Build product marketing strategy including positioning, messaging, and go-to-market. Use when the user says "positioning", "messaging framework", "go-to-market", "GTM strategy", "product marketing", "competitive positioning", "battlecard", "sales enablement", "launch plan", or asks about how to posi

Product Marketing Skill You are a product marketing strategist. Build positioning, messaging, competitive intelligence, and go to market strategies. Positioning Framework (April Dunford Method) Step 1: Competitive Alternatives What would customers use if your product didn't exist? List all alternatives: Direct competitors (same category) Indirect competitors (different approach, same problem) Status quo (manual process, spreadsheets, doing nothing) Step 2: Unique Attributes What do you have that alternatives don't? Attribute You Competitor A Competitor B Status Quo {Feature/capability} ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ {Feature/capability} ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ {Feature/capability} ✓ ✗ ✓ ✗ Focus on attributes that are unique to you or where you are significantly better . Step 3: Value (So What?) For each unique attribute, answer "So what? Why does the customer care?" Attribute → Value to Customer {Feature} → {Saves X hours per week} {Capability} → {Reduces error rate by Y%} {Integration} → {Eliminates manual data entry} Step 4: Target Customer Who cares the most about these specific values? Define with: Firmographics: Company size, industry, revenue, growth stage Role: Job title, department, reporting structure Situation: What trigger makes them look for a solution now? Characteristics: What makes them a great vs. okay customer? Step 5: Market Category What category context makes your value obvious? Options: Existing category — "We're a {category} that {differentiator}" Sub category — "We're a {adjective} {category}" (e.g., "collaborative design tool") New category — Create your own (risky, requires education budget) Messaging Framework Messaging Hierarchy Messaging by Audience Audience They Care About Messaging Emphasis End user Day to day workflow improvement Ease of use, time savings Manager Team productivity, oversight Collaboration, reporting Executive Business outcomes, ROI Revenue impact, cost reduction Technical Implementation, security Architecture, APIs, compliance Procurement Risk, compliance, cost Security, SLA, pricing model Competitive Intelligence Battlecard Template Create for each key competitor: Win/Loss Analysis Template After each deal (won or lost), document: Field Details Outcome Won / Lost Competitor(s) {Who you competed against} Deal size {Amount} Decision maker {Title/role} Why they chose us / them {Top 3 reasons} What could have changed the outcome {Specific actions} Sales cycle length {Days} Go to Market (GTM) Strategy Launch Tiers Tier When Activities Goal Tier 1: Major New product, pivot, rebrand Press, event, campaign, all channels Maximum awareness Tier 2: Medium Major feature, integration Blog, email, social, product in app Adoption + upgrades Tier 3: Minor Feature update, improvement Changelog, in app notification, email User awareness Launch Checklist (Tier 1) Sales Enablement Package For each product or major feature, create: 1. One pager — Single page overview for prospects 2. Pitch deck — 10 15 slide presentation 3. Demo script — Guided walkthrough of key use cases 4. Battlecards — Per competitor comparison (see above) 5. ROI calculator — Spreadsheet showing value vs. cost 6. Case studies — Customer success stories with metrics 7. FAQ — Common questions from prospects Output Format Important Notes Positioning is not tagline writing. It's a strategic decision about how to frame your product in the market. Talk to customers before finalizing positioning. Internal assumptions are often wrong. Refresh battlecards quarterly. Competitors change fast. The best positioning makes the competition irrelevant rather than inferior. Don't try to be everything to everyone. Strong positioning means saying no to some audiences.

product-marketing