the same? These decisions must involve the CEO and sales leadership, not just marketing. (Source: April Dunford, Episode #309)

If a company has two products with fundamentally different target customers and use cases, develop distinct positioning and messaging for each. Attempt to find an umbrella company positioning first, but if target markets are too different, consider building separate brands. (Source: Peep Laja, Episode #119)

Ownable Ideas and Differentiation

Choose the right type of ownable idea

Use the six-type ownable ideas framework to identify which approach fits your company, rather than defaulting to category creation:

1. Coined Category — a new market space you become the obvious leader in (e.g., conversational marketing)
2. Coined Problem — naming an existing problem in a way that educates the market (e.g., checkbox marketing)
3. Method or Framework — a repeatable process or system (e.g., Challenger Sale)
4. Identity Label — a term that lets people step into a role (e.g., growth hacker)
5. X vs. Y Distinction — a binary comparison that reframes how people think about choices (e.g., deep work vs. shallow work)
6. Thought leadership through consistent messaging

(Source: Katelyn Bourgoin, Episode #344)

(Note: whether category creation is the right default strategy is contested — see Where Experts Disagree)

Commit to your ownable idea long-term

Once you've identified your ownable idea and central argument, commit to it for an extended period. Test and iterate on messaging, channels, and tactics, but do not change the core idea frequently. The distinction: you can test different ways of saying the same thing, but the underlying idea should remain stable. This requires conviction and patience, and leadership must give the marketing team time for the idea to work before abandoning it. (Source: Katelyn Bourgoin, Episode #344)

Extract the founder's brilliance using the Experts Paradox

Founders often don't recognize their own insights as novel or valuable because they're too close to their thinking. The marketing team's job is to mine and extract this brilliance by asking probing questions, listening for patterns, and reflecting back what the founder is saying in a way that makes it clear and shareable. Use interviews, podcasts, or structured conversations to pull out the founder's unique perspective, then package and amplify it. (Source: Katelyn Bourgoin, Episode #344)

To discover a company's authentic point of view, ask the founder what frustrated them—what was the straw that broke the camel's back that made them start the business. Push past friendly, diplomatic answers by asking "why" repeatedly until you surface genuine frustration or disagreement with how competitors or incumbents solve the problem. (Source: Dmitry Shamis, Episode #238)

Define your point of view before assessing competitive gaps

Establish the company's authentic point of view first, then assess the competitive landscape. Avoid leading with competitive gaps, as this can dilute authentic messaging and cause you to become reactive to competitors. Once you understand why you're doing something, assess gaps to find opportunities that still align with your core POV. (Source: Dmitry Shamis, Episode #238)

State the obvious—it's a competitive advantage

Ideas that seem obvious to you often represent a competitive advantage because few people have the courage or clarity to state them publicly. If something feels obvious to you, it's likely because you've thought deeply about it—but most people haven't. Stating the obvious clearly and repeatedly can differentiate you in a crowded market. Don't dismiss an idea as too simple or well-known; if you're the one saying it consistently and with conviction, it becomes associated with you. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #344)

ICP and Audience Definition

(Note: how narrowly to define your ICP is contested — see Where Experts Disagree)

Narrow your positioning to a specific audience

Resist the urge to broaden messaging to appeal to multiple personas or future use cases. Pick one primary audience and write messaging specifically for them. This creates more differentiated, compelling messaging because most competitors try to be all things to everyone. Even if you have room to grow within a single audience segment, a narrow, focused message will outperform a watered-down message aimed at everyone. (Source: Emma Stratton, Episodes #295 and #234)

When defining your ICP, resist the temptation to list multiple personas or segments. Pick one core persona and focus your positioning, messaging, and go-to-market motion around that buyer. If you try to sell to 10 personas, you're effectively selling to none. (Source: Trinity Nguyen, Episode #219)

Identify a single primary persona (bullseye) for content strategy. Acknowledge that other personas will still benefit (the outer rings) but won't be your primary focus. This requires internal alignment and the willingness to say no to competing personas. (Source: Devin Reed, Episode #196)

Choose to deeply understand a tightly defined customer segment rather than claim a large but poorly understood market. Have difficult conversations with leadership about market size constraints if needed. (Source: Andrew Davies, Episode #195)

Use 'clarity is kind' to justify saying no

When facing pressure to serve multiple ICPs, product lines, or customer segments, invoke the principle that 'clarity is kind'—unclear positioning harms the business. Saying no to some customers and business units is actually kind because it allows you to serve your core market exceptionally well. (Source: Kira Federer, Episode #254)

Accept that strong positioning requires saying no to customer segments, product lines, and revenue opportunities that don't fit your core narrative. The risk of insulting or excluding some customers is the price of clarity. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episodes #314, #300, #254)

Flagship Message and Core Narrative

Establish one flagship message before anything else

Identify one overarching, clear message that all other messaging ladders up to. Start by asking your team: "If you could be known for one thing, what would it be?" and "What do you want to own in customers' minds?" If team members give different answers, this signals misalignment that must be resolved before proceeding. This prevents the "messaging buffet" problem where companies try to communicate too many value propositions at once, overwhelming buyers. (Source: Diane Wiredu, Episode #300)

Establish a single core narrative—the singular story everyone in the organization should tell. Once established, build a messaging framework with 2-3 pillars. All subsequent content (case studies, vertical-specific messaging, buyer journey content) should ladder back to this framework. (Source: Kira Federer, Episode #254)

Name the villain, not the competitor

Identify the villain—not your competitor, but the underlying cause of your buyers' problems. This becomes the focal point for your flagship message. Examples: Loom's villain is time-sucking meetings; Cloud Zero's villain is unpredictable cloud billing. Naming the villain makes it easier for buyers to understand why your solution matters and creates a clear narrative anchor for all messaging. (Source: Diane Wiredu, Episode #300)

Plant a flag: own one specific thing

Choose a single, specific attribute or benefit and go all-in on it. Don't try to be the fastest, most accurate, and most comprehensive—pick one and own it completely. Example: Superhuman positioned on speed (fastest email experience), Tutanota on privacy (end-to-end encrypted email). (Source: Diane Wiredu, Episode #300)

Pick your 'one word' to own a category and drive word-of-mouth. This word serves as your North Star internally (keeping content focused) and externally (carving out mind share). The word should trigger mentions in closed-door conversations where prospects discuss solutions to their problems. Pick the word by ensuring it aligns with three criteria: your audience cares about it, you have expertise in it, and you sell it. (Source: Devin Reed, Episode #196)

Define 'red threads' and publish them to your team

Identify 3-5 core truths about your product, market, category, or customers that you want to consistently reinforce across all marketing efforts. Call these 'red threads' and publish them to your team. Give your team creative freedom to execute however they want, as long as they're hitting on these red threads. This approach lets you maintain brand consistency and strategic focus while empowering teams to be creative without needing your approval on every execution detail. (Source: Kady Srinivasan, Episode #276)

Tie narrative to product roadmap

When a company has a clear strategic narrative, it should inform product acquisition and development decisions. This creates obvious alignment: if you acquire a new product, position it within the existing narrative. This makes the product roadmap predictable to the entire company and ensures sales, marketing, and product are operating from the same story. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episodes #232 and #170)

Competitive Differentiation Tactics

Reframe the competition—don't just claim to be better

Rather than positioning your product as 'better' at the same thing competitors do, reframe what the competition is actually good at and position your product for a different use case or buyer. This shifts the conversation away from feature comparison to buyer fit. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #219)

Recognize that in most B2B sales cycles, the primary competitor is buyer status quo (the current way of doing things), not other vendors. Prospects can agree your solution is objectively better and still choose to stay with their current approach because it's 'good enough.' Instead, messaging should focus on making prospects aware of the unintended negative consequences of their current state and creating curiosity about alternatives. (Source: Jen Allen-Knuth, Episode #343)

You cannot create demand—only redirect existing demand. Demand exists as a river of existing needs; your job is to position your product as a canal that diverts some of that flow to you. Validate that demand exists by checking if competitors exist in your space—multiple competitors are proof that buyers already exist. (Source: Louis Grenier, Episode #322)

Distinguish distinctive from differentiated

Differentiation is the ability to claim you're the only one doing something or the best choice compared to competitors. Distinctiveness is the ability to be noticed and stick in people's minds regardless of product features. In a crowded market, you can be highly distinctive through brand assets, creative, and personality even if your product is similar to others. Don't confuse the two. (Source: Louis Grenier, Episode #322)

Use meaning-free brand assets to stand out

Create one or two brand assets that have no logical connection to your product category—these are 'meaning-free' assets that make you memorable and distinctive. Examples: Gong's Bruno the bulldog (nothing to do with sales calls), PostHog's hedgehog. Avoid making all brand assets meaningful (like every copywriter using a fountain pen logo)—that creates confusion because many competitors do the same. Use meaning-free assets alongside category-appropriate ones so you're still recognizable as part of your category but completely different from competitors. (Source: Louis Grenier, Episode #322)

Ensure your story is defensible and unique to you

A great story built on weak positioning advantages your competitors because they can tell the same story. When crafting your narrative, start with your actual differentiated value, then build a story around it that only you can authentically tell. The story must make your differentiator the only thing that matters to solving the customer's problem. (Source: April Dunford, Episode #309)

When developing brand messaging or creative, ask: could a competitor claim the exact same thing and have it be believable? If yes, the message is not differentiated enough and should be rejected. (Source: Ari Yablock, Episode #284)

Teach buyers how to spot false competitor claims

When competitors make claims you can also make (but more truthfully), don't shy away from your differentiated value. Instead, create content and sales talking points that teach prospects how to evaluate those claims critically. In sales calls, ask prospects specific questions that expose competitor weaknesses. This positions your truth as the obvious choice without directly attacking competitors. (Source: April Dunford, Episode #309)

Create a competitive positioning map for sales enablement

Create a simple table mapping your distinct capabilities (3-5 max) against status quo, specific competitors, and competitive approaches. For each capability-competitor pairing, mark what's possible (green) and impossible (red). This gives sales teams a mental map of which capabilities to emphasize in each competitive situation, and enables content marketers, product teams, and outbound to extract relevant talking points without needing separate battle cards. (Source: Talya Heller, Episode #246)

Differentiate through people and culture

In B2B, differentiation increasingly comes from the people behind the brand, not just product features. Encourage employees and team members to share content about the company, build personal brands, and act as ambassadors. This creates a human-centered brand narrative that competitors with similar features cannot easily replicate. (Source: Amanda Goetz, Episodes #244 and #158)

Differentiate through bold, contrarian messaging when competitors have poor UX

When competitors have products with poor user experience, use bold messaging that directly addresses customer pain points. This type of messaging can generate attention and differentiate when the product genuinely solves a major problem. This works when you have a real product advantage and when the market is ready to hear a contrarian message. (Source: Priscilla Barolo, Episodes #302 and #193)

Disrupt boring verticals with cohesive brand strategy

Look for industries where all competitors follow the same playbook and everything looks identical. These are ripe for disruption. The opportunity isn't a one-off campaign; it's a complete brand strategy built around differentiation from day one. Every touchpoint—packaging, copy, channel choice, creative style—should reinforce the disruptive positioning. (Source: Mark Schaefer, Episode #261)

To stand out in oversaturated markets, systematically disrupt one of three elements: the story (narrative), the channel (where it's told), or the storyteller (who tells it). Rather than overhauling everything, changing one of these three creates differentiation because most competitors do all three the same way. (Source: Mark Schaefer, Episode #261)

Brand Building as Competitive Strategy

Build brand as primary competitive advantage when product differentiation is difficult

In markets with many similar competitors, product alone cannot be the differentiator. Instead, invest heavily in brand building through social media, content, and personality. Brand creates top-of-mind awareness and emotional connection that drives preference and loyalty. Social media strategy becomes a core business strategy, not a marketing tactic. (Source: Chris Cunningham, Episode #347)

(Note: whether human creativity or AI-assisted content is the right moat for brand building is contested — see Where Experts Disagree)

Think of brand as gravity—build digital mass

Think of brand as having 'gravity'—the stronger the brand, the stronger its pull on buyers during their research phase. Brand gravity requires 'digital mass': consistent, valuable presence across the channels where buyers are searching and asking questions. When buyers launch into a search, strong brand gravity keeps them engaged with you until they're ready to engage directly with sales. (Source: Lisa Cole, Episode #315)

Plan for 95% of buyers being out of market

Recognize that only 5% of B2B buyers are actively in-market at any given time; 95% are not yet evaluating solutions. Your strategy must invest heavily in top-of-funnel brand awareness and nurture to build mental availability and trust with the 95% who will eventually buy. When those buyers do enter the market, they will already know your brand, trust it, and be more likely to include you in your consideration set. (Source: Davang Shah, Episode #338)

Position marketing as a memory game

Recognize that in competitive markets, marketing's primary job is to win the memory game—ensuring your brand is top-of-mind when prospects enter the market. This reframes success away from immediate lead generation toward long-term brand recall and reputation building. (Source: Gurdeep Dhillon, Episodes #280 and #203)

Define brand as reputation and point of view, not visual identity

Reframe how you think about brand in B2B. Brand is not primarily about logos, colors, or visual identity—those are brand identity elements. Brand is your reputation: what people say about you when you're not in the room, what perspective you bring to the market, and the story people can tell about why they should buy from you. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #129)

Build brand narrative through consistent content distribution

A strong brand narrative must be communicated consistently across all owned channels: website, content, social media, email, and other properties. The narrative should be visible and reinforced in everything you publish. Don't keep the narrative in a Google Doc—operationalize it by ensuring your differentiated point of view appears throughout your content strategy. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #129)

Use the StoryBrand framework to position customer as protagonist

Apply the StoryBrand framework: your customer is the main character (protagonist) facing a problem. Your brand is the guide (like Yoda to Luke Skywalker) that helps them solve the problem and win. This reframes your messaging from being about your product to being about the customer's success. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #129)

Make your customer the hero of your marketing narrative. Center your entire marketing strategy around elevating and celebrating your customer, not your company. Consistently communicate that your customers matter, their work matters, and their profession matters. (Source: Erin May, Episode #337)

Invest in the last 20% of brand execution

Most companies do the first 80% of branding (pick colors, tagline, positioning statement, trade show booth). The last 20%—the details that embed brand identity into everything the company does—is what actually creates a memorable brand. This includes decisions like: what color are the headphones, what gift do we give at a dinner party, how does the box open, what language do we avoid using. (Source: Ari Yablock, Episode #284)

Deliberately exclude certain words from your brand vocabulary

Brand strategy includes deciding what NOT to say, not just what to say. Identify words or phrases that contradict your brand positioning and remove them from your vocabulary across all communications. This forces you to find new language that aligns with your positioning and prevents you from defaulting to industry clichés. (Source: Ari Yablock, Episode #284)

Ground brand story in actual product design and company reality

Don't invent a brand story that doesn't reflect what you've actually built. The brand narrative must emerge from the real problem your product solves and how it's designed. The story is the framework for communicating why the product exists, not a marketing overlay on top of an unrelated product. (Source: Ari Yablock, Episode #284)

Use cognitive behavioral branding to test strategy effectiveness

Apply the CBT triangle model to brand strategy: beliefs → feelings → actions. Test whether your brand messaging changes customer beliefs (not just surface-level actions). A strong brand strategy should shift what customers believe about their situation, which then influences how they feel, which drives their actions. Ask: does this strategy get people to believe differently, or just act differently? (Source: Ari Yablock, Episode #284)

Invest in brand and visual identity as a durable differentiator

In markets where multiple well-funded competitors emerge with feature parity within 3 years, brand and visual identity become the durable differentiator. A strong, distinctive brand (visual identity, tone, aesthetic) compounds over time and is harder for competitors to replicate than product features. (Source: Eli Rubel, Episode #120)

Brand Strategy Process and Frameworks

Start brand strategy with a written narrative script

Before building a website, sales deck, or visual identity, write out the complete brand story as a script or narrative in a document. Read this script to founders and leadership to get alignment on the core story and messaging. Incorporate their feedback, then use this validated narrative as the foundation for all downstream deliverables. This prevents getting stuck in deliverable details and ensures the story remains coherent across all touchpoints. (Source: Ari Yablock, Episode #284)

Use a five-question framework to structure your company narrative

Build your company narrative by answering five core questions: (1) Who is your audience? (2) What is their problem? (3) How big is the opportunity? (4) How are you uniquely positioned to solve it? (5) What is your specific point of view that nobody else has? This narrative becomes the foundation for all downstream marketing work and AI-assisted campaign generation. (Source: Pranav Piyush, Episode #285)

Reserve brand positioning and core narrative work for human-led strategy sessions

Do not use AI to generate your core brand positioning, manifesto, or company narrative. These foundational strategy documents should be created through human deliberation—ideally with founders, co-founders, and key leaders sitting together to discuss and debate your point of view, market perspective, and unique positioning. AI can help refine or organize these ideas, but the core thinking must come from human judgment and conviction. Once this human-driven work is complete, AI becomes a powerful tool for translating that positioning into campaign ideas. (Source: Pranav Piyush, Episode #285)

Build foundational strategy documents before generating creative ideas

Create a set of prerequisite strategy documents before feeding inputs into AI tools for campaign ideation. These include: a company manifesto or narrative, category entry points, jobs-to-be-done, positioning document, brand personality/tone/archetypes, and a curated list of behavioral psychology principles relevant to your market. Without this foundational work, AI outputs will be generic and undifferentiated. (Source: Pranav Piyush, Episode #285)

Define category entry points to establish mental associations

Create a document listing specific moments, contexts, or scenarios when your target audience should mentally associate your brand with a solution. These are not product categories but mental associations—e.g., 'when thinking about quarterly business reviews, think Paramark.' Write out 5-10 of these entry points. This becomes an input for AI-generated campaign ideas and helps ensure all marketing activities plant seeds in prospect minds at the right time and place. (Source: Pranav Piyush, Episode #285)

Run brand strategy workshops with core leadership

Conduct 2-3 part workshop sessions with a small group of core leaders (founders, VP of Product, design lead, marketing lead) to define brand strategy. Use exercises like 'if we were a car/celebrity/superhero, who would we be?' and 'who are we fighting against?' to uncover brand personality, archetype, and associations. Then translate these into visual identity, tone, and content direction. (Source: Chelsea Castle, Episodes #262 and #172)

Define brand personality before visual identity

Before selecting fonts, colors, or visual design elements, conduct a structured exercise to identify your brand's core personality traits and how they should manifest. Identify qualities like maturity paired with playfulness, or authority paired with friendliness. This personality definition then informs all downstream design decisions, ensuring coherence across all brand touchpoints rather than random aesthetic choices. (Source: Udi Ledergor, Episode #237)

Use the brand pyramid framework

Use the brand pyramid framework to move beyond functional product features and compete on emotional and psychological grounds. The pyramid layers are: functional benefits (what the product is), rational benefits, emotional benefits, brand personality, and brand essence (what emotion you want someone to feel). This forces you to articulate what you stand for beyond features, especially useful when competing in crowded markets. (Source: Amanda Goetz, Episodes #244 and #158)

Use the 'only statement' to test positioning specificity

Craft a precise brand positioning statement using the formula: 'You are the only [blank] for [blank] to do [blank] in a time where [blank].' This forces specificity in language and helps you articulate what makes you unique. (Source: Amanda Goetz, Episodes #244 and #158)

Use the brand positioning spectrum exercise

Create a spectrum chart plotting opposing brand attributes (e.g., social vs. personal, community-focused vs. individual-focused) and have your executive team place your brand on each spectrum. This reveals disconnects between how different leaders perceive the brand and forces clarity on positioning. (Source: Amanda Goetz, Episodes #244 and #158)

Use aspirational brand positioning to guide product roadmap

Define where you want to live in the consumer's mind (your aspirational positioning) even if you can't fully deliver on it today. Use this as a north star to guide your product roadmap and development priorities. Frame it as 'where do we want to go as a brand?' and build a roadmap to get there. (Source: Amanda Goetz, Episodes #244 and #158)

CMO owns brand strategy process, but collaborates across functions

The CMO and marketing team should own the responsibility and process for developing brand strategy, but this must be a deep collaboration with product, sales, and CEO. Marketing is the 'lightning rod' for driving alignment, but cannot do it alone. (Source: Peter Mahoney, Episode #128)

Organizational Alignment and Execution

Avoid positioning by committee

Position your company through a tight partnership between the CEO and one or two key marketers rather than seeking consensus from a broad committee. The CEO should publicly empower the marketing lead to own positioning decisions, even if input is gathered from other stakeholders. Committee-based positioning fails because it dilutes creative vision and creates endless revision cycles. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #189)

Use press releases as an internal forcing function

Write press releases not just for external distribution, but as an internal exercise to force the organization to articulate what the product actually does and who it's for. Require C-suite approval (CEO, CFO, General Counsel) on all press releases. This process surfaces misalignment on positioning, product value, and target buyer, and ensures the entire organization is aligned before external communication. (Source: Marcy Comer, Episode #324)

Repeat core messaging across all touchpoints

Treat marketing messaging like a political campaign: the stickier and more repeated your message, the more the market will be aware of it and the better your sales team will tell that story. Audit all customer touchpoints (ads, SDR outreach, AE calls, CSM interactions, executive communications) to ensure messaging consistency. By the time internal teams are tired of repeating a message, external audiences are just beginning to absorb it. (Source: Kyle Coleman, Episode #123)

Share one core message one thousand different ways—not one thousand messages one time. Identify your core point of view and repeat it through many different formats, channels, and creative executions. Consistency in core message with variety in execution is more effective than constantly changing what you're saying. (Source: Louis Grenier, Episode #322)

Commit to 'boring' marketing—consistency over novelty

Research across 100 companies shows that successful GTM strategies rely on consistency and repetition of proven messaging, not constant creative reinvention. Examples: Chick-fil-A kept the same cow campaign for decades; Salesforce kept 'Dreamforce'; HubSpot kept 'Inbound.' Instead of chasing new creative ideas, focus on what actually drives business outcomes. This requires resisting internal pressure to change messaging for the sake of novelty. (Source: Sangram Vajre, Episode #299)

Establish strong positioning before launching ABM

ABM success depends on having a compelling company narrative, clear point of view, and strong positioning. Without a good reason to reach out and a differentiated story, ABM tactics (account lists, distribution, content) will not work. Positioning and messaging drive marketing success; all other ABM components are secondary. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #186)

Combine brand and product marketing under one leader

Merge brand and product marketing teams under a single senior director to ensure that messaging scales consistently from the company mission and category positioning down to individual product features and launches. This structure ensures that all campaigns—from brand activations to product launches—are thought about in a consistent way and aligned to the overall brand strategy. (Source: Shane Murphy, Episode #173)

Specific Positioning Contexts

Vertical and persona-specific positioning

For service businesses targeting multiple verticals, develop industry-specific positioning and messaging for each vertical rather than relying solely on overall company positioning. Plan in 6-month cycles to allow positioning to sink in and reach target audiences. Coordinate outbound campaigns and content roadmaps around these vertical-specific offerings, messaging, and target personas. (Source: Sara Lattanzio, Episode #268)

Instead of selling to all enterprise customers with a generic value proposition, verticalize your go-to-market by developing positioning, messaging, and sales enablement specific to each vertical. This allows you to speak directly to the pain points and language of each vertical, making your solution more relevant and compelling. (Source: Kimberly Storin, Episode #229)

Develop persona-specific strategic stories for specific buyer personas (e.g., HR, Finance, IT) before attempting to craft an overarching company narrative. For each persona, define the strategic message. This makes storytelling more tractable and allows you to build credibility with each audience. (Source: Ryan Narod, Episode #330)

Positioning for PE-backed and enterprise companies

For PE-backed companies, use marketing and positioning to help the company achieve the valuation multiple it's targeting in 3-4 years. Think about how the market perceives your company, what category you're in, and how you're differentiated. This elevates marketing from a cost center to a strategic driver of company value. (Source: Kimberly Storin, Episode #229)

In enterprise sales, buyers make decisions with their heart (emotion, trust, confidence) and then justify with their head (ROI analysis, speeds, capabilities). Lead marketing efforts with emotional appeals—brand trust, confidence that the solution will work and won't jeopardize their career—rather than leading with intellectual arguments like ROI or feature comparisons. (Source: Melton Littlepage, Episode #223)

Provoke a binary buyer decision by presenting your solution as fundamentally different from existing alternatives. Force buyers to choose between 'go left or right at a fork in the road' rather than 'choose flavor A, B, or C of the same thing.' Present the modern approach vs. staying with the original plan. (Source: Melton Littlepage, Episode #223)

Positioning for startups with limited budget

If you're a startup with minimal budget and expertise, do not start with AEO tools or complex content strategies. Instead, focus first on clarifying your positioning, messaging, and differentiated value proposition. Identify who cares most about that value. Once positioning is solid, build a small, manageable content strategy focused on answering real buyer questions. (Source: Marcy Comer, Episode #324)

Positioning for AI-driven buyer research

Ensure your company's positioning, messaging, and competitive differentiation are crystal clear and accurate across all channels, because buyers now conduct research via AI summaries and LLM-based tools rather than visiting your website directly. AI systems will surface your messaging in their outputs, so clarity and accuracy in how you describe who you are, what you do, and who you compete against directly impacts how prospects discover and understand you. (Source: Lindsay O'Brien, Episode #304)

As large language models increasingly influence buyer research and decision-making, shift content strategy to optimize for AI consumption alongside human readability. This means being explicit and clear in positioning statements, ensuring differentiation is unambiguous to LLMs, and structuring content so that when prospects ask ChatGPT or similar tools about your category, the AI surfaces your key differentiators accurately. (Source: Jason Lyman, Episode #263)

Positioning in mature markets

For companies in established categories, relevance depends on continuous product innovation. Have product marketing work as a conduit between engineering and market: gather win/loss data, competitive intelligence, market trends, and customer feedback; sit in on customer meetings; understand what engineering is building. Then translate product innovations into positioning that addresses evolving buyer pain points. (Source: Kelly Hopping, Episode #255)

Distinguish sustainable product differentiation from temporary advantages and double down on messaging around sustainable points. Work with product leadership to identify which product investments and capabilities are sustainable long-term differentiators versus temporary competitive advantages. (Source: Jason Lyman, Episode #263)

What NOT To Do

• Do not position by committee. Seeking consensus from a broad group dilutes creative vision and creates endless revision cycles. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #189)
• Do not default to category creation without evaluating alternatives. Category creation is harder and riskier than other ownable idea types; evaluate coined problems, frameworks, identity labels, or X vs. Y distinctions first. (Note: this is contested — see Where Experts Disagree) (Source: Katelyn Bourgoin, Episode #344)
• Do not change your core ownable idea frequently. Many companies pivot too quickly when results aren't immediate. Test messaging, not the core idea. (Source: Katelyn Bourgoin, Episode #344)
• Do not try to appeal to everyone. Trying to serve multiple ICPs, product lines, or customer segments results in unclear positioning that helps no one. (Source: Kira Federer, Episode #254; Dave Gerhardt, Episodes #314, #300, #254)
• Do not lead with feature comparisons in crowded markets. In commoditized markets, avoid playing the feature comparison game. Instead, create a bigger story or philosophy that resonates with buyers. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #214)
• Do not invent a brand story that doesn't reflect what you've actually built. The brand narrative must emerge from the real problem your product solves and how it's designed. (Source: Ari Yablock, Episode #284)
• Do not use AI to generate your core brand positioning or company narrative. These foundational strategy documents should be created through human deliberation. (Source: Pranav Piyush, Episode #285)
• Do not keep your narrative in a Google Doc. Operationalize it by ensuring your differentiated point of view appears throughout your content strategy. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #129)
• Do not try to please everyone with marketing copy. The goal is to be clear about what you do and who you serve, even if that means some internal stakeholders don't get their thing featured. Clarity beats consensus. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #314)
• Do not invest in tactics before positioning is clear. Before investing in any marketing tactic or channel, ensure your company has a clear, differentiated positioning. Without clear positioning, no tactic—podcast, cold calling, paid ads—will be effective. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #140)
• Do not chase best practices blindly. Best practices often become fossilized dogma passed down without critical examination. They spread quickly because they're easy to copy, creating industry-wide conformity. The real competitive advantage comes from non-conformity. (Source: Mark Schaefer, Episode #261)
• Do not sell future roadmap features. Focus on the company's vision and what's available today rather than selling features that are coming in the future. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #163)
• Do not rely on copy to create differentiation that doesn't exist in the product. Copy cannot create differentiation that doesn't exist in the product. If your product is a 'me-too' offering with no meaningful difference from competitors, even excellent copy will struggle. (Source: Will Hoekenga, Episode #181)
• Do not introduce competitors to prospects who haven't heard of them through top-of-funnel comparison content. (Note: this is contested — see Where Experts Disagree) (Source: Kyle Coleman, Episode #206)
• Do not apply a universalism-failing tactic. Before investing in a marketing tactic, ask: "If everybody had this, would it still work?" If not, it's a gimmick that will lose effectiveness once competitors adopt it. (Source: Jaleh Rezaei, Episode #248)

Where Experts Disagree

1. Should you narrow your ICP to one core persona or define personas broadly by shared pain points?

Support summary: 5 vs 1

Position A — Narrow to a single persona: Emma Stratton (Episodes #295 and #234), Trinity Nguyen (Episode #219), Devin Reed (Episode #196), and Andrew Davies (Episode #195) all argue for picking one primary audience and writing messaging specifically for them. Their shared reasoning: most competitors try to be all things to everyone, making narrow positioning a differentiator; if you try to sell to 10 personas, you're effectively selling to none; and narrow positioning doesn't limit growth—it enables better messaging that resonates more strongly.

Position B — Define personas broadly by shared pain points for top-of-funnel: Shane Murphy (Episode #173) recommends creating broad persona definitions for top-of-funnel brand messaging based on common pain points and use cases rather than specific job titles. His reasoning: this allows multiple stakeholders (head of design, head of growth, head of engineering) to see themselves in the same persona and messaging, reducing the need for separate messaging tracks while maintaining relevance across a diverse audience.

Context dependency: Shane Murphy's broad persona approach is explicitly scoped to top-of-funnel brand messaging, while the narrow ICP advocates are speaking to overall positioning and messaging strategy. This distinction partially dissolves the disagreement—narrow for positioning, broader for top-of-funnel awareness—but the underlying tension about how specific to be remains genuine.

Why it matters: Defining your ICP too broadly produces generic messaging that resonates with no one; defining it too narrowly may limit reach in awareness campaigns where multiple stakeholders need to self-identify with your brand.

2. Should you use structured frameworks or informal creative collaboration to develop positioning?

Support summary: 4 vs 1

Position A — Use structured frameworks: April Dunford (Episode #309) advocates for a structured approach: resolve go-to-market strategy questions first, then apply a systematic framework covering competitive alternatives, differentiated capabilities, value for target segments, and market category—arguing this rigor is necessary especially for multi-product companies. Kira Federer (Episode #254) explicitly recommends using April Dunford's positioning framework and argues that a positioning exercise serves as a forcing function for organizational alignment. Emma Stratton (Episode #234) distinguishes positioning as a strategic document that makes deliberate decisions, implying a structured process is necessary. Jeff Hardison (Episode #335) recommends simple, memorable frameworks like the one from 'Crossing the Chasm' because they're easy for the entire company to remember and use—though he emphasizes simplicity over complexity.

Position B — Informal creative collaboration over frameworks: Dave Gerhardt (Episode #189) describes developing positioning through informal creative collaboration with the CEO (text messages, walks, brainstorming) rather than formal frameworks, arguing that frameworks can actually inhibit the creative process and reduce buy-in if they feel overly process-heavy.

Context dependency: Dave Gerhardt's informal approach may work best when the CEO and marketer have a close working relationship and strong intuition about the market. Structured frameworks may be more necessary for larger organizations, multi-product companies, or when there is leadership misalignment. However, both sides are speaking to the general question of how to develop positioning, making this a genuine disagreement.

Why it matters: Choosing the wrong approach can result in either positioning that's strategically rigorous but lacks creative conviction, or positioning that's creatively compelling but misses critical competitive dimensions—both lead to messaging that fails in market.

3. Should brand building and performance marketing be treated as equal priorities, or should brand come first?

Support summary: 2 vs 1

Position A — Integrate brand and performance as equal priorities: Davang Shah (Episode #338) explicitly argues against the false dichotomy between brand and performance, recommending parallel campaigns where brand warms the audience and performance converts warm leads, with both measured together. Dave Gerhardt (Episode #316) recommends allocating time and budget to both short-term revenue generation and long-term brand building simultaneously, arguing both should coexist rather than choosing one.

Position B — Brand first, then layer performance: Dave Gerhardt (Episode #281) recommends combining strong brand and organic content foundation with paid advertising only after establishing brand presence, suggesting a sequenced approach where brand comes first and paid amplifies later (around $5M+ ARR).

Context dependency: Strongly context-dependent by company stage. The 'brand first, then performance' position is explicitly scoped to early-stage companies, while the integrated approach is more applicable at scale. This disagreement largely dissolves when stage is accounted for, though Dave Gerhardt's own advice differs across episodes, suggesting genuine internal tension even for the same expert.

Why it matters: Investing in performance before brand foundation is established wastes budget on audiences who don't recognize you; waiting too long to add performance leaves revenue on the table from in-market buyers who are ready to convert.

4. Is category creation the right ownable idea strategy for most B2B companies?

Support summary: 2 vs 1

Position A — Category creation as a primary strategy: Ari Yablock (Episode #284) argues that category creation requires long-term founder and leadership commitment and is a core identity decision for the company—a multi-year effort measured through search volume, media mentions, and inbound interest. Anthony Kennada (Episode #145) positions brand/thought leadership marketing as the primary go-to-market strategy, implying category-level thinking is the core lever for demand generation.

Position B — Category creation is not always the right approach: Katelyn Bourgoin (Episode #344) explicitly states that category creation is just one of six types of ownable ideas and is often harder and riskier than alternatives. She argues that coined problems, frameworks, identity labels, and X vs. Y distinctions are often more achievable and equally effective, and that companies should evaluate these before defaulting to category creation.

Context dependency: Category creation may be more appropriate for well-funded companies with long runways, while alternatives like coined problems or frameworks may suit earlier-stage or resource-constrained companies. However, Bourgoin's argument is explicitly about strategic choice regardless of stage, making this a genuine disagreement about default strategy.

Why it matters: Choosing category creation when a simpler ownable idea would suffice wastes resources and time; choosing a narrow ownable idea when category creation is possible leaves market leadership on the table. The right call shapes years of positioning investment.

5. Should you mention competitors by name in your top-of-funnel content?

Support summary: 1 vs 1

Position A — Mention competitors for credibility: Ross Simmonds (Episode #200) recommends explicitly naming competitors (e.g., 'there are actually a handful of great tools out there, like Close, HubSpot, Salesforce') rather than only promoting your own product. His reasoning: this builds trust and makes content feel authentic because it signals you're not biased, making your content feel more like genuine advice and less like a sales pitch.

Position B — Avoid competitor mentions at top of funnel: Kyle Coleman (Episode #206) explicitly advises against competitor comparison pages or content at the top of the funnel, arguing it risks introducing competitors to prospects who may not have heard of them and distracts from your unique vision. Instead, architect a 'from-to' journey that forces prospects to choose a different future state rather than compare alternatives.

Context dependency: Ross Simmonds' advice applies to content designed to answer buyer questions authentically (e.g., 'what CRM should I use?'), while Kyle Coleman's advice targets proactive top-of-funnel campaigns where you control the narrative. However, both are speaking to top-of-funnel content strategy, making this a genuine tactical disagreement.

Why it matters: Mentioning competitors can either build credibility or inadvertently educate prospects about alternatives they'd never considered—getting this wrong either makes your content feel like a sales pitch or hands leads to competitors.

6. Should you prioritize human-created content over AI-generated content as a competitive moat?

Support summary: 3 vs 1

Position A — AI-native content and product as a requirement: Tom Wentworth (Episode #304) argues that if your product doesn't leverage AI, you'll struggle to compete, framing AI integration as a requirement rather than an option. Jennifer Cannizzaro (Episode #267) recommends feeding AI core messaging, tone examples, and past work to maintain brand consistency in AI-generated content, treating AI as a standard content production tool. Adina Timar (Episode #336) recommends building structured brand kits from sales intelligence specifically to enable LLMs to understand and apply brand positioning consistently, treating AI content generation as a core workflow.

Position B — Human creativity as the competitive moat: Chris Cunningham (Episode #347) argues that audiences still prefer human-created content, that AI-generated videos feel artificial and lack nuance, and that human creativity and brand personality are the primary competitive advantage when product differentiation is difficult. He recommends investing in real creators and writers rather than automating content creation with AI.

Trend note: The AI-native position comes from episodes in late 2025, while the human creativity moat argument comes from April 2026—suggesting this debate is ongoing and not resolving in one direction.

Context dependency: Chris Cunningham's advice specifically addresses video and creative content where human authenticity matters most, while the AI-native position addresses broader content production and product strategy. However, both are speaking to competitive positioning in content creation, making this a genuine disagreement about strategic direction.

Why it matters: Betting on human creativity as a moat when AI content becomes indistinguishable wastes resources; betting on AI when audiences still prefer human authenticity produces content that fails to build emotional connection and brand loyalty.

Sources