I’ve worked in B2B marketing for a while, and there’s one question I’ve both loved and dreaded asking: “Is it time to update our positioning?”

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Loved, because a good positioning revamp makes everything clearer. Dreaded, because updating your positioning isn’t just slapping on a new headline and calling it a day. It touches sales. Marketing. Enablement. Product. Customer Success. Basically, your entire go-to-market squad.

Positioning is your product’s context; it’s how you define who your solution is for, why it matters, and how it stacks up against the rest of the market. So when big things shift (your customers, competitors, or the world at large), it might be time for a little positioning refresh.

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How often should you revisit your positioning?

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Let’s get one thing straight: you don’t need to overhaul your positioning every time your competitor sneezes out a product update. That way lies chaos.

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That said, if those competitor moves actually change how your customers perceive value, then yes, you should pay attention. A good rule of thumb? Review your positioning every six months. If nothing’s changed, great! You get to keep it moving. If something’s off, better to catch it early than let it tank your GTM efforts.

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April Dunford (author of Obviously Awesome, a book every product marketer should probably have tattooed on their arm) has a great framework that guides this kind of positioning review. Gather your cross-functional dream team—Founder/CEO, marketing, sales, product, customer success, engineering, support—and work through these six questions:

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1. Competitive Alternatives – If your product didn’t exist, what would your customers use instead?
   
   
2. Distinct Attributes – What do you offer that your competitors don’t?
   
   
3. Differentiated Value – What value do those distinct attributes actually unlock?
   
   
4. Customers That Care – Who actually gives a damn about that value?
   
   
5. Markets You Win – In what scenarios does that value shine the brightest?
   
   
6. Trends – What broader market or tech shifts make your product a no-brainer right now?
   
   

This framework is especially useful when you’re thinking about how to update your positioning in a way that’s grounded in reality, not just gut feel or internal politics.

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Work through these honestly. If the answers look different than they did six months ago, that’s your cue. Update your positioning canvas, then hand it off to your messaging lead (probably your product marketing manager) to cascade into your messaging, sales decks, website copy, and everything else downstream.

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Five signs it’s time to revisit your positioning

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Still not sure if it’s time? Here are some pretty clear signs that your B2B product positioning needs a refresh:

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1. You’ve launched a major new product or feature.
If your shiny new functionality unlocks value your competitors can’t touch, you’d better be shouting it from the rooftops (or at least your homepage).

2. Your once-unique differentiators are now table stakes.
If a competitor has caught up (or leapfrogged you), you need to rethink what makes your solution stand out.

3. Your win/loss and churn data is telling a story.
If you’re losing deals or customers for reasons you don’t fully understand, it’s worth digging into whether your value prop is off, or just being miscommunicated.

4. There are new kids on the block.
A new competitor (or an M&A move that makes an old one suddenly a lot scarier) can change your positioning landscape overnight.

5. The world has changed.
A recession. Regulatory shakeups. A pandemic. (Too soon?) Macro-level shifts can make even the most dialed-in positioning feel irrelevant fast.

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Positioning isn’t forever, but “meh” is a hard vibe to shake

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One of the biggest mistakes I see? Companies that treat positioning like it’s a set-it-and-forget-it artifact. It’s not. It’s a living, breathing strategy document that should evolve with your business, your customers, and the market. If your team is starting to feel like your story isn’t landing (or no one on your team can explain your product the same way twice), it’s probably time.

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Revisiting your positioning doesn’t mean your old one was “bad.” It just means your business has grown, the landscape has shifted, and you’re smart enough to keep up.

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Want help running your next positioning sprint?
Hit up Miracle Max Marketing. We’ll bring the frameworks, the customer insight, and maybe a little tough love. You bring the coffee.

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