Testing whether your positioning is working

Tests for comprehension, brand recall, activation and payback, laid out by members of the Marketing Leaders work group.

Updated October 13, 2026

Positioning works when the target audience can explain the benefit in its own words, ties it to your brand, and goes on to activate and keep using the product.

Start with comprehension. Steven Tristan Young asks people new to the category what they think they can do and why they would choose the product, then watches whether that carries through to a first purchase or listing.
Test recall without the logo. Kira Klaas shows newcomers the benefit statement with no logo, asks which company it describes, and repeats the test with the same segment over time.
Compare matched groups. Vineet Mehra runs the new message in matched markets or audiences with product and offer held steady, then compares qualified members and payback. Brittany Bingham adds that installs show people choose the product but cannot say which message caused it.
Count healthy teams as well as signups. If a new message wins on signups and produces fewer healthy, active teams, Rachel Hepworth would revise the message or the first-use experience before scaling it.

Group chat with Rachel, Brittany, Kira, Vineet, Steven — the Marketing Leaders work group

Question:

How do you tell whether your positioning is working?

Steven Tristan YoungGlobal CMO at Aura. Former CMO at Poshmark

For me, the first test is whether a customer can explain the benefit in their own words and then act on it. At Poshmark, we had to help people understand both resale and the social side of buying and selling. I’ve talked publicly about starting with customer research, finding the simplest way to explain the category, and asking whether the product does the job the customer hired it to do.

YouTube I’d test the message with people new to the category: ask what they think they can do, why they would choose it, and what they would do next. Then watch whether that understanding carries through to first purchase or first listing. If people can repeat the words but hesitate at the action, I’d look at the product experience and the promise together.

Rachel HepworthCMO at Harvey. Former CMO at Notion

The purchase funnel can tell you where a message fails, but you need a customer conversation to understand why.

At Climate Corp, we described weather insurance in dollars of coverage. Farmers planned expenses by acre. When we spoke with them, we learned that "$7 per acre of corn" gave them an immediate way to judge the offer. A stalled purchase funnel showed us something was wrong; customer conversations showed us where the language broke down.

Spotify

For a positioning test, I'd track whether the intended audience activates and keeps using the product after signup. At Slack, plenty of people had heard of us and signed up, yet struggled to understand the larger value after sending a message. We focused on healthy, active teams rather than counting signups alone.

Spotify

Vineet MehraChief Growth and Marketing Officer at Chime. Former Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at Ancestry

I’d judge positioning on two time horizons. First, ask people in the target audience what they believe the brand will help them do, in their own words. At Chime, consumer research led us to move the story from financial peace of mind toward progress and ambition for people living paycheck to paycheck. The question is whether that idea reaches the people it is meant to serve and matches what they experience in the product.

Spotify

Then follow the economics. Track whether awareness and intent among that audience translate into stronger conversion, lower customer acquisition cost and an acceptable payback period over time. I’ve argued that brand investment should create future intent that direct response can capture, and that we need measurement models for how long that effect lasts. If the message resonates in research while acquisition keeps getting more expensive, investigate the product experience and the audience you’re reaching before declaring the positioning a success.

thinkwithgoogle

Brittany BinghamVP of Marketing at Fathom. Former VP of Marketing at Guru

I'd separate message comprehension from continued use, because a clear promise has to match the work people actually do. At Fathom, we've described the value as meeting AI that fits how people work, including bot-free capture, live notes, and integrations with ChatGPT and Claude.

LinkedIn After a message change, I'd compare activation and repeat use for the specific audience it targets, with the product experience held as steady as possible.

The strongest public usage signal we've shared is Fathom's 20,000+ active HubSpot installs at year end, tied to teams capturing conversations, updating CRM, and moving deals forward.

LinkedIn The installs are evidence that people choose the product in that workflow. On their own, they cannot tell us which positioning choice caused that behavior; the before-and-after cohort comparison is the test for the message.

Question:

Kira, Steven would check whether newcomers can explain the benefit and take a first action. How would you test whether they connect that benefit to a specific brand? Please cite public sources.

Kira KlaasVP of Corporate Marketing and Brand at Later. Former Director of Brand at Brex

I’d show newcomers the benefit statement without a logo and ask which company they think it describes, then ask why. Next, I’d show competing brands and ask which one they would choose for that benefit. Repeat with the same target segment over time: you want more people naming your brand unprompted and giving a reason that matches the positioning.

I’d pair that recall test with behavior. At Notion, the emphasis on customization extends into what users actually share: workflows and templates. In my writing, I’ve pointed to that community behavior as a sign that the brand’s promise of creativity and practical organization shows up in the product experience.

Substack

Question:

Vineet, Brittany says active installs cannot show which positioning choice caused them. If a team changes its message while media spend stays active, how would you test whether the message improved conversion or payback? Please ground the method in public work.

Vineet MehraChief Growth and Marketing Officer at Chime. Former Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at Ancestry

Brittany’s causality point matters. A rising install or signup count tells us that demand exists; it doesn’t isolate the effect of a new position. I’d run the new message in matched markets or audience groups, keep product and offer steady, and compare incremental qualified members and payback against the existing message. Give the brand effect enough time to show up in direct response, because the future intent we create can lower acquisition cost later rather than in the week the campaign launches.

thinkwithgoogle

Question:

Rachel, Vineet would compare matched groups on qualified customers and payback. If the new message wins on signups but loses on healthy, active teams, how would you decide whether to keep it? Please use a public example.

Rachel HepworthCMO at Harvey. Former CMO at Notion

I would hold off on rolling it out. At Slack, our goal was to create healthy work teams that sales could approach from an existing user base. We looked at team activity, number of people using the product, daily use, and integrations to judge how much value a team was getting. Those signals were more useful to us than a large pool of lightly interested leads.

intercom

I would split the test by the audience the new message aimed to reach and compare healthy teams per visitor, plus the cost of creating each healthy team. Then I’d talk to the new signups who stalled: did the message attract people with the wrong expectation, or did the product fail to show the promised value quickly enough? A signup win with fewer healthy teams would tell me to revise the message or the first-use experience before scaling it.

Question:

Steven, Rachel would interview newcomers in the target segment who sign up and then stall. How would you tell whether their hesitation comes from the positioning or the product experience? Please use public work.

Steven Tristan YoungGlobal CMO at Aura. Former CMO at Poshmark

I’d ask stalled newcomers to describe the job they thought the product would do, then watch them try the first task the message promised. If they expect a different outcome before opening the product, I’d revisit the positioning. If they describe the benefit clearly and want it, but cannot complete that task, I’d fix the first-use experience. At Poshmark, I’ve described going back to customer research to find a simple explanation of resale and then asking whether we do the job customers hired us to do. That distinction matters because an accurate message can still lead people into a difficult first listing or purchase.

YouTube

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you choose an ideal customer profile?
Start from a segment incumbents underserve or from your most retained users, check it in customer conversations, and keep it narrow enough to change your message. Move the core positioning to a new segment once its payback and retention beat the core.
How do you plan a product launch?
Agree in writing on who the launch is for, gate on the demand signal closest to revenue, give early-access users time with the product, and measure lift against a holdout.
What has to be ready before a launch?
A named customer and use case, a working path to the promised benefit, a few early users, and measures of source, completion and return. Full campaigns and brand guidelines can follow.
When is a partner program worth building?
When partners already help customers succeed and the team can repeat the sales handoff. Before that, run a small integration pilot and measure activation, retention and support cost.
Which channels bring in technical buyers?
Founder-led outbound when setup is heavy, a self-serve trial when an engineer gets value in one session, and narrow paid search aimed at the trial task, judged on activated accounts.

All go-to-market questions →

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you choose an ideal customer profile?

Start from a segment incumbents underserve or from your most retained users, check it in customer conversations, and keep it narrow enough to change your message. Move the core positioning to a new segment once its payback and retention beat the core.

Testing whether your positioning is working

Marketing Leaders

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you choose an ideal customer profile?

How do you plan a product launch?

What has to be ready before a launch?

When is a partner program worth building?

Which channels bring in technical buyers?

Your ideas, super powered.

Testing whether your positioning is working

Marketing Leaders

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you choose an ideal customer profile?

How do you plan a product launch?

What has to be ready before a launch?

When is a partner program worth building?

Which channels bring in technical buyers?

Your ideas, super powered.