My Full B2B Positioning Playbook for 2025
6-step positioning process to make your marketing better
Hello, welcome to this edition! 👋
While most marketers focus on quick wins…
The best marketers focus on mastering the fundamentals.
And one of the most crucial fundamentals to nail for your business is your positioning.
So, here’s what you’ll learn in this edition:
Why positioning is the foundation of successful marketing
The 6-step method to creating whatever positioning you desire
My favorite way to position myself in my market
First off, what is positioning?
Positioning is the place your brand occupies in the minds of your customers, and how it is distinguished from the products of your competitors.
It sounds deceptively simple, right?
But it’s a deep and complex process — one you should spend a lot of time thinking about and forging for your business.
Why positioning is the foundation of marketing
What most people don’t realize is positioning affects EVERYTHING else in your marketing.
Your messaging… your content… your emails… your sales process…
These are all based on, driven by, and aligned with your positioning.
And because positioning happens in the mind of your customers, you can’t control it 100%.
While most of us marketers wish we had mind control powers, sadly we don’t.
And so, the only way we can influence our positioning in the minds of our customers, is with a very subtle and coherent process.
Here’s my exact “5+1” step way of doing it:
The 6 steps to forging your positioning
Step 1: Decide your “desired positioning”
How do you want to be perceived by your audience, prospects, and customers?
Everything to do with your B2B marketing should stem from this question.
Here’s why: if you don’t decide WHO YOU ARE, the market will decide for you. And trust me, you might not like their decision!
These 6 sub-questions will help you get started deciding your desired positioning (specific examples to follow):
What problem are you solving
Don't just state the obvious surface problem. Dig deeper.
For example:
❌"We help with social media management"
✅ "We help B2B companies stop wasting time and money creating content that doesn't generate pipeline"
How do you solve it differently?
This isn’t just about the features you offer with your product or service. That’s too surface level and won’t drive breakthrough results.
What’s your unique approach that allows you to solve your prospects' problems differently than any way they’ve seen before?
Your unique approach should communicate:
What outdated or inefficient method you’re replacing
How your solution fundamentally changes the way things are done
Why your prospects will get better results using your method vs. competitors’
Who is your enemy?
Your enemy isn’t your competition — it’s the status quo that keeps your prospects stuck in their current struggles.
Most brands make the mistake of solely positioning themselves against a competitor.
❌ “We’re better than [Competitor X] because we do [Feature Y] better.”
(Of course you would say that… They’re your competitor, after all!)
But this approach only forces you into a comparison game that limits differentiation, eroding your ability to charge premium prices. Instead, define your real enemy — the outdated, inefficient, or frustrating way of doing things that your solution dethrones.
How do you fight this enemy?
Once you’ve identified your enemy, you need to show exactly how you’re taking it down.
This includes challenging industry beliefs with original points of view, and illuminating how your solution — and only your solution — is the remedy to your audience’s most burning pain points.
Here are some ways to differentiate your approach:
Your methodology – A structured, repeatable system that delivers results.
Your frameworks – Proprietary models or step-by-step systems that simplify complex problems.
Your unique process – The “secret sauce” techniques you use to solve problems differently than anyone else in your industry.
Because many B2B buyers have been burned before, they’re rightfully skeptical that your solution isn’t as great as you claim it is.
By highlighting how you operate differently — in concrete, jargon-free language — you give prospects hope that your solution is what they’ve been yearning for all along, and that this time they’ll finally see success with your offer.
Why you?
With so many options in the market, why should they trust you to solve this problem? Your positioning should highlight what makes you (or your business) qualified.
Ask yourself:
What experience, skills, or expertise set you apart?
Do you have case studies, testimonials, or proven results?
What perspective or philosophy makes your approach fresh?
The more clearly you define why you’re the obvious authority on a topic, the easier it will be for your audience to see you as the go-to solution.
(If you want a shortcut to beef up your authority, fast, then check out my Authority-First Content course — trusted by 420+ savvy B2B marketers and founders.)
What is your personality?
People do business with people.
So, how do you want to be perceived in terms of your:
Communication style
Market presence
Brand voice
Are you funny? Or do you take a more serious data-driven approach?
Are you direct and to the point? Or more emotional and conversational?
Do you tell engaging stories? Or do you focus on factual, step-by-step info?
This point might sound trivial. But, believe it or not, your personality and “vibe” are a core part of your positioning. The right voice makes your brand memorable, relatable, and trustworthy to the right audience.
Note: The 6 questions above are a great start on deciding your positioning. But they are by no means an exhaustive list!
Before you move on to step 3;
Have a look at my Authority-first framework course where I teach you how to set up your positioning and content strategy.
Step 2: Create your positioning strategy
By now you’ve decided on your positioning.
Now, it’s time to turn this vision into a plan.
The question is:
How are you going to achieve this desired positioning? And with what resources?
One way is by choosing your “positioning angle”.
You can do this by stating your:
Ideal Customer Positioning
Mention your audience precisely in your messaging and headline.
Example:
"For B2B SaaS companies struggling to expand their organic reach…"
Use Case Positioning
Show how your solution can be used in a precise situation.
Example:
"When your sales team needs to close enterprise deals faster..."
Killer Feature Positioning
Promote your main feature as an entry point (then push other features).
Example:
"The only AI-powered sales automation tool that learns from your top-producing discovery calls..."
Step 3: Create your messaging strategy
You need to decide on a set of messages that will help you to forge your desired positioning.
It is essential that there is continuity between your positioning and your messaging.
Without continuity, your prospects will be confused and — as I’ve said before — a confused prospect never buys.
In your messaging, you want your audience to feel the weight of their problem and see your solution as the only logical choice.
To achieve this, your messages must address what I call PUR problems:
P - PAINFUL
Is the problem costly enough to solve?
If the problem isn’t causing real pain, businesses won’t act. Your messaging must highlight the true cost of inaction — whether that be lost revenue, wasted time, inefficiency, or competitive disadvantage.
✅ “Every day your leads go unanswered, you're losing potential six-figure deals.”
U - URGENT
Why do they need to solve it right now?
Businesses — just like people — put off solving problems until there’s a pressing reason to act. Your messaging should trigger a sense of urgency by showing the risks of delaying their purchase.
Missed opportunities… increased expenses… or getting left behind in their industry, for example.
✅ “AI-powered competitors are already slashing their acquisition costs by as much as 36% per year — imagine how much indecision might be costing YOU by not embracing the AI revolution, starting yesterday?”
R - RECOGNIZED
Do they even know they have this problem?
If your prospect isn’t aware of the issue, they won’t be looking for a solution.
Your messaging should frame the problem in a way that makes them see just how big of an issue it is for them. Pull them down the stages of awareness from least-aware to most-aware.
✅ “You don’t have a prospecting problem — you have a follow-up problem that’s costing you deals.”
When your messaging specifically targets PUR problems, your audience will begin to feel like they NEED your offer, right now. And suddenly you’ll stop hearing “maybe’s” and start hearing “hell yes’es”.
Here is more information about the PURE problem:
Step 4: Deploy your messaging across channels
Your messaging strategy depends on not just what you say, but where you say it.
It must be the same across all platforms.
One of the worst things you can do is to have different messages across different channels:
Why?
Because B2B buying journeys are long and nonlinear, like this:
Prospects might visit your website, see an ad weeks later, and finally read an email before reaching out.
So buyers must see the same message everywhere, over and over, to trust you.
Where to Maintain Message Consistency:
Website copy – Your homepage, landing pages, and product pages should reinforce your key message.
Social media – Every post, ad, and bio should communicate the same core positioning.
Sales materials – Decks, proposals, and one-pagers should mirror your main messaging.
Email campaigns – Whether nurturing leads or closing deals, your emails should echo the same positioning.
Customer support – Even post-sale, your team should mirror the same value propositions to enhance retention.
PLUS anywhere else your prospects and customers interact with you.
When each touchpoint with your prospect tells the same story, you’ll build authority a lot faster.
Step 5: Repeat messages with consistency
Once you deploy your messages across your channels — STICK TO IT.
Don’t change your message every two weeks.
The reason marketers pivot too quickly with their messaging is because they don’t see instant results.
What they forget is that positioning is a long-term game, not a one-time event.
Each interaction you have with a prospect should move them an inch closer to a decision.
Each touchpoint builds trust. Each repetition reinforces your positioning.
If you change your messaging too often, you’re starting from zero every time.
Before you move on to step 6;
In my course The Authority-first framework, I teach you how to create content that attracts your ideal buyers.
Step 6: Influence your perceived positioning
Thanks to steps 1-5, you will now be able to have a strong influence on the market’s perception of you.
You’ll be able to become “top of mind”.
But remember, there is a difference between desired positioning and perceived positioning.
Desired positioning = how you want to be seen — what you want to be known for, your ideal place in the market, and the reputation you want to have.
Perceived positioning = how your market actually sees you — based on your messaging, interactions and overall brand presence.
Your goal is to make these align as closely as possible.
But this is only possible if you follow steps 1-5 correctly and consistently:
Here’s a recap infographic:
To summarize the steps:
1. Desired Positioning – Define what you want to be known for.
2. Positioning Strategy – Create a plan to make it happen.
3. Messaging Strategy – Craft messages that reinforce your positioning.
4. Messaging Deployment – Deliver those messages consistently across all channels.
5. Messaging Repetition – Stay consistent over time to establish ‘top of mind’.
6. Perceived Positioning achieved ✅
When you execute these steps properly, your audience starts to see you the way you want to be seen. Your brand becomes memorable, credible, and top-of-mind. That’s when positioning truly works its magic — making business a lot simpler for you.
Alright that’s the end of this newsletter 👋 I hope it helped you! Thanks for reading :)
P.S. In my opinion, the most effective positioning you can have is simply being perceived as an authority and expert in your niche.
To find out how I can help you do just that with your B2B content, check out the 6-minute video on this page here.
I like the way this stresses a holistic approach to brand messaging
Amazing stuff as always