Positioning: The Why, the Who, and the How w/ Sharon Scott

02/21/24 • 35 min

The Marketing Mix: Thought-starters for B2B Business Leaders

Positioning is a fundamental part of marketing strategy. But it’s not always explicitly defined, particularly in small, fast-growing companies. In many cases, it’s based purely on the original intent of the founder, and reflects early-adopters. But as a business scales, it’s worth taking time to think through the Why/Who/How of your product or service, so you can develop the messaging and the Go-To-Market strategy that’s going to have an impact.
Sharon Scott knows how to craft a positioning statement. As a marketing strategist and founder of OtterScope, Sharon works with companies to define their place in the market. And in this episode of The Marketing Mix, she shares the frameworks and strategies she uses to get to the “why” of brands and products.
We also discuss how marketing acts as the bridge between internal stakeholders, and the alignment of Product and Marketing teams. And Sharon shares some thoughts on how AI might be used to assist in customer research and the positioning process.
Key Takeaways:

Positioning considers the "why" of a product combined with the "who" of the target audience, along "how" the brand adds value
Even for tech products, a user’s emotional response is an important part of the positioning
Don’t underestimate the value of unplanned, casual conversations across teams to break out of the silos
AI tools might not be ready to play a major role in positioning, but they can help with early customer research tasks

Connect with Sharon:

Find Sharon on LinkedIn

And check out OtterScope
A couple of good reads:
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind - by Al Ries and Jack Trout. One of the classic books on the subject
Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore. I mention this during the conversation with Sharon

Positioning considers the "why" of a product combined with the "who" of the target audience, along "how" the brand adds value
Even for tech products, a user’s emotional response is an important part of the positioning
Don’t underestimate the value of unplanned, casual conversations across teams to break out of the silos
AI tools might not be ready to play a major role in positioning, but they can help with early customer research tasks

Connect with Sharon:

Find Sharon on LinkedIn

Previous Episode

The Algo-Rythm is Gonna Get You | Improving LinkedIn, plus thoughts on Positioning

To kick off Season Two, Steve talks about marketing topics that have been top of mind since the last episode. He talks about the current state of the LinkedIn algorithm, (not great, but better than the alternative!); the need to productize your offering, whether it’s an actual product or a service; and the importance of positioning and defining your niche.

Steve also introduces his Marketing Mentor program, working with small businesses and their marketing “team of one” to build in-house capabilities and keep projects moving.

Finally, he previews the line up for Season Two of The Marketing Mix.

Links:

“The End of Social Media” – The Economist

The Marketing Mentor Program - More details

Timestamp Summary

00:01:30 What’s wrong with the LinkedIn algorithm

00:04:45 Some steps to improve the quality of your LI feed

00:07:25 The Marketing Mentor Program

00:08:50 Positioning, and finding your niche

00:13:15 What’s coming up on The Marketing Mix

Next Episode

Engage, Deliver, Repeat: Where Marketing and Delivery Meet w/ Chris Heffernan, Founder and CEO of Dlivrd

In this episode, we talk with Chris Heffernan, the co-founder and CEO of Dlivrd. Think DoorDash, but for restaurant catering and same-day food delivery. Chris shares his insights on marketing as a founder, and how it has helped him scale his business.

He discusses Dlivrd's unique positioning in the delivery ecosystem, at the intersection of technology, logistics and customer experience. They’ve created a business culture around the importance of a positive driver experience and building strong relationships with their partners – Chris tips his hat towards the “Happy cows make better milk" slogan from California! And that’s the main thrust of their marketing too - focused on events that celebrate and engage the drivers, and then taking content from those events to share through media channels.
Chris is a big proponent of using video in marketing, and shares his tips on how to get started with shooting your own material. He may not take all his business advice from Instagram(!), but he sure knows how to get attention through his very personality-driven videos

Key Takeaways:

Hosting driver events and creating engaging content from these events has proven to be an effective marketing tactic
Realtors put their photos on business cards for a reason. How do you create that emotional connection?
If you’re not comfortable with being on video, start with a voiceover and some b-roll
Chris believes in making marketing fun and enjoyable, focusing on projects that highlight the company's core values. If it’s not fun, he’s not interested!

Resources:

Check out Dlivrd’s story here

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn here
And watch the pizza challenge video here!

The Marketing Mix: Thought-starters for B2B Business Leaders - Positioning: The Why, the Who, and the How w/ Sharon Scott

Transcript

Positioning is one aspect of marketing strategy that often gets ignored in small businesses. A founder will just “know” what their product does and who’s buying it. And that’s good enough for a while. But as you aim to scale the business, and cross over the chasm to a larger audience, understanding the “true” positioning of the brand or the product becomes more important. And is worth a fresh look.

On this episode, Sharon Scott shares her experience in helping companies under