Who This Helps
This is for growth marketers who have done the hard work of a competitor claim audit but now need to get everyone on the same page. It’s straight from the Market Intelligence & Positioning course. If you’re tired of circular meetings, this is your playbook.
Mini Case
Zaid’s team was stuck. They had 200+ competitor claims but couldn’t agree on a direction. He built a simple positioning grid with 4 comparable criteria. In one 30-minute meeting, he showed the clear tradeoffs. The team approved the new strategy. They launched a test campaign in 7 days that increased qualified leads by 15%.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Grab your completed Competitor Claim Audit. Isolate the 3-5 claims that are actually backed by customer evidence.
- Pick your one ICP wedge. Write down the single, strongest piece of evidence that justifies this choice.
- Build your one-page positioning grid. Use 4 clear axes for comparison, like ‘Ease of Use’ vs. ‘Depth of Features’.
- Place your main competitors and your own company on the grid. Be brutally honest about where you land.
- Frame the meeting around one question: ‘Based on this evidence, which trade-off gives us the biggest wedge?’
Avoid These Traps
- Don’t present raw data. Your stakeholders need a synthesized story, not a data dump.
- Don’t try to ‘win’ on all grid axes. A strong position often means proudly losing on one dimension to win on another.
- Don’t let the conversation drift into hypotheticals. Anchor every point back to the evidence from your audit.
- Don’t skip the ‘so what.’ For each point on the grid, state the clear implication for messaging and channels.
- Avoid jargon. Use plain language like ‘easier to start’ instead of ‘lower activation friction.’
- Never go into the meeting without a specific recommendation. Your job is to guide to a decision.
- Don’t forget to classify claims as narrative noise. Point out the fluffy claims competitors make that have no proof.
- Resist the urge to add more slides. One powerful page is better than ten confusing ones.
Your Win by Friday
Your win isn’t a perfect strategy. It’s a decided one. By Friday, you’ll have your one-page positioning artifact approved. You’ll move from talking about the market to acting in it with a clear bet. That’s how you turn analysis into execution—no guesswork, just momentum. Go get that green light.