What Is Positioning in Marketing? Definition, Strategies and a Statement You Can Write Today

Positioning in marketing is the deliberate choice of how you want a specific group of customers to think of your product compared with the alternatives they consider. It is expressed in a short positioning statement naming the customer, the need, the category and the reason to choose you, and it guides every price, message and design decision that follows.

This guide is by Edward Pinela, MBA, who has helped small and mid-sized businesses sharpen their marketing for 20+ years. If you want your own positioning worked out with you, the first step is a free 30-minute strategy call with Edward. Consulting is quoted in writing after the call.

How is positioning different from branding and segmentation?

Segmentation divides the market into groups, and positioning comes after you have chosen which group to serve; our explainer on market segmentation covers that first step. Branding is the expression of the position: the name, logo, colors, tone and promises that make the chosen slot recognizable.

Put simply, positioning is the decision and branding is how the decision looks and sounds. A business with a beautiful brand but no clear position looks polished and still struggles to explain why anyone should pick it. Our guide to designing a brand identity picks up where positioning leaves off.

What are the main types of positioning strategy?

Most positions rest on one of seven bases: price and value, quality, a specific benefit, a use or occasion, a type of customer, a comparison with a competitor, or specialization in a niche. The table shows each with an example and the situation it suits. Pick one primary basis; trying to own three at once usually means owning none.

Whatever you choose must be true and provable. The Federal Trade Commission's advertising FAQs for small businesses say comparative advertising is legal when it is truthful, and that advertisers need objective evidence for their claims. 'Fastest response in the county' is a position only if you can prove it.

How do you write a positioning statement?

Use a one-sentence template and fill every slot with something specific: For [target customer] who [need or problem], [business] is the [category] that [main benefit], because [reason to believe]. The reason to believe is the part most drafts leave vague, and it is the part that makes the rest credible.

A worked example for a hypothetical firm: For owner-run restaurants that lose track of costs between visits from their accountant, Ledgerline is the bookkeeping service that delivers a weekly cost report by Monday morning, because every client is set up on the same daily sales and invoice feed. Every word of that sentence can be checked.

• Target customer: narrow enough to picture one person
• Need: in the customer's words, not yours
• Category: the alternatives the customer is comparing you with
• Benefit: one, not a list
• Reason to believe: a fact, process or proof that supports the benefit

How do you find a position competitors have not taken?

List the three to five alternatives a customer actually considers, including doing nothing or doing it themselves, and note what each one is known for. Then plot them on two dimensions customers care about, such as price and speed, or breadth and specialization. Gaps on that simple map are candidate positions.

The Small Business Administration's competitive analysis guidance describes this as defining a competitive edge that creates sustainable revenue. A gap is only useful if enough customers want what sits in it, so test before committing.

How do you test whether your positioning works?

Three quick tests. Read the statement to five customers and ask whether it describes why they chose you. Put your homepage headline next to two competitors' and see whether a stranger can tell them apart. Then watch your inquiries: a sharper position usually brings fewer but better-fitting leads, because the wrong customers rule themselves out.

Positioning also shapes the rest of the marketing mix. Once the position is settled, our explainer on the 4 Ps of marketing shows how product, price, place and promotion should line up behind it.

When should a business reposition?

When the market has moved and the old position no longer wins, for example when competitors have caught up on the benefit you used to own, or when a product has matured. Our guide to extending the product lifecycle treats repositioning as one of the main extension strategies.

Lightray's marketing consultant services include working out a position with the owner, testing it against competitors, and carrying it through to the website and campaigns. All of it is delivered remotely.

Further reading: FTC Advertising FAQs: A Guide for Small Business (ftc.gov).