Positioning

Prerequisites

• A completed product profile, competitor comparison, and priority ICP.
• Proof for the important capabilities and outcomes the positioning will claim.

Permissions

• Editing positioning requires atlas-strategy.access and membership in the selected workspace.
• Claims subject to legal, compliance, or brand review must follow those approval rules before external use.

Step-by-step

1. 1Choose the category or existing process the buyer will use to evaluate the product.
2. 2Write a statement naming the priority customer, buying situation, desired outcome, category, value, alternative, differentiation, and proof.
3. 3Connect the value proposition to a material problem, current capability, observable result, and credible mechanism.
4. 4Keep only differentiators that matter to the ICP, differ from the relevant alternative, and are supported by proof.
5. 5Align the play audience, message, channel, success metrics, and guardrails with the positioning.

Expected result

The positioning gives the selected buyer a clear reason to understand and evaluate the product, while the play can generate evidence for or against the proposed distinction.

Troubleshooting

• Generic wording: name the customer, situation, alternative, and measurable value.
• Differentiator lacks proof: label it as a hypothesis or remove it from the approved claim set.
• Category creates wrong expectations: choose the buying frame the customer already understands.
• Play does not test positioning: realign the audience, message, channel, and success metric.