# Positioning craft Human Guide

## What This Is For
Claude uses this skill when: Defining product positioning Writing value propositions Choosing market category Differentiating from competitors 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 Positioning craft 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 positioning craft.
- 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 Positioning craft 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
- Defining product positioning
- Differentiating from competitors
- Specific segment, not "everyone"
- Define ideal customer profile
- [ ] What alternatives (honest)
- [ ] Unique value (different)
- [ ] Differentiation is clear

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: When This Skill Activates, Core Frameworks, April Dunford's Positioning Framework, Action Templates, Template: Positioning Canvas, Best For (Target Customer), Category, Alternatives, Unique Value, Proof Points.

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
- Don't say "no competitors"
- **NOT for:** [who should avoid]

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Positioning craft 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 menkesu/awesome-pm-skills skill entry for `positioning-craft`.

## 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 Mastery

## When This Skill Activates

Claude uses this skill when:
- Defining product positioning
- Writing value propositions
- Choosing market category
- Differentiating from competitors

## Core Frameworks

### 1. April Dunford's Positioning Framework

**The Five Components:**

**1. WHO is this best for?**
- Specific segment, not "everyone"
- Define ideal customer profile

**2. WHAT category does this fit in?**
- Existing category or new?
- Sets expectations

**3. WHAT alternatives exist?**
- What do customers use now?
- Don't say "no competitors"

**4. UNIQUE value you provide**
- What's different?
- Why does that matter?

**5. PROOF it's real**
- Evidence/metrics
- Customer stories

---

## Action Templates

### Template: Positioning Canvas

```markdown
# Positioning: [Product]

## 1. Best For (Target Customer)
**Ideal customer:**
- Industry: [specific]
- Role: [specific]
- Problem: [specific pain]
- **NOT for:** [who should avoid]

## 2. Category
**It's a:** [category name]
**Context:** [how customers understand it]

## 3. Alternatives
**Customers currently use:**
- [Alternative 1]
- [Alternative 2]
- [Alternative 3]

**Why they're insufficient:**
- [Reason]

## 4. Unique Value
**We're different because:**
- [Differentiator 1]
- [Differentiator 2]

**Why that matters to customers:**
- [Customer benefit 1]
- [Customer benefit 2]

## 5. Proof Points
- [Metric/case study]
- [Metric/case study]
- [Metric/case study]

## One-Sentence Positioning