Who This Helps
This is for growth marketers who see a dip in a key channel and need to know why—fast. The Market Intelligence & Positioning course gives you the exact framework to move from panic to pinpointing.
Mini Case
Zaid saw a 15% drop in qualified leads from his main channel last month. He spent a week checking ad copy, landing pages, and audience targeting. Nothing was broken. The real issue? A competitor launched a new feature that changed how their shared customers evaluated solutions. He found this by building one simple artifact.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Block 90 minutes on your calendar for a solo session. Close all other tabs.
- Write down the exact KPI that dropped and the date it started. Be specific (e.g., 'SQLs from LinkedIn Ads down 18% since April 10').
- Grab the 'Positioning Grid' mission from the Market Intelligence & Positioning course. Your goal is to build it with one focused change: use it to compare your offer against 2-3 key competitors on the criteria your ICP cares about right now.
- For each competitor, list their 3 loudest claims. Then, quickly scan review sites or recent win/loss calls. Mark which claims have real customer evidence and which feel like narrative noise. This is your 'Competitor Claim Audit'.
- Spot the gap. Where did a competitor's evidence-backed claim create a new trade-off that your recent messaging doesn't address? That's likely your root cause.
Avoid These Traps
- Don't jump to tweaking tactics (like bids or headlines) before you check the competitive landscape. You'll just optimize in the wrong direction.
- Don't try to analyze more than 3 competitors. It creates paralysis. Focus on the ones your sales team hears about most.
- Don't do this in a noisy, 30-minute gap between meetings. You need focused time to connect the dots. Your future self will thank you for the quiet hour.
- Avoid using gut feeling to classify competitor claims. Let public customer evidence (reviews, case studies) make the call. It keeps you honest.
- Don't build the grid for every possible feature. Stick to the 4-5 comparable criteria that actually drive your ICP's decision. This isn't a product spec sheet.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you'll have one clear page—your Positioning Grid—that shows exactly where a market shift squeezed your previous message. You'll know if the KPI drop was a platform algorithm, a budget cycle, or a real competitive wedge. Then you can craft a counter-move based on evidence, not guesswork. You've got this.