Trying to be everything to everyone in B2B tech means we’re already losing. Positioning is the critical first step—it’s our survival tactic in a market flooded with noise. With Martech growing at 28% YOY, standing out isn’t just hard; it’s friggin’ brutal. Focusing on customers and clearly differentiating our unique value is how we shift from being just another widget to being a solution that’s hard to ignore.
Getting on the buyer’s shortlist in B2B tech is very difficult when no one knows who we are, what we do, or what we stand for. With over 100,000 tech solutions out there, it’s easy to become just another face in the crowd. Many companies—especially startups—struggle to stand out. Without unique positioning, they risk blending in, forgotten and ignored.
And when 80%–90% of buyers already have a set of vendors in mind before they do a stitch of research, and 90% of them choose a vendor on day one, the chances of getting their attention is like winning the lottery.
As a founder or leader of a B2B tech firm, no doubt you’ve felt the heat. Launching a product in a saturated market feels like pushing a boulder up a mountain. The pressure to get noticed, attract leads, and generate sales is overwhelming. But here’s the thing: positioning is your lever. It’s how you turn the impossible into the inevitable. This is how B2B tech solutions like Monday.com was able to chip away at industry giants like Asana over 6 years. That’s 6 YEARS, by the way, not 6 months.
In this article, I’m going to show you how to shift from being solely product- or sales-led to becoming customer-focused and business-led. I’ll walk you through a step-by-step process, drawing on inspiration from April Dunford’s book, Obviously Awesome, to help you position your B2B tech solution for your best-fit customers.
NOTE: If you’re ready to do positioning on your own, go grab April’s book, and dive in. But if you’re looking for a little guidance, stick around and read on.
We’ve all been there—trapped in a product-focused mindset, cranking out salsey marketing because we’re excited about what we’ve built. The problem? Everyone else is doing the same thing. According to Clay Ostrom at Map&Fire, only 33% of B2B solutions have strong differentiation. That’s not just a stat; that’s a red flag.
Understanding our customers—their pains, needs, and motivations—is our best shot at positioning our solution as the perfect answer to their problems.
“A good doctor treats the patient, not the illness.”
Reiko Scott, FANOCRACY
Forget flashy marketing. It’s like a shiny new fishing lure that only gets nibbles. When buyers know exactly why they should care about our B2B tech solution, they don’t just nibble—they bite. And they keep biting. Just ask Monday.com or Slack or Canva.
Clarity comes from deep customer and market insight, not from guessing or copying trends. Our job isn’t to invent a message out of thin air—it’s to discover what our customers already value most about our product and make it impossible to ignore.
Just starting out? You’re probably tempted to dive straight into sales tactics. Be careful. Do you want to build a house on stilts or a house on solid footing? Get this right early, and everything—your messaging, marketing, sales, brand reputation, internal culture—will fall into place more naturally as you scale.
Effective B2B tech positioning is an outcome of digging deep into understanding who our solution is for, what it’s for, and why buyers should give a damn. It has nothing to do with these things:
What Happens After Positioning:
What does NOT Happen After Positioning:
Clear positioning strips away the crap and gets down to what truly matters to the people we’re trying to help. Anyone can cast a shiny new lure into a pond. It’s much harder to get the fish to bite. The right positioning is like the right bait—if it’s tasty, the fish will bite.
Step 1: Who Is It For?
FYI Startups: No customers yet? No problem. Interview potential candidates or colleagues who fit your target profile. You’ll learn more than you think.
Step 2: What Are You Up Against?
Step 3: What Makes You Unique?
“Be distinct or be extinct.”
Tom Peters
Step 4: What Value Do You Deliver?
Step 5: Who Cares a Lot About Your Value?
Step 6: Pick the Market That Will Give You the Best Chance at Success TODAY
Refer to April’s Positioning Styles to weigh your options:
Once you have completed these steps, you can create a positioning and messaging playbook. That document is super helpful and can serve as the opening for your brand guidelines. I’ve created these documents for a few clients and they literally become the “bible” for the sales, marketing, product and CX teams.
If you want to see this method in action, here are two stories worth checking out:
B2B tech positioning isn’t a checkbox on our to-do list—it’s the foundation of everything we do in marketing and sales. It needs regular review and validation, especially when you’re starting out and when markets shift. Get it right, and our product doesn’t just survive—it thrives. Fail at it, and we’re just another thing taking up space.
Effective positioning is a process of discovery, not invention, uncovering the value that already exists in our solution and making it crystal clear to the people who need it most. When we succeed at positioning, we can move from being just another look-alike to being the obvious choice.
So, are you ready to get it right? Book a 1-Day Positioning Workshop with me.
Need specific advice for your B2B tech firm? Reach out. I’m always happy to chat.
If you like this content, here are some more ways I can help:
Cheers!
PS: This article is also published and discussed on LinkedIn. Join the conversation!
