You launched as "project management software for designers." Two years in, most of your customers are marketing teams using you for campaign planning. Your positioning is stuck in the past while your product and market have evolved.
Do you reposition? How do you shift without alienating existing customers or confusing the market?
After leading two successful repositioning efforts and watching several fail, I've learned that repositioning is high-risk, high-reward. Done well, it unlocks growth and clarifies your market. Done poorly, it creates confusion, erodes trust, and damages your brand.
Here's how to know when repositioning is necessary and how to execute it without blowing up your business.
When Repositioning Is Necessary
Not every positioning challenge requires a full repositioning. Be clear about whether you actually need one.
Reposition when your product has fundamentally changed. You started as a point solution and evolved into a platform. You added capabilities that shift your category. Your original positioning is no longer accurate.
Example: Slack started as a gaming company's internal tool, then repositioned as team communication for everyone. The product changed, positioning had to follow.
Reposition when you're targeting a different market. You initially served SMBs but now focus on enterprise. You targeted designers but marketing teams are your actual buyers. Your positioning speaks to the wrong audience.
Reposition when competitive dynamics shift. A dominant player entered your space and you need to differentiate. The category got crowded and "me too" positioning isn't working. You need to carve out a distinct position to survive.
Don't reposition for vanity. You're bored with your positioning. You want to sound more innovative. You hired a new CMO who wants to make their mark. These aren't valid reasons. Repositioning for optics while the fundamentals haven't changed creates confusion without benefit.
Validate the Need With Data
Before committing to repositioning, prove that it's necessary.
Analyze customer data by segment. Who are your highest-value customers? What do they have in common? If 70% of revenue comes from a segment you're not positioned for, that's a signal.
Review win/loss interview themes. When you win, why? When you lose, what positioning or category confusion contributed? If prospects consistently misunderstand what you are or who you're for, repositioning might clarify.
Test new positioning with prospects before committing. Run 15-20 sales conversations using the proposed new positioning. Does it resonate? Does it clarify or confuse? Do they lean in or look puzzled? Live feedback beats conference room theorizing.
Survey existing customers. How do they describe you to colleagues? What category do they put you in? If their description doesn't match your positioning, either your positioning is wrong or your communication isn't working.
Data should drive the decision, not opinions.
Plan the Transition Carefully
Repositioning isn't a light-switch moment. It's a planned transition.
Phase repositioning over 3-6 months. Don't wake up one day with a completely different website and brand. Gradual shifts let the market absorb changes without whiplash.
Phase 1 (Month 1-2): Update internal messaging, train sales, soft-launch new positioning in conversations and new content.
Phase 2 (Month 3-4): Update website, primary marketing materials, key sales collateral.
Phase 3 (Month 5-6): Full rollout across all channels, press announcement if warranted, update all legacy materials.
Maintain brand continuity. Even as positioning changes, your visual identity, brand voice, and core values should feel consistent. You're evolving, not becoming a different company.
Create a transition story. Explain why you're repositioning. For customers: "As we've grown, we've learned that marketing teams get the most value from our platform, so we're doubling down on serving them." This makes the shift feel natural, not random.
Communicate Early and Often to Existing Customers
Your current customers deserve clarity about what's changing and what's not.
Tell customers before telling the market. Send a personal email to customers explaining the repositioning, why you're doing it, and—most importantly—what's NOT changing for them.
Key message: "Your product isn't changing. Your support isn't changing. We're simply clarifying who we serve best based on what we've learned."
Emphasize product continuity. Repositioning sounds like change, and change makes customers nervous. Make it crystal clear: "Your workflows, integrations, and contract terms stay exactly the same."
Invite feedback from key accounts. Give your top 20 customers advance notice and ask: "Does this resonate? Any concerns?" This creates buy-in and surfaces issues before public rollout.
Use repositioning to deepen customer relationships. Frame it as: "We're becoming even better at solving your specific problems." Show how the new positioning means better features, better content, better support for their use case.
Existing customers should feel reassured, not abandoned.
Update All Market-Facing Assets Systematically
Repositioning fails when execution is sloppy and inconsistent.
Create a repositioning checklist:
- Homepage and core web pages
- Product pages and feature descriptions
- Pricing page and packaging
- Sales decks and one-pagers
- Email templates and sequences
- Case studies and testimonials
- Social media bios and headers
- Help documentation and onboarding
- Paid ad campaigns and landing pages
- Job descriptions and recruiting materials
- Press kit and boilerplate
Prioritize customer-facing touchpoints. Update what prospects and customers see first: homepage, sales materials, support content. Internal documents can follow.
Retire old positioning gradually. You don't need to hunt down every blog post from 2019, but major assets should reflect new positioning within 90 days.
Train the entire team. Sales, support, success, product—everyone who talks to customers or prospects needs to understand the new positioning and why it changed.
Inconsistency creates confusion. Execute thoroughly.
Manage the Narrative Externally
How you explain repositioning to the market determines whether it's seen as strategic evolution or desperate pivoting.
Control the story proactively. Don't let analysts, press, or competitors define your repositioning. You tell the story first.
Narrative: "As we've scaled to 10,000 customers, we've seen marketing teams achieve the strongest results. We're focusing our product development and go-to-market on becoming the best solution for marketing operations."
Anchor to traction, not hope. Repositioning based on "where customers are already getting value" is credible. Repositioning based on "where we hope to go" sounds like a pivot out of weakness.
Frame it as refinement, not reversal. "We're narrowing our focus to serve marketing teams better" sounds strategic. "We're completely changing what we are" sounds chaotic.
Leverage customer proof points. Launch repositioning with case studies and customer quotes that validate the new positioning. Show that you're describing reality, not inventing a fantasy.
The market accepts repositioning when it feels inevitable based on your success, not desperate based on your struggles.
Common Repositioning Mistakes to Avoid
Most repositioning efforts fail for predictable reasons.
Repositioning too frequently. If you're repositioning every 12 months, you're creating market confusion and brand instability. Commit to positioning for at least 2-3 years.
Changing too much at once. Repositioning + rebranding + new pricing + new product = chaos. Change one major thing at a time.
Ignoring product-market reality. Your positioning claims you serve enterprise, but your product has no enterprise features. Positioning must reflect actual capabilities, not aspirations.
Failing to align product roadmap. Repositioning to focus on marketing teams while your roadmap prioritizes sales features creates credibility problems. Strategy and execution must align.
Not training sales adequately. Sales shows up to calls with old positioning while your website says something new. Disaster. Train sales first, launch second.
Measure Repositioning Success
How do you know if repositioning worked?
Track category clarity in sales conversations. Are prospects immediately understanding what you do? Is there less confusion about your category and competitors?
Monitor deal velocity for target segment. If you repositioned toward marketing teams, are marketing-focused deals closing faster than before?
Measure brand perception shifts. Survey prospects and customers: "How would you describe [company]?" Compare before and after repositioning. Is the description shifting toward your new positioning?
Analyze inbound lead quality. Are you attracting more leads from your newly targeted segment? Fewer from segments you're deprioritizing?
Review win/loss themes. Are you winning for new reasons aligned to new positioning? Losing less often due to category confusion?
Repositioning succeeds when it creates clarity, accelerates deals, and aligns market perception with your actual strengths. It fails when it creates confusion, alienates customers, or doesn't reflect product reality.
Reposition when the data demands it, execute with care, and commit for the long term. Positioning is strategy. Treat it seriously.