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Mobius
Intermediate

What is positioning

Also known as: market positioning, brand positioning

Definition

Positioning is the place your business takes in the customer's mind next to the alternatives: who it is for, what it is compared with, and why it wins.

Why it matters

If customers cannot tell what to compare you with, they compare you on price.

Common mistakes

Describing the product instead of the place it takes in the customer's mind.

Related terms

Worked exampleIllustration

The positioning statement of a fictional studio

The statement

  • For adults who sit all day and live nearby
  • who want a steady routine without a crowded gym,
  • the studio is a small group pilates studio
  • that keeps every class at 6 people, so the instructor corrects each one.
  • Unlike big gyms and online videos, nobody is left unnoticed.

The five parts

  1. For whom Name the people the studio is for and what they want.

  2. Category Say what kind of business it is, so people know what to compare it with.

  3. Alternatives Name what they would use otherwise: a big gym or a free video.

  4. Difference Say what the studio does differently: every class stays at 6 people.

  5. Why it matters Say why that matters to them: the instructor corrects each person.

Five parts: for whom, the category, the alternatives, the difference and why it matters. The statement stays internal, and the website and the ads say it in customers' words.

Illustration

An empty spot on the customer's map

No rival sits near this spot: close to home, and the instructor corrects each person. That is the place the studio's positioning statement claims.⁨At home⁩⁨Across town⁩⁨How far from home⁩⁨Personal attention⁩⁨Free online⁩⁨videos⁩⁨The big gym⁩⁨A crowded gym⁩⁨class⁩⁨Another studio⁩⁨across town⁩⁨The studio⁩

Drag the gold dot, or focus it and use the arrow keys.

No rival sits near this spot: close to home, and the instructor corrects each person. That is the place the studio's positioning statement claims.

The axes are what the fictional studio's customers compare. A spot can also be empty because nobody wants it, so check it against what customers ask for.

Definition

Positioning decides how a customer files your business in their head, next to the other options they already know. The word comes from Jack Trout's 1969 article in Industrial Marketing, and in Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (1981) Al Ries and Jack Trout put the idea in one line: positioning is not what you do to a product, it is what you do to the mind of the prospect. The alternatives are not only competitors. They include doing nothing, a free video, a big chain or a friend who does it cheaper, and later writers such as April Dunford in Obviously Awesome (2019) start positioning from those alternatives. Positioning chooses the place, and the value proposition is the sentence that claims it on the website and in the ad.

Why it matters

Clear positioning tells them who the business is for and what it does differently from the options they would use otherwise, so the choice is about fit. It also tells the owner which customers and which requests to turn down.

Directly related: Value Proposition, ICP, Persona.

Improvement tips

  • List what your customers would use if you did not exist, including doing nothing and free options.
  • Write a positioning statement: for whom, the category, the alternatives, the difference and why it matters to them.
  • Check that the first line of your Google Business Profile, your Instagram bio and your answer to "why you?" on WhatsApp say the same thing.
  • When you draw a map of the market, use axes customers actually compare on, such as group size or distance from home.

Common mistakes

  • Treating only direct competitors as the alternative, while customers compare you with doing nothing or with a free option.
  • Moving into an empty spot on the market map without checking whether anyone wants it.
  • Saying one thing on the website, another in the ads and a third on WhatsApp.

Related terms

MarketingBeginner

Value Proposition

A value proposition is the one clear promise of what a customer gets from you: which problem you solve, for whom, and why that beats their other options.

MarketingIntermediate

ICP

An ICP (ideal customer profile) is a short description of the type of customer who gets the most value from you, pays well and stays, and of who not to chase.

MarketingBeginner

Persona

A persona is a short portrait of one typical customer, built from real conversations and data, that you picture when you write an ad, a post or a page.

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Quick check

According to Ries and Trout, where does positioning happen?

Choose an answer

Frequently asked questions

What is positioning in marketing?
The place your business holds in customers' minds compared with their other options. It answers three questions: who it is for, what people compare it with, and why they would pick it.
What is a positioning statement?
An internal sentence that fixes the position: for whom, what the business is, what they would use otherwise, and what it does differently that matters to them. Customers never read it as written. The website and the ads say it in their words.
Who are my alternatives?
Everything a customer could choose instead of you, not only businesses like yours. For a small studio that includes a big gym, a free online video and staying on the sofa.
What is the difference between positioning and a value proposition?
Positioning chooses the place in the customer's mind. The value proposition is the promise that claims that place, in the headline of the site and the first line of the ad.
Is positioning only for big brands?
No. Every business has a position, chosen or not, because customers file it somewhere. A small business can choose it with one decision, such as serving one kind of customer or working in one clear way.
Where does positioning show up day to day?
In the first line of the Google Business Profile, the Instagram bio, the headline of the site and the answer to "why you and not someone else?" on WhatsApp.
How do I know my positioning is unclear?
If people ask why you and not someone cheaper, or describe you in words that do not match yours, the position you meant is not the one they see.
Should I aim for an empty spot on the market map?
Only after checking why it is empty. Sometimes nobody is there because nobody wants it. The axes should be what customers compare on, not what you like about yourself.
Does positioning mean choosing whom not to serve?
Largely, yes. A position that fits everyone says nothing. Choosing a group means the ads, the words and the services are built for them, while others can still buy.
Can I change my positioning?
Yes, but everywhere at once: the site, the profile, the ads and the way you answer. A new position that appears in one place only confuses people who already know you.
Where does the word positioning come from?
From Jack Trout's 1969 article in Industrial Marketing. Al Ries and Jack Trout later expanded it into the book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind (1981).
Do I need a branding agency to find my positioning?
You can start alone: list the alternatives, ask a few customers why they chose you, and write the statement. Outside help is useful when your customers' answers point in different directions.

Sources: Jack Trout, "'Positioning' is a game people play in today's me-too market place", Industrial Marketing, June 1969 (republished at innismaggiore.com), Al Ries and Jack Trout, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, 1981, April Dunford, Obviously Awesome, 2019

Last reviewed: 2026-09-24

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