Position. Revisit. Repeat.

Congrats on nailing your product positioning. Now it’s time to do it again.

Everyone knows there’s no rest in business. In Sales, you’re only as good as your last won deal. In Marketing, you’re only as good as your last campaign. In Product, you’re only as good as your last release.

In Product Marketing, you’re only as good as the last time you confirmed your positioning, because all of the above rests on that.

There are two parts of positioning that you need to master - and by master I mean the old-fashioned technique of doing something over and over again until you’ve got it right. These two parts are the framework and the content. Let’s dive in.

Mastering the Framework

There are several models to choose from when adopting your product’s formal positioning. Current trends favor the shorter, more concise, single sentence version, but there are more detailed and more thorough models that offer up certain advantages, at least in my books.

It comes down to components of a messaging statement. A strong one will identify the following:

1. WHO you’re after: this would be the main User persona or team, those who use your product day in, day out, to get their work done. This is not the Buyer, who has different motivations for choosing one solution over another.

2. WHAT you sell: a simple, factual description of your product and what it does. No benefits or advantages yet, you’ll get to that.

3. WHY it’s needed: Ideally the One Big Reason someone would need a product like yours. This isn’t your differentiator, it’s generic. That’s because you need a disciplined way of articulating and tracking that there’s real need and real demand for your product. Saw what you want about innovation and disruption, but ideas fail if they can’t get hitched to real demand, period.

4. WHY YOU: OK now you can talk about how you’re different and better. But you do this by framing it around why your customers choose you (which you asked them already, right? Good!). These are your differentiators, your stakes in the ground, your flags on the hill.

Here’s an example for you to chew on, using an entirely obsolete yet simple product which was innovative in its time - the mail cart. I’ve chosen this because I’m pretty sure I won’t risk offending any product marketers working on positioning right now:

For Mail Room Clerks (Who) at companies with staff spread over multiple floors or even multiple buildings on a campus, Acme Mail Carts (What) help carry mail and packages from the mail room to multiple addressees in one trip so they can distribute mail and packages quickly and safely (Why), because in today’s business world, the quicker you get your mail the more productive you will be (enhanced Why). Our customers choose Acme Mail Carts because they’re made from longer-lasting components, are guaranteed to not tip over, and are weather-resistant for both indoor and outdoor use (your core Differentiators).

There are other frameworks you can use to articulate your positioning. I like this one because it forces me to address users, demand, and competitors all in one. Here’s a handy template you can use to create your own positioning document.

Go ahead and find one that works for you, just make sure it forces you to pay attentions to more than one product dimension.

Mastering the Content

Congrats! You’ve got your positioning documented and ready to be shared across your organization. Take a breath, maybe grab a snack, and get ready to do it again.

Doing positioning well means revisiting the content on a regular cycle to ensure it’s still accurate, resonant, and unique. There’s no easy rule her for how often you should do this, as it’s entirely dependent on the pace of change in your industry. Mail cart positioning probably didn’t have to change all that often.

Assuming your positioning framework is multi-dimensional as advised above, you now have a framework for adjusting it piece by piece. Maybe your user base shifted; maybe there’s a new-found use for your product; or maybe a competitor has caught up to you and eliminated one of your key differentiators. Your framework should force you to ask the tough questions about what you do for whom and why you’re better. You can adjust a piece of your positioning, or all of it as needed. Just as long as you revisit it often.

With new information comes new understanding. Use it to keep your positioning fresh and relevant, and everything else that’s built on it - messaging, competitive intelligence, objection handling, etc. - will retain its integrity and effectiveness.