The Nuances of Positioning for A New Tech Product (An Introduction)

These days, the niche approach to differentiation is a known and often recommended (best) approach for newer product companies that want to position in order to win in a competitive market.

When thinking about positioning to win and differentiation, you need to clearly identify which customers find your offering most valuable and determine where you can help your customers best. You need to ask your customers and prospects, and do your research from the outside perspective, but it’s also critical to think about the viability of your strategic positioning for your company (an internal approach) and think wisely when determining that niche.

Know that the positioning process will take time and it will be an interesting journey as you learn more while your product evolves. There are several key considerations when you’re deciding on a strategic path forward. A few are below:

Key questions to ask when identifying your niche

• Is the niche value (the offering) you want to position around repeatable and scalable?
• What’s the TAM for the niche? Is it big enough to scale your business within a couple years?
• Is the TAM and your future vision and product roadmap enticing for VC funding or for the acquisition in you’re after?
• Can your team acquire the necessary talent, resources and knowledge to provide your niche offering at the highest level, to win against the competition?
• For product development: How long will it take you to get there?
• Do you have the time and finances to build new product capabilities that delight your core customers?
• Since your product roadmap is evolving and dynamic, how can you continue to service your core niche, while potentially expanding or deepening it (to earn more revenue) over a period of time?
• How do you find the edge between challenge and growth opportunity, and weigh that against the costs of team burnout? This is a very difficult task for many companies, and a lack of focus can lead to team burnout.
• Do you have strategies and resources in place for the important work of building positive culture, diversity and inclusion? I’ve seen some great examples of things you can do, even as you rapidly scale!

There are so many nuances in every startup’s and scale-up’s journey, and yet there seem to be very clear patterns across them. As we discuss these topics, we learn from each other, each bringing different contexts to bear.

Designing the right process and framework to determine your product’s ideal positioning is important. It takes resources and deliberate dedication and it’s something you need a point-person/facilitator on.

#marketing #positioning #strategy #productmanagement #startups #niche #tech

I would love to hear some of your own observations on what it takes to win, and why the considerations above can be particularly challenging. Has your team struggled with these questions? Please post in the comments!