The Three Components of Effective B2B Positioning

The Sirkin Research Podcast

We dig into the details from Victoria’s 40-page piece on her approach to positioning. We get into her three components of effective positioning, why you don’t choose your positioning, and why point of view (POV) rules all. Here are a few other topics discussed on this episode of the Sirkin Research Podcast:

• How Victoria first got into positioning from writing copy (1:59)
• Why most people writing website copy are also doing positioning (4:14)
• Why there is no such thing as a marketing or positioning expert (9:39)
• Why “we’re the best” is not positioning (11:07)
• The importance of clearly defining terms (12:38)
• Why boring marketing and gated content are not the problems holding B2B marketers back (14:18)
• Attribution isn’t broken, it was built this way (15:24)
• Why you don’t choose your positioning as a company (19:56)
• The fundamental questions a company needs to answer about their business to inform their positioning (22:48)
• Why Victoria didn’t touch on strategic narratives or brand stories in her piece (25:11)
• Why effective positioning requires a compelling point of view (29:37)
• The importance of defining what not to say when it comes to your messaging (37:08)
• Why effective positioning isn’t a linear process and can’t be templated (43:07)
• The risks of category creation and how to do it right (44:54)
• Why StoryBrand is not effective for B2B marketers (50:13)
• Why it’s important that whoever does your positioning has written copy plus who to be wary of taking marketing and positioning advice from (55:00)

Resources mentioned in episode:
The Three Components of Effective B2B Positioning
The Irreconcilable Differences Between B2B and B2C Marketing

Connect with the hosts:
Victoria Gamlen on LinkedIn
Jeff Sirkin on LinkedIn