# Messaging Positioning

> Build product positioning and messaging using April Dunford's framework — competitive alternatives, unique attributes, value, best-fit customer. Use on "help me position my product", "write my messaging", "rewrite the homepage hero", or "my pitch isn't landing".

- Skill: `composio-community/messaging-positioning` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add composio-community/messaging-positioning`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/composio-community/messaging-positioning/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: composio-community (https://skillmd.com/u/composio-community)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/composio-community/messaging-positioning

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# Messaging & Positioning (April Dunford style)

Position first, then write copy. Never the other way around.

## The 5 + 1 inputs (work in order — don't skip)

1. **Competitive alternatives.** What would customers do if you didn't exist? (Not just competitors — could be spreadsheets, an intern, doing nothing.)
2. **Unique attributes.** What capabilities do you have that the alternatives don't?
3. **Value (so what?).** What do those attributes *enable* for the customer? Dollarize where possible.
4. **Best-fit customer characteristics.** Who cares most about that value? (Firmographic + situational.)
5. **Market category.** What frame of reference makes the value obvious? (Pick the context in which you win.)
6. **(Optional) Trends.** What broader shifts make this urgent *now*?

## Workflow

1. Interview the user through each input. Push back on vague answers.
2. Draft a positioning statement:
   ```
   For <best-fit customer> who are trying to <job to be done>,
   <product> is a <market category> that <unique value>.
   Unlike <competitive alternative>, we <key differentiator backed by unique attribute>.
   ```
3. **Derive messaging** from positioning:
   - **Hero headline** (≤ 10 words, states the unique value)
   - **Subhead** (≤ 20 words, says who it's for + how it's different)
   - **3 proof pillars** (the unique attributes, each with an outcome)
   - **Objection responses** (for each alternative, a one-liner)
4. Save to `./positioning.md` and `./messaging.md`.

## Sanity tests

- If you changed your competitive alternatives, would your messaging still be true? → Positioning is too generic.
- Can you finish "Unlike X, we are the only one that Y"? → If no, you have a me-too.
- Do 3 different customer segments all resonate equally? → You're probably positioned too broadly.

## Anti-patterns

- "Best-in-class AI-powered platform for modern teams" — positioning salad
- Leading with features before establishing the category
- Fighting in a category you can't win (e.g., picking "CRM" when you're smaller than Salesforce)
- Describing what you *do* instead of what customers *get*

## Guardrails

- If the user has < 10 customers, positioning is hypothesis, not doctrine — revisit every 90 days.
- If the user's champion and economic buyer are different roles, consider separate messaging for each.
- Refuse to skip step 1 (alternatives). Most bad positioning dies here.