# Positioning canvas Human Guide

## What This Is For
This skill implements a proven product management framework. 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 canvas 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 canvas.
- 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 canvas 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
- Context about your product, feature, or problem
- Relevant data, research, or constraints (recommended but optional)
- Clear articulation of what you're trying to achieve
- Prospects don't understand what you are on first contact
- Sales calls require 3+ meetings before "the light comes on"
- You win deals but customers churn because expectations didn't match reality
- Different teams (sales, marketing, product) tell different stories
- It feels obvious — "of course that's what it is"
- Qualified prospects immediately understand why they should care
- Your differentiated value is clear against alternatives
- Everyone in the company tells the same story
- **Define or refine how you compete** — who are the real alternatives?

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Domain Context, Input Requirements, What It Is, When to Use It, When Not to Use It, Resources, Further Reading.

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
- Prospects don't understand what you are on first contact

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Positioning canvas 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 pmprompt/claude-plugin-product-management skill entry for `positioning-canvas`.

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

## Domain Context

This skill implements a proven product management framework. The approach combines best practices from industry leaders and is designed for practical application in day-to-day PM work.

## Input Requirements

- Context about your product, feature, or problem
- Relevant data, research, or constraints (recommended but optional)
- Clear articulation of what you're trying to achieve


# Positioning Canvas

## What It Is

Positioning defines how your product is the best in the world at delivering some value that a well-defined set of customers care a lot about.

**The core insight:** Positioning is not messaging. It's not your tagline. It's the fundamental strategic decision about how you win in the market — what you compete against, how you're different, what value only you can deliver, and who cares most about that value.

When positioning is weak:
- Prospects don't understand what you are on first contact
- Sales calls require 3+ meetings before "the light comes on"
- You win deals but customers churn because expectations didn't match reality
- Different teams (sales, marketing, product) tell different stories

When positioning is strong:
- It feels obvious — "of course that's what it is"
- Qualified prospects immediately understand why they should care
- Your differentiated value is clear against alternatives
- Everyone in the company tells the same story

**Credit:** This framework comes from April Dunford, author of *Obviously Awesome* and *Sales Pitch*, who has positioned over 200 B2B tech companies.

## When to Use It

Use Positioning Canvas when you need to:

- **Define or refine how you compete** — who are the real alternatives?
- **Articulate differentiated value** — why pick you over everything else?
- **Identify your best-fit customers** — who cares most about your value?
- **Choose or validate your market category** — what context makes your value obvious?
- **Align your team** — get sales, marketing, product, and leadership on the same page
- **Build a sales pitch** — translate positioning into a story that wins deals
- **Reposition after market changes** — your product evolved, competition shifted, or customers changed

## When Not to Use It

- **You're pre-product-market-fit** — Keep positioning loose until you see patterns in who loves you and why.
- **You want to validate a hypothesis** — Positioning captures what's true today based on evidence.
- **You're only focused on messaging** — Positioning is an input to messaging, not messaging itself.

## Resources

**Books:**
- *Obviously Awesome* by April Dunford
- *Sales Pitch* by April Dunford
- *Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind* by Al Ries and Jack Trout


## Further Reading

- [Obviously Awesome Positioning Canvas](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/obviously-awesome-positioning-canvas)