Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It
by April Dunford · 2019
In a nutshell
April Dunford's step-by-step guide to positioning products for maximum market success, based on her experience with dozens of B2B technology companies.
Overview
Obviously Awesome is a practical guide to product positioning that actually works, providing a systematic process for crafting powerful positioning.
The 10-Step Positioning Process
- Understand the customers who love your product
- Form a positioning team
- Align your positioning vocabulary
- List your true competitive alternatives
- Isolate your unique attributes
- Map attributes to value
- Determine who cares a lot
- Find a market frame of reference
- Layer on a trend
- Capture your positioning
Key Insights
- Positioning is context
- Features aren't benefits
- The best customers define positioning
Available for approximately $15-25.
Reference
Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It — publisher / official page. Summary adapted from the Awesome Startup Books collection.
If you like this, read
LOVED: How to Rethink Marketing for Tech Products
Silicon Valley veteran Martina Lauchengco's definitive guide to product marketing for tech products. Part of the bestselling SVPG series, this book explains the four fundamentals of product marketing and how great products can win in the market.
Sales Pitch: How to Craft a Story to Stand Out and Win
A practical guide by April Dunford that shows entrepreneurs, salespeople, and business leaders how to create compelling sales pitches by building a narrative that clearly communicates product differentiation. The book provides an eight-step framework for crafting sales pitches that help you stand out in competitive markets.
$100M Offers: How To Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No
Teaches startups to create 'Grand Slam Offers' that maximize perceived value and minimize buyer risk, driving higher conversion rates in customer acquisition. Vs Traction Channels, it focuses on offer optimization to make channel spend more effective, with use cases in SaaS, agencies, and e-commerce boosting LTV 3x+. Critical for go-to-market product-market fit validation.
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
Strategies for tech startups to cross from early adopters to mainstream customers via niche domination and 'whole product' assembly, enabling scalable acquisition. Vs Traction Channels' testing, emphasizes beachhead markets like enterprise software; use cases include Salesforce's CRM pivot to SMBs post-chasm. Go-to-market bible for B2B innovation.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Robert Cialdini's seminal work on the psychology of why people say yes, revealing six universal principles of influence that drive human behavior and decision-making.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Chip and Dan Heath's exploration of what makes ideas memorable and influential, revealing the six principles of sticky ideas through the SUCCESS framework that helps messages resonate and last.