# GTM positioning strategy Human Guide

## What This Is For
Find and own a defensible market position. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for brand and messaging: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the GTM positioning strategy agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for GTM positioning strategy.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the GTM positioning strategy guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- "Our messaging sounds exactly like competitors"
- "Brand awareness is strong but conversion is weak"
- "Sales team can't explain why we're different"
- "Buyers see us as interchangeable"
- "Should we reposition before we rebrand?"
- "How do we test positioning claims?"
- Competitive markets with similar offerings
- Messaging that isn't converting
- Repositioning existing products
- Sales team reports buyer confusion
- Autonomous (implies: no control, replacing humans)
- Replaces (threatens: job security)

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: When to Use, Core Frameworks, One Word Can Change Everything (The "Autonomous" Problem), Test Before You Commit (Crawl-Walk-Run Positioning Rollout), Positioning Clarity Diagnosis, Market Positioning Architecture (Three Layers), Headline and Sub-headline Testing, Positioning Defensibility Assessment, Decision Trees, Should We Reposition?.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Positioning isn't what you do. It's what you **don't say**.
- Positioning changes create risk. Brand confusion. Sales misalignment. Customer churn (if existing customers don't recognize you).
- Existing customers don't say "wait, that's not what you do"
- If testing validates, align product and sales to new positioning (but don't rebrand publicly yet).
- Why existing solutions don't work
- Is this credible given current product? (No = don't claim it yet)
- Positioning on features competitors can easily match. This creates positioning treadmill — you're always defending, never owning.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the GTM positioning strategy human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the github/awesome-copilot skill entry for `gtm-positioning-strategy`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Positioning Strategy

Find and own a defensible market position. Turn generic messaging into clear differentiation — or at least test whether your differentiation actually resonates before committing to it.

## When to Use

**Triggers:**
- "Our messaging sounds exactly like competitors"
- "Brand awareness is strong but conversion is weak"
- "Sales team can't explain why we're different"
- "Buyers see us as interchangeable"
- "Should we reposition before we rebrand?"
- "How do we test positioning claims?"

**Context:**
- Competitive markets with similar offerings
- Messaging that isn't converting
- New product launches
- Repositioning existing products
- Sales team reports buyer confusion

---

## Core Frameworks

### 1. One Word Can Change Everything (The "Autonomous" Problem)

**The Pattern:**

Early enterprise conversations for an autonomous AI product. Positioned as "autonomous AI agent."

Developers: "Cool, but scary."
Managers: "Will this replace our team?"
Deal progression: Slow. Lots of "we'll think about it."

**The Change:**

One word: "autonomous" → "AI teammate"

Same product. Same capabilities. Different framing.

**Result:**

Developers: "This helps me."
Managers: "This makes my team more productive."
Deal progression: Measurably faster.

**Why This Matters:**

Positioning isn't what you do. It's what you **don't say**.

We could've said "replaces developers" (technically true for some tasks). Would've killed every enterprise deal.

**The Framework: Word Choice Shapes Buyer Psychology**

**Words that scare enterprises:**
- Autonomous (implies: no control, replacing humans)
- Replaces (threatens: job security)
- Fully automated (removes: human judgment)
- AI-first (means: unclear, buzzword)

**Words that convert:**
- Teammate (implies: collaboration, helping)
- Augments (helps: makes humans better)
- You stay in control (reassures: human oversight)
- Handles repetitive work (specific: saves time)

**How to Test Word Choice:**

Don't guess. Test.

**Test 1: Outbound Email A/B**
- Send 100 prospects Version A ("autonomous agent")
- Send 100 prospects Version B ("AI teammate")
- Measure: Reply rate, meeting booked rate
- Signal strength: High (real buyer intent)

**Test 2: Website Homepage A/B**
- Version A: Current positioning
- Version B: New word choice