Is your problem positioning, distribution, or product?
- Published: 12/05/2026
- 6 minutes read
Is your problem positioning, distribution, or product?
- Published: 12/05/2026
- 6 minutes read
Introduction
When we analyze company performance, we find that many companies don’t really have a marketing problem. Instead, they have difficulty diagnosing the underlying issues that make their marketing ineffective. This issue becomes evident when growth slows, pipelines appear weaker, and conversion or deal-close rates drop. The conclusion is instinctive – it is a marketing problem.
The visible part of the problem
When a company is experiencing turmoil, the pressure is on the marketing team to develop a campaign that will be the saving grace and pull the company up. So, everyone from the marketing team scatters to rewrite the messaging. Designers are on hand to redesign landing pages – to make them pop. Some companies bring in external teams to help with SEO or ads and increase their ad spend, hoping to drive more sales.
If you’re lucky, these measures might work. But they work mostly because they address one of three underlying issues you just happened to target. More marketing often amplifies existing business problems instead of solving them. From experience, most companies we speak to think they have a marketing problem. In reality, it’s a misdiagnosis and a waste of years spent fixing the wrong issue. These issues are hidden, and many companies simply wing it, hoping something works. However, that is the most dangerous thing – being wrong in a way that looks right. A company with an underlying weak product or service invests in branding. Or, a company with an unclear positioning invests in paid acquisition. And finally, a company with poor distribution reworks features.
Growth doesn’t break randomly; it almost always breaks at a specific point in the system: product, positioning, or distribution.
Why this matters now
As products become easier to build and markets become more saturated, the cost of misdiagnosis is increasing. What used to be a marketing inefficiency is now a strategic risk. Features are easier to replicate, the service is “good enough,” and there is growing debt to customers, who are themselves overloaded with options, making the buyer journey difficult and fragmented. In a market like the one we are in, differentiation isn’t innovation because it is too far to matter; instead, it is in positioning, distribution, or the product offered. Gartner also reports that 75% of B2B buyers now prefer a rep-free sales experience.
If users don't stay - it's about the product
People who use your product or service expect something of value, whether that’s speed, a unique feature, or the way what you offer fits into their workflow. Product-market fit is essential for growth and is most evident when users don’t stay. Another consequence of an inadequate product-market fit is that customers don’t engage with the product or service. If they say, “This is a nice product, but it’s not necessary,” it may mean they’re initially engaged but don’t perceive the underlying value you’re offering. However, these problems are the hardest to confront because they represent the core of a company’s offering.
For example, most AI startups today suffer from this underlying product-market fit issue, and AI unicorns have been successful in identifying the value of their offering. Even before the AI startup eruption, more than 40% startups failed due to poor product-market fit. Multiple startup studies consistently show that lack of market demand remains one of the most common reasons companies fail. One of the unicorns that managed to reposition its product is Notion. Initially, Notion’s 2013 pitch deck was based on “democratizing software” and “bringing computing power to non-programmers,” but that was too confusing. When reported retention and adoption were weak, the founders pivoted from overly technical language and a no-code programming system to an all-in-one workspace for notes, wikis, and tasks, and continued to develop the product in that direction. The core vision – flexible software for everyone – remained, but the product changed from an app builder to a work organizer.
If users don't understand - it's about positioning
Positioning breaks when customers don’t understand the value your product brings. It is the hardest to solve because customers already have a certain brand perception and are forming that perception the moment they intentionally interact with the brand. There are several factors why this happens, but mostly it is due to unclear value communication, an inadequate ideal customer profile, or unconvincing differentiation.
SaaS offerings usually break here; the product-market fit is strong because the company has identified a valuable solution to a burning issue customers face. However, customers don’t see it clearly; in their minds, there’s friction. And friction results in long sales cycles, inconsistent communication, or being compared to the wrong competitors.
Adequate positioning helps reduce friction, perceived risk, and the time customers need to decide to work with you.
HubSpot is an interesting case of repositioning. When founded, the company’s competitors were SAP, Salesforce, and Zoho – already established companies that found their niches. HubSpot founders understood they couldn’t compete directly with the established players, so they coined the term “inbound marketing.” The founders also noticed that small businesses hated cold outreach because it felt too spammy, so they invented the inbound marketing methodology to improve marketing efforts.
If users can’t find you - it's about distribution
Distribution issues usually occur when the go-to-market strategy is inconsistent with the way your ideal customers think and behave. This inconsistency carries over into the pipeline, resulting in uncontrollable revenue swings, high customer acquisition costs, or unpredictable channel performance. Scalability is also a symptom of a disrupted distribution; although customers may be delighted with the product, there is no clear path forward to scale your operations and bring in more customers while keeping costs manageable.
High-ticket purchases like cars face distribution challenges because many manufacturers use indirect sales, creating friction for consumers. Most dealerships are independent and sell for manufacturers. When Tesla emerged, the traditional system was hostile to its direct-to-consumer approach, involving Tesla stores and online orders; unusual steps in auto sales. Tesla stores resembled Apple stores, helping convert skepticism into trust. Salespeople focused on educating buyers about Tesla and EVs, providing a different experience from typical dealerships.
In essence, Tesla experienced massive growth by creating distribution channels for its disruptive product and offering a seamless digital experience.
How to pinpoint the problem
Before you change anything – don’t rewrite the messaging, don’t increase spend, don’t add features. First, identify where growth is breaking. Because once you do, the path forward becomes obvious. And until you do, nothing works the way it should.
Customers are always the core
Whether you’re a startup or a large company, it all starts and ends with your customers – how they perceive your product or service, how they talk about it, and where they find you.