Value. Benefits. Features. Proof.
You can use this framework for more than just the product positioning.
Frame, Fill, and Fix the Funnel
Positioning is everything. Here's how I like to think about creating positioning that people will understand.
Mark Kilens
Dec 18, 2024
I've spoken with more than three dozen of founders and CEOs this year. There's one thing that stands out from all of those conversations.
They are missing or struggling to define the right messaging and positioning for their business. Not just for their product, but for their entire business.
The most important things to get right before spending lots of money on marketing to create and capture demand is your messaging and positioning. It's never going to be perfect and it will evolve and change over time. But if there isn't a strong match with what you do, how you do it, and why to the people you're trying to turn into customers, you're going to be burning cash.
Positioning is everything. Here's how I like to think about creating positioning that people will understand.
BRAND - The narrative and POV that you believe
SOLUTION - The problems and how you solve the problems
PRODUCT - The things you offer that will solve the problems and are aligned to what you believe
My most important piece of advice is to find the red thread.
What's the thing that unites each level of positioning?
One way to find the red thread is to think about value creation at the highest possible level. How would you measure the value in one word and how do people get that value in a few words?
For HubSpot, it's revenue by growing better using inbound.
Positioning is storytelling at scale. It helps the brand and its community, customers, and partners take words and use those words to create more value, and to create something meaningful.
Great positioning will increase engagement, conversion, revenue, retention, and advocacy.
Oh, and positioning isn't just for the things that create revenue and profits. It should be applied to your content, events, and other big offers that help bring in those dollar bills.
Once you get your positioning in a good spot, you can start to fill the funnel. Creating demand and helping guide people through their buying experience.
The key question is the problem aware vs. problem unaware one. How much of your ICP fits into those two categories and why? Cause it will help determine how you be filling your funnel.
This is when marketers need to think more like teachers. The best businesses today tell stories and teach. And to fill your funnel with high quality buyers, teaching is critical.
Buyers and customers want value-add content and experiences more than ever before. They're saying, “Stop wasting my time. This doesn't have to be a five-hour course with a certification.”
The key question to ask is how much of your content-led and event-led growth strategy is about educating people versus talking at them. Let me give you an example.
Take a standard webinar. Most aren’t structured in a way that will leave someone with a better understanding of X topic. There's a conversation, there may be some ideas and tips, but they don’t answer the question of how to practically do something different or new.
Instead, design the webinar with the mindset and intentionality that any person who attends or watches the recording should be able to do X afterward. Don't pontificate about a topic. Make it specific, actionable, and focused on the outcome you're trying to create.
Too much content and too many webinars are surface-level ideas or tips that don't go deep enough to create actual change. They might inspire it, but they don't deliver on the how.
Deliver the how and you'll already be better and differentiated from 80% of your competitors.
Right now, go do an audit of your content and events, and look at how many are truly teaching people versus stating the obvious.
And finally, there's fixing the funnel.
If your funnel feels or is broken today, a culprit could be its missing strong messaging, positioning, and storytelling.
I start by looking at the entire funnel and see where there is leakage. If the problem starts at the very top, you don't have enough volume and good conversation rates to subscribers, then it's most likely a positioning and messaging issue.
If the problem is further down, then I might be something more process or system related.
My recommendation is to always make sure you have a finger on the pulse of your funnel and set up weekly pacing of all your leading and lagging KPIs.
They are missing or struggling to define the right messaging and positioning for their business. Not just for their product, but for their entire business.
The most important things to get right before spending lots of money on marketing to create and capture demand is your messaging and positioning. It's never going to be perfect and it will evolve and change over time. But if there isn't a strong match with what you do, how you do it, and why to the people you're trying to turn into customers, you're going to be burning cash.
Positioning is everything. Here's how I like to think about creating positioning that people will understand.
BRAND - The narrative and POV that you believe
SOLUTION - The problems and how you solve the problems
PRODUCT - The things you offer that will solve the problems and are aligned to what you believe
My most important piece of advice is to find the red thread.
What's the thing that unites each level of positioning?
One way to find the red thread is to think about value creation at the highest possible level. How would you measure the value in one word and how do people get that value in a few words?
For HubSpot, it's revenue by growing better using inbound.
Positioning is storytelling at scale. It helps the brand and its community, customers, and partners take words and use those words to create more value, and to create something meaningful.
Great positioning will increase engagement, conversion, revenue, retention, and advocacy.
Oh, and positioning isn't just for the things that create revenue and profits. It should be applied to your content, events, and other big offers that help bring in those dollar bills.
Once you get your positioning in a good spot, you can start to fill the funnel. Creating demand and helping guide people through their buying experience.
The key question is the problem aware vs. problem unaware one. How much of your ICP fits into those two categories and why? Cause it will help determine how you be filling your funnel.
This is when marketers need to think more like teachers. The best businesses today tell stories and teach. And to fill your funnel with high quality buyers, teaching is critical.
Buyers and customers want value-add content and experiences more than ever before. They're saying, “Stop wasting my time. This doesn't have to be a five-hour course with a certification.”
The key question to ask is how much of your content-led and event-led growth strategy is about educating people versus talking at them. Let me give you an example.
Take a standard webinar. Most aren’t structured in a way that will leave someone with a better understanding of X topic. There's a conversation, there may be some ideas and tips, but they don’t answer the question of how to practically do something different or new.
Instead, design the webinar with the mindset and intentionality that any person who attends or watches the recording should be able to do X afterward. Don't pontificate about a topic. Make it specific, actionable, and focused on the outcome you're trying to create.
Too much content and too many webinars are surface-level ideas or tips that don't go deep enough to create actual change. They might inspire it, but they don't deliver on the how.
Deliver the how and you'll already be better and differentiated from 80% of your competitors.
Right now, go do an audit of your content and events, and look at how many are truly teaching people versus stating the obvious.
And finally, there's fixing the funnel.
If your funnel feels or is broken today, a culprit could be its missing strong messaging, positioning, and storytelling.
I start by looking at the entire funnel and see where there is leakage. If the problem starts at the very top, you don't have enough volume and good conversation rates to subscribers, then it's most likely a positioning and messaging issue.
If the problem is further down, then I might be something more process or system related.
My recommendation is to always make sure you have a finger on the pulse of your funnel and set up weekly pacing of all your leading and lagging KPIs.