Data-Driven Positioning
Find your breakthrough story through customer and prospect testing
Our data-driven approach solves the two hardest positioning challenges: coming up with a creative breakthrough and driving buy-in. Our three testing frameworks generate the best ideas that resonate with your leadership team, customers and prospects.
We start with a mindful leadership brainstorm where we positively build on your team’s best ideas for your market category and differentiation—we call this framework one.
We then test framework one with customers who love you to get their feedback and visionary ideas.
Based on what we learn from customers, we tune concepts and create and test framework two with prospects critical to your growth.
After analyzing what we’ve learned from prospects, we create framework three and survey your customers and prospects for a final validation of your breakthrough story.
We engage your team in our data-driven innovation at each milestone, providing leaders with the confidence to go to market with the positioning and messages that drive growth.
The 6 Advantages of Data-Driven Positioning
Be clear about your differentiation
Nail what’s unique about you and why it matters in a few words.
Get team buy-in
Instill confidence and evade bias with data from your audience.
Shorten the sales cycle
Get to The Point That Matters faster and deposition competitors.
Optimize marketing spend
Target your marketing dollars to drive consistent messaging the market wants to hear.
Speak in your customers’ voice
Cut through buzzword clutter and speak directly to what motivates customers and prospects.
Align your strategy and roadmap
Identify features and next steps that drive home your positioning over the next few years.
The Science of Positioning
Co-CEO Nick Copping explains the benefits of the ZOOM Marketing approach. The scientific method gives scientists confidence in the answer because of the robust testing process. The same goes for the ZOOM Marketing data-driven positioning process. Ninety percent of our clients adopt our recommendations because data support the result.
“ZOOM’s approach and frameworks are world-class. It got the exec team aligned and invested in our new direction.”
“I love ZOOM’s data-driven process. You know at the end you’ll get to the best positioning for you.”
“You can now marry your gut feel with data from customer insights. That helped us land in a really good place.”
Deliverables
Everything you need to tell your story
The Point That MattersSM
Unique
Authentic to your company’s DNA
Credible
Proof you can deliver on your promise
Purposeful
Inspires customers, employees and community
FAQ
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The best way to know is to test your positioning with buyers. We believe in learning from both customers and prospects because each brings a different perspective.
Customer interviews reveal what people value most about your company, why it matters and how they describe it in their own words. Then we put positioning ideas to a tougher test with target prospects. Quantitative testing reveals which ideas stand out, which differences matter most and which claims buyers believe. Sometimes a single word or phrase can make all the difference.
Better to find out before investing in taking your positioning to market.
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Ask ten executives what makes your company different, and you may get ten different answers. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Those different perspectives often hold the seeds of a breakthrough idea.
We start by getting those different perspectives on the table, building on them and sharpening them into distinct positioning territories. Then we put those territories to the test with customers and target prospects to see which resonate most. Sometimes an entirely new idea emerges.
Instead of the loudest voice in the room winning, market evidence helps settle the debate. The result is positioning that's not only differentiated and meaningful to buyers, but that your leadership team believes in and is ready to champion.
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Great positioning isn't just a marketing exercise. It lets you define the conversation in your market, shape what buyers value, and establish your company as the standard competitors are measured against. It also gives your entire leadership team a shared strategy for winning and growing.
CEO: Champions a bold vision for where the market is going and why your company is positioned to lead. Reinforces that vision through consistent decisions and actions, inspiring employees, investors, customers, and prospective buyers.
CMO: Great positioning gives the CMO a compelling story to own that differentiates the brand and earns a place in buyers' short list. Each campaign and customer touchpoint reinforces that story, making every marketing dollar work harder.
CRO: Gives sales teams the advantage of selling on your terms, not your competitors', shifting conversations from feature comparisons to the business value only you can deliver.
CTO: Connects technical innovation to a reason to choose your company, translating complex capabilities into differentiated value buyers understand and appreciate.
CPO: Sharpens product priorities, focuses innovation on what buyers value most, aligns roadmap to deliver on the company's promise, while staying ahead of competitors.
When the entire leadership team gets behind the same positioning, it becomes more than a story you tell. It becomes a strategy that drives how you compete, innovate, and grow.
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Absolutely. Category creation is one of the most powerful ways positioning can unlock breakthrough growth. But it's not just about inventing a clever new name. It's about redefining how buyers think about a market and establishing your company as the leader.
Over several generations of technology, ZOOM has helped companies create new categories and redefine existing ones. Here are a few you may recognize:
Snowflake: From The Data Warehouse Built for the Cloud to The Data Cloud and now The AI Data Cloud
Databricks: Unified Analytics Platform and The Lakehouse
Nutanix: From Hybrid Multicloud to The Anywhere Platform
DocuSign: E-Signature
TiVo: Digital Video Recorder (DVR)
Oracle: Application Server
FloQast: From Close Management Software to Accounting Workflow Automation
Semgrep: Code Security for Builders and Agents
The payoff is significant. Category leaders shape what buyers value, become the standard competitors are measured against, and are the first companies customers think of. Instead of playing by someone else's rules, they set the rules of competition.
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A typical ZOOM Marketing positioning project takes about three months, from leadership discovery through market validation and final recommendations. We also offer shorter engagements depending on how much customer and prospect research and testing is needed.