Product Positioning
Product positioning is a strategic activity that affects many business decisions, from your products, services, and company culture to the messages communicated to the market. It ensures everyone is working from the same playbook and is communicating the same messages. It also forces you to identify and spell out the benefits of your product for each type of buyer. Positioning should take place early, not right before you go to the market.
Who is Responsible for Product Positioning?
Product positioning is a key element of product management, but others should have input. We recommend a committee of no more than six people work together on a positioning strategy.
Here is how product positioning impacts various teams:
- Engineering and development: Clear understanding of problems and priorities helps the team make informed decisions.
- Marketing and communications: Understanding market needs enables them to highlight the product’s unique value.
- Sales: Knowing the product’s purpose helps the team effectively communicate benefits to attract buyers.
What is a Product Positioning Document?
A product positioning document focuses on conveying product value to buyers, resulting in a family of documents that communicate how the product will solve specific customer problems and drive all outbound communications. It should define the problem, offer a solution and include an approximately 25-word message for the target persona. It should also provide a product description and list 3-5 key capabilities.
Tailor the message to different buyer types—functional, financial and technical—based on their priorities like workflow, ROI, or integration.
Download The Pragmatic Framework
Want to learn more about Product Positioning and its essential role in the Pragmatic approach to product? Download the Pragmatic Framework, which explores key concepts in product management and marketing, from market research through development and into product life cycle support.
